I thought I would share with you what I heard from the Lord today. I was meditating on John 7:38. Jesus said, "If you believe on me, out of your belly will flow rivers of Living Water." It occurs to me Jesus was actually saying, "If you believe in me," as in, "If you believe my words." Since John 7:39 reveals the Living Water to be the Holy Spirit and Acts 2 reveals the gift of tongues to be the manifestation of the Holy Spirit flowing out of believer's bellies as rivers, then speaking the gift of tongues is really all about releasing the Holy Spirit.
Jesus told His disciples, "I will build my Church." But the word build Jesus used means structure, architecture. There is another word that means organization. Jesus said I will build the house, He did not say He would build a home. He then turned to the disciples and said, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven." Jesus gave us the authority to build the organization.
The Living Water flows out of the belly by faith. Jesus said, "If you believe what I am telling you, you will allow rivers of Living Water to flow out of your belly." And it takes faith in Jesus' words to allow that to happen. You must believe that the gift of tongues rolling out of your belly is Living Water. This gives new meaning to Hebrews 11:6. "He that comes to God must believe that He is and that He rewards all those who diligently seek Him." Since the disciples diligently sought God's gift with fastings and prayers and their diligence was rewarded with the gift of tongues, this shows again the necessity of faith when it comes to tongues and the willingness of God to reward all believers with the gift, if they seek diligently. Hebrews 11:6 reveals the gift of tongues to be a reward to those who diligently seek the Father, God. Also, did you notice how closely John 7:38 and Hebrews 11:6 parallel each other? Both verses speak of belief and the result of that belief.
The keys of the Kingdom are in our hands. If we bind up the Holy Spirit by damning up the flow of the rivers, the Holy Spirit is bound in heaven. But if we loose the Holy Spirit to flow out of our bellies as rivers, we loose the Holy Spirit in heaven. Of course "rivers" speaks of volume. Gone are the days when we can get away with five minutes here, or fifteen minutes there, we need to commit to rivers of Living Water flowing out of us. Since you can't speak in tongues and do any other thing that takes active thought, time spent speaking in tongues is a fast to the Lord, and there is a spiritual principal of waiting for the Holy Spirit to move.
Do you have the faith to commit to allowing rivers of Living Water to flow through you? This is the question I ask of myself. There is very few things you can do while allowing the rivers to flow. You really have to dedicate the time to the Lord and be purposeful. You have to decide to release the Holy Spirit as an act of your will and dedicate yourself to that purpose. There are very few people doing this. The Church was given the authority to bind and loose, and they have bound the Holy Spirit from performing mighty acts by not allowing Him to flow freely from their own bellies, but we have the power to loose Him.
It is curious to note that several of the more recent revivals came about as a result of prayer meetings where the focus was on praying in tongues. But even more curious is the fact that as soon as the revival started, people stopped praying in tongues. This enigma baffles me. Jesus said, "If you believe on me," as in believing in what I am telling you, "rivers of Living Water will flow out of your belly." This thought by Jesus gives new meaning to Paul's admonition to pray without ceasing. It also explains why we see so little of the life of God in the churches, they are all very busy trying to control the gift of tongues. Again, Jesus said, "You have the keys." This implies Jesus does not have the keys. If we shut off the flow of the Holy Spirit on earth, the flow of the Holy Spirit is shut off from heaven. This explains why Paul, after trying to bring some semblance of order to the Corinthian Church, finally instructed, "Do not forbid any one from speaking in tongues" (1Cor.14:39). Obviously, the flow of the Holy Spirit coming out of believers is more important than any sense of decorum, because, we have the keys. Whatever we bind on earth is bound in heaven!
If we are happy to go throughout our lives without any grand displays of God's power and love, we have every right to do so, we were given the keys to God's Kingdom. But if we want to return the Church to God's control, we will have to unlock the box we have the Holy Spirit locked away in. We will have to allow the rivers to flow out of our bellies. Asking God to intervene in this matter does no good as Jesus gave us the keys, He does not have them. It is up to us. Every believer that commits to allowing the rivers of Living Water to flow out of their belly opens the door a little further. The more we unbind the Holy Spirit from inside us, the more free He is to move, both personally and corporately.
The Kingdom of God is not administered from heaven by God, it is administered on earth by the Church. We have the keys. If we want more of God, all we have to do is release more of Him. Conversely, if we want more control over Christ's Church, all we have to do is bind the Holy Spirit a little tighter. Jesus said, "whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven. All of the revivals of the last 400 years came as a result of committed believers releasing the Holy Spirit. They thought they were praying for revival, but Jesus gave the keys to the Kingdom to the Church. The Church has the power to bind the Holy Spirit and they have the power to loose Him.
Every church on every Sunday plays a game of binding and loosening. The question before them is how much of the power and presence of God do they want. Generally, they want enough of the presence of God to confirm salvation, but very little beyond that. They are constantly tweaking the binding and loosening, ever watchful not to go too far, ever mindful to keep control of the church for themselves. Most pastors are unaware that this is what they are doing.
The Keys to the Kingdom are found in obedience and disobedience. Obedience to God loosens, disobedience binds. The command of Acts 1:4 is the key. There are many levels of disobedience to this command. Each level binds and loosens incrementally. Full obedience, which is exercising faith in the zoe life of God flowing out of the belly by the Holy Spirit releases the Holy Spirit fully.
We must remember though, there are many well meaning brothers and sisters in Christ, who genuinely love the Lord, but cling to the devil's ways. They would rather control the church for their own well being than have the Holy Spirit do anything more than confirm their salvation. And, they have every right to do so. Jesus so believed in them, He gave them the keys to the Kingdom of God. These same believers will try to stop any believer from releasing the mighty rivers of life. We must deal with them with compassion and kindness, but remember, If we believe on Jesus, rivers of Living Water will flow from our bellies.
Allen