Instead of carefully scrutinizing what they have been taught in the light of the Scriptures, many professed Christians today allow themselves to be carried away by every wind of doctrine as long as such appear to satisfy their immediate emotional and material concerns. One of such doctrines is the teaching that there is something like “holy ghost fire” which can be invoked to destroy one’s enemies or whatever obstacles that may lie in one’s way.

Some seekers-after-truth have been asking whether this teaching is supported by the Scriptures. One of those who have expressed such concern is Dr. Reuben Abati of The Guardian. In an article entitled “The prayer warriors” he complained that the manner “Holy Ghost fire” prayers were being said at a Pentecostal church he attended amounted to arguing with God. Asserting that in these churches “Prayer-time is war time”, he added: “Prayer warriors worship a God of spectacle, they reach out to a distant God who has to be shouted upon and nudged and commanded.” –

The Guardian September 26, 2003, page 51.
In a spirited response to the article one Lola Falobi contended that the issue of “violent prayers” and “speaking in tongues” was not new, and “could be traced to as far back as when the disciples of Jesus assembled together in the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-3)” He continued: “Besides, Pentecostal members pray feverishly because we live in a world where Satan (and his agents) have not relented in their wickedly adventurous devices and antics…Even though the Bible states that we should ask, seek and knock (Matthew 7:7) I am sure you should not do that timidly, especially when Jesus told his disciples ‘the kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent taketh it by force’ (Matthew 11:!2)” He went on to contend that if Dr. Abati had been “tormented by the devil or faced any form of spiritual attack” he will “spend all his spiritual energy to constantly rebuke Satan” and that he should not blame those who “are shouting themselves hoarse during their prayer time or who pray vigorously and fervently” as they have their reasons. – The Guardian November 6, 2003, page 16
.
There is no denying the fact that it is now common to hear at crusades and services, church leaders yelling “holy ghost!” and the congregation energetically responding, “fire” and the next line which usually follows, “Holy Ghost fire” to which they start screaming “burn them!” “consume them!” or “destroy them!” as the case may be.
According to the report by Dr. Abati the congregants were hysterically praying: “Father, destroy them. Father, bind them. I bind them in the name of Jesus. Holy Ghost fire, burn them. I say Burn them!, burn them! Holy Ghost Fire destroy them…” ( The Guardian September 26, 2003, page 51) Whether this type of prayer is in harmony with the Scriptures or not they do not care to know.

This is of course contrary to the Bible standard which requires us to verify the truth of what we are told before we accept such as an article of faith. – 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 John 4:1; Acts 17:10,11.

We must point out that the incident in Acts 2: 1-41 in which the 12 apostles spoke in tongues in fulfillment of the Lord’s promise cannot be used to justify holy ghost fire prayers.
In the first place what happened on that day was that the apostles spoke various languages other than their own Galilean tongue. The testimony by those who heard the apostles is clear on this, as it is written: “And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.” – Acts 2:7-11.

From the text above one could see that the tongues spoken by the apostles were known languages which were understood by the people who had converged at Jerusalem for the Pentecost, a later name for the feast of weeks which comes up on the 50th day after the Passover. The apostles did not behave in a wild manner. They were preaching, not praying. What obtains these days however is that the congregation keep shouting sometimes for hours on end, uttering unintelligible sounds (which they call speaking in tongues) – all in the name of prayers. This is of course the direct opposite of what happened on the day of Pentecost.
What these professed Christians fail to realize is that speaking in tongues was necessary when Christianity was at its infancy so that the gospel could reach those who were not Jews. After a while, the gift ceased. The time of speaking in tongues has passed as St. Paul himself declared. – 1 Corinthians 13:8.

When Jesus Christ spoke of the kingdom of heaven suffering “violence” and the “violent” taking it by force, he meant that the devil and his agents use violence to continually persecute the true servants of God and make false claims to the kingdom. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) History is replete with records of atrocities committed by so-called Church leaders against those they called ‘heretics’. Such churches have proved themselves not to be the servants of God. – Revelation 2:9; 3:9.

