8. Because the Church of God cannot made perfect, however, without the Holy Spirit, she prays for the promised "Late Rain" or spring rain.(Joel 2.23; Zech. 10.1; James 5.7) And because she accepts the whole Bible as guide line, she can't pass on verses like Ephesians 5.18, 1Cor. 14.1,39, but must strive for the gifts of the Holy Spirit according to the injunction of the Apostel Paul; only it must happen in a sober and biblical way. The older ones of my readers will know what devastation the Pentecostal Movement had caused in this area. The same must not happen again. This fanatic and demonic spirit, that at that time asserted itself, must not only be shown the door, but must be deprived of any target; and this happens when one recognises - based on the Word of God - the reasons why these demonic spirits could gain entry in such a terrible and alarming measure into the our fellowships. I can see two reasons in particular, worth our consideration:

a) In many cases the Holy Spirit was sought in an unbiblical way. The Holy Scripture teaches with unequivocal clarity that the Holy Spirit can only be received through penitent faith in Christ our Lord and Saviour. (Acts 2.38,39) The receiving of the Holy Spirit is therefore dependant on a certain condition, which is not met, however, by most Christians and therefore and therefore the spiritual poverty. Should therefore the legitimate longing for more equipping with the Spirit be fulfilled, the mentioned condition must, first of all, thoroughly met; a comprehensive repentance and total surrender is a fundamental requirement for the fullness of the Spirit. We need, therefore, not keep waiting for a new Pentecost, but the Spirit of Pentecost that is already present in the Church is waiting for us, to finally give ourselves over to Him completely, so that He can gain total control over us and use us how He wants and pleases Him. How did it happen in the so called Pentecostal Movement? There was the opinion that one had to wait for a new Pentecost and the Holy Spirit were long in coming and had to be dragged here by force with ardent prayer, and that, not to build up the Church, but to be able to boast about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This prideful desire to drag forcibly to oneself the gifts of the Spirit inevitable opens the door for demonic spirits; for the Holy Spirit doesn't allow Himself to be forced.

b) Added to that, about this gift, the speaking of tongues, Paul considered one of the lesser ones in church, they were most concerned , maybe because it was the most conspicuous one and they believed it brought them admiration. God allowed to enter the demonic spirit, however, to teach the believers a lesson, namely that God's gifts cannot dragged forcibly to oneself with an unholy and prideful heart. Instead of making a deeper surrender to the Lord, they believed, on the one hand, that they could be content with a superficial knowledge of sin, and on the other hand, they became fearful of even authentic gifts and fell back into lukewarm Christianity: I am rich and have acquired wealth and don't need a thing.(Rev.3.17) They pretended that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were not necessary anymore for the equipping of the Church and that their natural gift of teaching could do better than the Spirit of prophecy. And so the striving for the gifts and fullness of the Spirit receded completely into the background. They were almost afraid to talk about it, fearing they could be tainted as hidden Pentecostals. Only isolated voices were heard, continually calling for efforts to obtain more gifts and the fullness of the Spirit. But those voices were unheeded for fear of the Pentecostal Movement. And so most sank into a lukewarm state and believed not to need the gifts of the Spirit. The Philadelphia-Christians know, however, that the gifts of the Spirit are still present, just waiting to break through stronger, to help with the divine perfection of the Church. They ask, therefore, for more equipping with the gifts of the Spirit, not for them personally to shine, but for the Church of God, and they rejoice wherever the gifts appear, even if they themselves are left out. And even the gift of tongues they don't despise, if it should please God to give it again; for even if it is of small significance for the Church, it is still a gift from God, Paul is thankful for, because it edifies man.(1.Cor.14.4) And who is so holy to be in no need of edification? And who could despise a gift for which Paul gave thanks? Are we better than Paul? Does not particularly here, with the contempt for some gifts of the Spirit, appear the boundless arrogance of man who thinks he can do better without God and His gifts? Should we not rather be ashamed of ourselves for the lack of the Holy Spirit and ask God for salve for the eyes, so that we may at least recognise our poverty? As long as we don't even see our shortcomings, we won't have the desire for the gifts of the Spirit; and if there is no desire we won't receive anything, because God doesn't push His gifts on us. The desire, however, must be pure! We should not just want them in order to be able to stand in the spotlight, but simply, because God demands it and we must be obedient to God; for He expects us to bear fruit. And we can only bear fruit, if we are led by the Spirit; for: "Apart from me you can do nothing".(John 15.5) The Church of God can only be made perfect if she gives room in heart and life to all the promised gifts of the Spirit; for through the gifts are uncovered hidden sins. (1Cor. 14.24,25) And this "uncovering" is in turn a prerequisite of the fullness of the Spirit, which is another prerequisite of the transformation into the image of Jesus and finally of the rapture; for as Revelation 19.7 testifies: "His bride made herself ready". We always need to be reminded that just as in nature, the Kingdom of God works according to laws, like the Lord shows us through His parables.