Another place cited by those who believe and teach the doctrine of holy ghost fire is Matthew 3:11. In the text John the Baptist, speaking of Jesus Christ stated: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” It should be noted that this text does not say one should pray for fire to destroy one’s enemies.

The statement of John the Baptist meant that the mission of Christ was of a far higher order than his. After Christ had been baptized with water by John the Baptist, the holy spirit alighted on him in the form of a dove. (Matthew 3:16-17) Thereafter he promised the apostles the gift of the holy spirit (or the spirit of anointing) which fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when the spirit descended on them in the form of cloven tongues of fire. (Luke 24:47-49; Acts 1:3-8; Acts 2:1-41) This was the baptism with the holy spirit spoken of by John the Baptist.

For the fact that the holy spirit helps, strengthens and teaches the servants of God to withstand the fiery trials that come their way at the instance of the devil, it is called the Comforter or the Teaching Spirit (John 14:26; John 15:26; 1 John 2:27) The holy spirit is meant to help, not to destroy people.- Romans 8:26.

The baptism of fire mentioned earlier is not about retribution but refers to the suffering which Christ and those of the heavenly class face in the course of their ministry on earth. In the Psalms, the prophet David wrote under the inspiration of God: “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” (Psalms 50:5) The servants of God are called into a “covenant of sacrifice” and so they are prepared to suffer anything including death in the course of their ministry. Because they of the heavenly class suffer tribulations all their days on earth Christ declared thus: “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. “- Revelation 2:10.

The incident in which the prophet Elijah commanded fire to come from heaven to destroy or consume two captains and their bands (2 Kings 1) is also misconstrued by some as basis for holy ghost fire prayers. That was an isolated incident in the ministry of the prophet and should not be applied in this time of grace. – John 1:17; 2 Corinthians 3:17.

SHALOM!

EMILO2STAY:
^^
read it through it is not that long, i tried modifiying with with ma phone. But it's still showing this way. Be patient it's quit insightful.

You need to learn HTML: it is invaluable.

In Forum lingo, what you have done is called "BLOCK-OF-TEXT," and it is usually replied with the abbreviation, TLDR- that is, "TOO LONG, DIDN'T READ."

Whom do you expect to be so conscientious to bother to try to read such an ugly essay?

. MATTHEW 5:38-48.

38. "Ye have heard that it hath been said,

'AN EYE FOR AN EYE,
AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.'

39. "But I Say unto you,

'THAT YE RESIST NOT EVIL:
BUT WHOSOEVER SHALL
SMITE THEE ON THY RIGHT CHEEK,
TURN TO HIM
THE OTHER ALSO.'

40. "And if any man
will sue thee at The Law,
and take away thy coat,
let him have (thy) cloke also.
41. "And whosoever shall compel thee
to go a mile,
go with him twain.
42. "Give to him
that asketh thee,
and from him that would borrow of thee
turn not thou away.
43. "Ye have heard
that it hath been said,

'THOU SHALT LOVE
THY NEIGHBOUR
AND HATE
THINE ENEMY.'

44. "But I Say unto you,

'LOVE YOUR ENEMIES,
BLESS THEM THAT CURSE YOU,
DO GOOD TO THEM
THAT HATE YOU,
AND PRAY FOR THEM WHICH DESPITEFULLY USE YOU
AND PERSECUTE YOU.'

45. "That ye may be
the Children of your Father
Which is in Heaven:
for He maketh His Sun
to rise on the Evil
and on the Good,
and sendeth Rain
on the Just
and on the Unjust.
46. "For if ye love them
which love you,
what Reward have ye?
Do not even the Publicans
the same?
47. "And if ye salute
your Brethren only,
what do ye more (than others)
Do not even the Publicans so?
48. "Be ye therefore Perfect,
even as your Father
Which is in Heaven
is Perfect."

YOU KNOW THAT A TRUE CHRISTIAN, OR OTHER PERSON WHO HAS ANY INTEREST IN THE SUBJECT, WOULD NOT CARE ABOUT HOW POORLY YOUR POST WAS FORMATTED, BUT TAKE THE TIME TO READ IT, ANYWAY, OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE AUTHOR, THE EFFORT OF THE AUTHOR, THE INTERESTINGNESS OF THE SUBJECT, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT.

That everyone has ignored your Post for SIX YEARS shows the fake immature, unworthy nature of people on this forum, in particular, and this country in general.

It is a certainty that many of the contributors to this Forum are among those "Whooping and Hollering" "HOLY GHOST FIRE! HOLY GHOST FIRE!" in Church, but It has no application in their personal lives.

It has not made them better Christians.

It has not increased their love for God, the Things of His Kingdom, nor for their Neighbours and Strangers.

EMILO2STAY:
Therefore, praying for evil to befall
one's neighbour is clearly unchristian
as it does not take account of the
grace of God by which He forbears
and forgives people when they
repent. (Psalm 130:3,4; 2 Peter 3:9)
The Bible teaches tolerance and
peaceful co-existence. (Matthew
13:24-30, 36-42; Romans 12:18)

We
should be tolerant of those who do
not know God or who oppose God
and pray that He grant them
repentance knowing that it is the devil
who has taken them captive at his will.
(2 Timothy 2:26)

It needs be pointed
out that some of the Samaritans were
later converted to the Christian faith.
(Acts 1:8; 8:14) Also, if the early
apostles had called for fire to destroy
Saul who later became Paul while he
was persecuting them, he would not
have been alive to expand the
frontiers of Christianity as he did by
the grace and power of God.

Manner of Prayer

The Bible says that by their fruits ye
shall know them. (Matthew 7:16,20) It
is noteworthy that in the course of
prayers, some Christians today behave
like the worshippers of Baal in their
encounter with Elijah as described in 1
Kings 18. They scream or shout
repeatedly at the top of their voices;
they engage in outlandish gestures
like vigorously waving their hands,
stamping their feet, rolling on the
floor, pounding the wall with their
hands; running helter-skelter, uttering
incomprehensible sounds in the name
of speaking in tongues and so on.

These are not the manifestations of the
spirit of God which is "first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, and easy to be
intreated, full of mercy and good fruits,
without partiality, and without
hypocrisy." (James 3:17)

The spirit of
God does not operate in such a way
that the person will lose control of
himself and behave in a wild manner
for, the spirit of the prophet is "subject
to the prophets." - 1 Corinthians 14:32

The pattern of prayer in some
Churches these days is at variance
with Christ's instruction in Matthew
6:5-8 to wit:

"And when thou prayest,
thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are:
for they love to pray standing in the
synagogues and in the corners of the
streets, that they may be seen of men.
Verily I say unto you, They have their
reward. But thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet, and when thou
hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father
which is in secret; and thy Father
which seeth in secret shall reward thee
openly. But when ye pray, use not
vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for
they think that they shall be heard for
their much speaking. Be not ye
therefore like unto them: for your
Father knoweth what things ye have
need of, before ye ask him".

Vengeance

There is no doubt that God will take
vengeance on the wicked. But He will
do so at His own time and in the
manner He chooses after giving them
sufficient warning. (Matthew 24:12)

In
the book of the prophet Ezekiel, it is
stated that God Almighty commanded
His servants on earth to go about
setting a mark on the foreheads of all
those who sigh and cry for the
wickedness that are being done in the
city (that is, in the world). In other
words, he should impart the truth to
them. It is when that work is finished
that God will command the angels to
go

"through the city, and smite: old
and young, both maids, and little
children, and women." - Ezekiel 9:4-6

Definitely, if the wicked man continues
in his wickedness, he will not go
unpunished. (Proverbs 11:19,21;
Psalm 19:7-11; Revelation 21: It is
God Almighty Who will carry out the
punishment, through Jesus Christ, not
the propagators of the holy ghost fire
doctrine. That was why in St. Paul's
letter to the Christians at Thessalonica
he declared that Jesus Christ will in
"flaming fire" take vengeance "on
them that know not God, and that
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ: Who shall be punished with
everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord, and from the
glory of his power…" (2 Thessalonians
1:7-9)

The punishment will be total
such that the wicked will not have
chance of life again, hence it is
symbolized as fire.

In other words the
fire is not literal but is a symbol of
everlasting destruction.

It should
therefore be understood what St. Paul
meant when he said in his letter to the
Hebrews "For our God is a consuming
fire." - Hebrews 12:29

From what has been said in this
sermon, it is evident that the practice
of calling for holy ghost fire to punish
one's perceived enemies is based on
ignorance.

There is nothing like holy
ghost fire in the Bible.

The adherents
of this dangerous doctrine should
therefore retrace their steps in there
own interest for their own salvation. -
1 Timothy 6:3-5. See also Ephesians
4:14; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

I was able to reformat your Posts on my Phone, easily. Unfortunately, I had to read everything.

Plagiarization is rude.

Most especially when it represents Oyinbo pompous Cessationalistic Theology.

That it was so easy to correct (I knew that it would be, as soon as I saw it,) tells me that you never even tried.

As I read the Post, I saw that it was a straight "COPY & PASTE" plagiarization transplanted from some Oyinbo monologue, that was consistent with Roman Catholic Theology.

That you found nothing to add to this heap of garbage for six years implies a complete lack of interest in the topic, and that you were ordered by Owners to write it

You must not understand the seriousness of "TAKING THE NAME OF THE LORD IN VAIN," and "BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST."

oaroloye:
SHALOM!



You need to learn HTML: it is invaluable.

In Forum lingo, what you have done is called "BLOCK-OF-TEXT," and it is usually replied with the abbreviation, TLDR- that is, "TOO LONG, DIDN'T READ."

Whom do you expect to be so conscientious to bother to try to read such an ugly essay?

. MATTHEW 5:38-48.

38. "Ye have heard that it hath been said,

'AN EYE FOR AN EYE,
AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.'

39. "But I Say unto you,

'THAT YE RESIST NOT EVIL:
BUT WHOSOEVER SHALL
SMITE THEE ON THY RIGHT CHEEK,
TURN TO HIM
THE OTHER ALSO.'

40. "And if any man
will sue thee at The Law,
and take away thy coat,
let him have (thy) cloke also.
41. "And whosoever shall compel thee
to go a mile,
go with him twain.
42. "Give to him
that asketh thee,
and from him that would borrow of thee
turn not thou away.
43. "Ye have heard
that it hath been said,

'THOU SHALT LOVE
THY NEIGHBOUR
AND HATE
THINE ENEMY.'

44. "But I Say unto you,

'LOVE YOUR ENEMIES,
BLESS THEM THAT CURSE YOU,
DO GOOD TO THEM
THAT HATE YOU,
AND PRAY FOR THEM WHICH DESPITEFULLY USE YOU
AND PERSECUTE YOU.'

45. "That ye may be
the Children of your Father
Which is in Heaven:
for He maketh His Sun
to rise on the Evil
and on the Good,
and sendeth Rain
on the Just
and on the Unjust.
46. "For if ye love them
which love you,
what Reward have ye?
Do not even the Publicans
the same?
47. "And if ye salute
your Brethren only,
what do ye more (than others)
Do not even the Publicans so?
48. "Be ye therefore Perfect,
even as your Father
Which is in Heaven
is Perfect."

YOU KNOW THAT A TRUE CHRISTIAN, OR OTHER PERSON WHO HAS ANY INTEREST IN THE SUBJECT, WOULD NOT CARE ABOUT HOW POORLY YOUR POST WAS FORMATTED, BUT TAKE THE TIME TO READ IT, ANYWAY, OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE AUTHOR, THE EFFORT OF THE AUTHOR, THE INTERESTINGNESS OF THE SUBJECT, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT.

That everyone has ignored your Post for SIX YEARS shows the fake immature, unworthy nature of people on this forum, in particular, and this country in general.

It is a certainty that many of the contributors to this Forum are among those "Whooping and Hollering" "HOLY GHOST FIRE! HOLY GHOST FIRE!" in Church, but It has no application in their personal lives.

It has not made them better Christians.

It has not increased their love for God, the Things of His Kingdom, nor for their Neighbours and Strangers.




I was able to reformat your Posts on my Phone, easily. Unfortunately, I had to read everything.

Plagiarization is rude.

Most especially when it represents Oyinbo pompous Cessationalistic Theology.

That it was so easy to correct (I knew that it would be, as soon as I saw it,) tells me that you never even tried.

As I read the Post, I saw that it was a straight "COPY & PASTE" plagiarization transplanted from some Oyinbo monologue, that was consistent with Roman Catholic Theology.

That you found nothing to add to this heap of garbage for six years implies a complete lack of interest in the topic, and that you were ordered by Owners to write it

You must not understand the seriousness of "TAKING THE NAME OF THE LORD IN VAIN," and "BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST."

this was something i stumbled upon while surfing the net back then thought it was interesting, I just copied and pasted it here.

see note o ??

If you're a trinitarian it's possible to render the word holy spirit as holy ghost. Because the origin of TRINITY teaches that God turn to Jesus, died and became a ghost the living dead!

But if you're talking about fire fueled by God's spirit, remember the burning bush in Exodus. Even a toddler know that it's only the fire of holy spirit, that could burn, send out heat yet refuse to consume the object on which it's burning!

oaroloye:
SHALOM!

You need to learn HTML: it is invaluable.

EMILO2STAY, ... and its not difficult

HTML Tutorial - W3Schools
https://www.w3schools.com

HTML Tutorial: Learn HTML For Free | Codecademy
https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-html

In just 7 hours, learn the basics of HTML5 and start building & editing web pages. ... You will learn all the common HTML tags used to structure HTML pages

oaroloye:
In Forum lingo, what you have done is called "BLOCK-OF-TEXT," and it is usually replied with the abbreviation, TLDR- that is, "TOO LONG, DIDN'T READ."

Whom do you expect to be so conscientious to bother to try to read such an ugly essay?

YOU KNOW THAT A TRUE CHRISTIAN, OR OTHER PERSON WHO HAS ANY INTEREST IN THE SUBJECT, WOULD NOT CARE ABOUT HOW POORLY YOUR POST WAS FORMATTED, BUT TAKE THE TIME TO READ IT, ANYWAY, OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE AUTHOR, THE EFFORT OF THE AUTHOR, THE INTERESTINGNESS OF THE SUBJECT, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT.

That everyone has ignored your Post for SIX YEARS shows the fake immature, unworthy nature of people on this forum, in particular, and this country in general.

It is a certainty that many of the contributors to this Forum are among those "Whooping and Hollering" "HOLY GHOST FIRE! HOLY GHOST FIRE!" in Church, but It has no application in their personal lives.

It has not made them better Christians.

It has not increased their love for God, the Things of His Kingdom, nor for their Neighbours and Strangers.

I was able to reformat your Posts on my Phone, easily. Unfortunately, I had to read everything.

Plagiarization is rude.

Most especially when it represents Oyinbo pompous Cessationalistic Theology.

That it was so easy to correct (I knew that it would be, as soon as I saw it,) tells me that you never even tried.

As I read the Post, I saw that it was a straight "COPY & PASTE" plagiarization transplanted from some Oyinbo monologue, that was consistent with Roman Catholic Theology.

That you found nothing to add to this heap of garbage for six years implies a complete lack of interest in the topic, and that you were ordered by Owners to write it

You must not understand the seriousness of "TAKING THE NAME OF THE LORD IN VAIN," and "BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST."

It is well.

They've mismatched prophet Elijah's 2 Kings 1:10,12,14 and 1 Kings 18:21-41 plus the disciples James and John's Luke 9:54 with that Acts 2:3 where people saw the Holy Spirit/Ghost physically showing as tongues like flames of fire, and arranging themselves so that one came to rest on each believer present in the upper room on that pentecost eventful day to make a misguided doctrine out of

EMILO2STAY:
this was something i stumbled upon while surfing the net back then thought it was interesting, I just copied and pasted it here.

IS THERE ANYTHING LIKE HOLY GHOST FIRE IN THE BIBLE?
https://www.mountaingks.org/is-there-anything-like-holy-ghost-fire-in-the-bible-2/

One doesnt have to be a rocket scientist, to see from the above pasted weblink, that its content were posted and pasted here without crediting who painstakingly wrote the original article, it is someone else's intellectual property but you not only copied and pasted it here, word for word exactly and without any changes, you also made a right dog's dinner mess of left aligning the text into a long page, requiring this scrolling down, that never ends to read the post and/or it made sense of understanding it, be impossible.

The internet never forgets and so contributors, if they have done a "COPY & PASTE" plagiarization, as in meaning, they posted works without giving the website links or acknowledging the author, are soon found out to and rightly so, get vilified for the plagiarism, just like as oaroloye has done to you.

So, EMILO2STAY, when next you stumble upon something while surfing the internet that you think it's compellingly enough to want to share it with others, please give credit to the author or source by including its website link, as done above there for you.

MuttleyLaff:
EMILO2STAY, ... and its not difficult

HTML Tutorial - W3Schools
https://www.w3schools.com

HTML Tutorial: Learn HTML For Free | Codecademy
https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-html

In just 7 hours, learn the basics of HTML5 and start building & editing web pages. ... You will learn all the common HTML tags used to structure HTML pages

It is well.

They've mismatched prophet Elijah's 2 Kings 1:10,12,14 and 1 Kings 18:21-41 plus the disciples James and John's Luke 9:54 with that Acts 2:3 where people saw the Holy Spirit/Ghost physically showing as tongues like flames of fire, and arranging themselves so that one came to rest on each believer present in the upper room on that pentecost eventful day to make a misguided doctrine out of

IS THERE ANYTHING LIKE HOLY GHOST FIRE IN THE BIBLE?
https://www.mountaingks.org/is-there-anything-like-holy-ghost-fire-in-the-bible-2/

One doesnt have to be a rocket scientist, to see from the above pasted weblink, that its content were posted and pasted here without crediting who painstakingly wrote the original article, it is someone else's intellectual property but you not only copied and pasted it here, word for word exactly and without any changes, you also made a right dog's dinner mess of left aligning the text into a long page, requiring this scrolling down, that never ends to read the post and/or it made sense of understanding it, be impossible.

The internet never forgets and so contributors, if they have done a "COPY & PASTE" plagiarization, as in meaning, they posted works without giving the website links or acknowledging the author, are soon found out to and rightly so, get vilified for the plagiarism, just like as oaroloye has done to you.

So, EMILO2STAY, when next you stumble upon something while surfing the internet that you think it's compellingly enough to want to share it with others, please give credit to the author or source by including its website link, as done above there for you.

I copied and pasted this with Nokia n96 symbian phone.

Jesus’ Example

That God is opposed to the practice of praying for fire to burn people is eloquently attested to by the statement of Christ when he was to pass through some Samaritan villages and they would not let him pass as it is written: “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.

And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.” – Luke 9:51-56

It could be seen that when prompted by his enraged disciples to pray for fire to destroy the Samaritans for their slight on him, Jesus Christ rebuked them. But the professed Christians of today would readily call for fire to burn their enemies.
God will not answer such prayers. Jesus Christ during his sermon on the mount exhorted: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” – Matthew 5:43-48. See also Luke 6:27,28.

It should be noted that when Christ said “pray for your enemies” and those who “despitefully use you and persecute you”, it is to the end that God will open their eyes to understand their folly so that they will turn to righteousness and not for them to be strengthened in wickedness. St. Paul also said: “Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.” (Romans 12:14)

He added: “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.” -Romans 12:17-21; Proverbs 25:21,22.

It should be recalled that one of the reasons God blessed Solomon richly was that he did not ask for the life of his enemies. (1 Kings 3:5-15) Even while suffering the pangs of death, Jesus Christ prayed God Almighty in this wise: “…Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

St. Stephen followed the same example when as he lay dying “he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”. (Acts 7:60) The Bible warns against rejoicing when calamites befall one’s enemies as it is written: “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.” ( Proverbs 24:17,18) If it is ungodly to derive pleasure from the troubles of those who oppose righteousness, is it prayer for doom to befall such people that God will answer? Certainly not.

Therefore, praying for evil to befall one’s neighbours is clearly unchristian as it does not take account of the grace of God by which He forbears and forgives people when they repent. (Psalm 130:3,4; 2 Peter 3:9) The Bible teaches tolerance and peaceful co-existence. (Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-42; Romans 12:18) We should be tolerant of those who do not know God or who oppose God that He may grant them repentance knowing that it is the devil who has taken them captive at his will. (2 Timothy 2:26)

It needs be pointed out that some of the Samaritans were later converted to the Christian faith. (Acts 1:8; 8:14) Also, if the early apostles had called for fire to destroy Saul who later became Paul while he was persecuting them, he would not have been alive to expand the frontiers of Christianity as he did in his days by the grace and power of God.

MANNER OF PRAYER

The Bible says that by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:16,20) It is noteworthy that in the course of their prayers, some Christians today behave like the worshippers of Baal in their encounter with Elijah as described in 1 Kings 18. They scream or shout repeatedly at the top of their voices; they engage in outlandish gestures like vigorously waving their hands, stamping their feet, rolling on the floor, pounding the wall with their hands; running helter-skelter, uttering incomprehensible sounds in the name of speaking in tongues and so on.

These are not the manifestations of the spirit of God which is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” (James 3:17) It should also be pointed out that the spirit of the prophets is always subject to the prophets. (1 Corinthians 14:32) The spirit of God does not operate in such a way that the person will lose control of himself and behave in a

The pattern of prayer in some churches these days is at variance with Christ’s instruction in Matthew 6:5-8 to wit: “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”

EMILO2STAY:
I copied and pasted this with Nokia n96 symbian phone.

Is a Nokia n96 symbian phone not good enough or not capable to make content copied easily readable without needing to employ too much effort ni? Is that what you're saying? The phone is at fault, hmm?

Vengeance


There is no doubt that God will take vengeance on the wicked. But he will do so at His own time and in the manner he chooses – after giving them sufficient warning. (Matthew 24:14) In the book of the prophet Ezekiel, it is stated that God Almighty commanded His servants on earth to go about setting a mark on the foreheads of all those who sigh and cry for the wickedness that are being done in the city.
In other words, he should impart the truth to them. It is when that work is finished that God will command the angels to go “through the city, and smite: old and young, both maids, and little children, and women.” – Ezekiel 9:4-6.

Definitely if the wicked man continues in his wickedness, he will not go unpunished. (Proverbs 11:19,21; Psalm 19:7; Revelation 21: It is God Almighty Who will carry out the punishment, through Jesus Christ, not the propagators of the holy ghost fire doctrine.
That was why in St. Paul’s letter to the Christians at Thessalonica he declared that that Jesus Christ will in “flaming fire” take vengeance “on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power…” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9) The punishment will be total such that the wicked will not have chance of life again, hence it is symbolized as fire.
Thus the fire is not literal but is a symbol of everlasting destruction. It should therefore be understood what St. Paul meant when he said in his letter to the Hebrews “For our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29)
From what has been said in this sermon, it is evident that the practice of calling for holy ghost fire to punish one’s perceived enemies is based on ignorance.

There is nothing like holy ghost fire in the Bible. The adherents of this dangerous doctrine should therefore retrace their steps in their own interest for their own salvation. St. Paul admonished: “If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words…from such withdraw thyself.” – 1 Timothy 6:3-5. See also Ephesians 4:14; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

https://www.mountaingks.org/is-there-anything-like-holy-ghost-fire-in-the-bible-2/

MuttleyLaff:
Is a Nokia n96 symbian phone not good enough or not capable to make content copied easily readable without needing to employ too much effort ni? Is that what you're saying? The phone is at fault, hmm?

what is the meaning of this, do you want to start an argument this morning?

EMILO2STAY:
what is the meaning of this, do you want to start an argument this morning?

You can take it as you want it my dear friend
What a wanton display of unrestrained ingratitude

MuttleyLaff:
You can take it as you want it my dear friend
What a wanton display of unrestrained ingratitude

ok sir

EMILO2STAY:
Instead of carefully scrutinizing what they have been taught in the light of the Scriptures, many professed Christians today allow themselves to be carried away by every wind of doctrine as long as such appear to satisfy their immediate emotional and material concerns. One of such doctrines is the teaching that there is something like “holy ghost fire” which can be invoked to destroy one’s enemies or whatever obstacles that may lie in one’s way.

Some seekers-after-truth have been asking whether this teaching is supported by the Scriptures. One of those who have expressed such concern is Dr. Reuben Abati of The Guardian. In an article entitled “The prayer warriors” he complained that the manner “Holy Ghost fire” prayers were being said at a Pentecostal church he attended amounted to arguing with God. Asserting that in these churches “Prayer-time is war time”, he added: “Prayer warriors worship a God of spectacle, they reach out to a distant God who has to be shouted upon and nudged and commanded.” –

The Guardian September 26, 2003, page 51.
In a spirited response to the article one Lola Falobi contended that the issue of “violent prayers” and “speaking in tongues” was not new, and “could be traced to as far back as when the disciples of Jesus assembled together in the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-3)” He continued: “Besides, Pentecostal members pray feverishly because we live in a world where Satan (and his agents) have not relented in their wickedly adventurous devices and antics…Even though the Bible states that we should ask, seek and knock (Matthew 7:7) I am sure you should not do that timidly, especially when Jesus told his disciples ‘the kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent taketh it by force’ (Matthew 11:!2)” He went on to contend that if Dr. Abati had been “tormented by the devil or faced any form of spiritual attack” he will “spend all his spiritual energy to constantly rebuke Satan” and that he should not blame those who “are shouting themselves hoarse during their prayer time or who pray vigorously and fervently” as they have their reasons. – The Guardian November 6, 2003, page 16
.
There is no denying the fact that it is now common to hear at crusades and services, church leaders yelling “holy ghost!” and the congregation energetically responding, “fire” and the next line which usually follows, “Holy Ghost fire” to which they start screaming “burn them!” “consume them!” or “destroy them!” as the case may be.
According to the report by Dr. Abati the congregants were hysterically praying: “Father, destroy them. Father, bind them. I bind them in the name of Jesus. Holy Ghost fire, burn them. I say Burn them!, burn them! Holy Ghost Fire destroy them…” ( The Guardian September 26, 2003, page 51) Whether this type of prayer is in harmony with the Scriptures or not they do not care to know.

This is of course contrary to the Bible standard which requires us to verify the truth of what we are told before we accept such as an article of faith. – 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 John 4:1; Acts 17:10,11.

Matthew 11:12 is very misunderstood. Wonder why they never asked themselves who is the violent one

Religion still remain a scam..if God is as described here, most of us would not be alive today......

Religion still remain a scam..if God is as described by the religious books, most of us would not be alive today......

Holy Ghost fire consume them, Holy Ghost fire consume them, Holy Ghost fire consume them, Holy Ghost fire consume them. All the bad belle around us, Holy Ghost fire consume them. Amennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.