The Mystery of Healing: Oil, Anointing, and the Unity of the Local Church
The Holy Sacraments of Baptism, Chrismation and Holy Communion
The Seven Sacraments of the Greek Orthodox Church
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"And
it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy"
(Acts 2:17-18).
Since
Adam and Eve sinned by their selfish and prideful disobedience of their
benevolent Creator's commandment, humanity had been ostracised from God's
Presence. Where once our foreparents spoke to God "face to face"
in the Garden of Eden, afterwards human beings could only approach the
Divine Presence from a distance and with blood sacrifice.
The prophets of the Old Testament and some kings and priests did
personally experience God's Presence by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
But the common person could only approach God indirectly by going to the
Temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. For there, in the Holy of Holies,
God's Presence dwelt. But, no one could enter in there, except
the High Priest (and he only once a year), or else they would be
struck dead.
But on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after Resurrection
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the first part of Joel's prophecy
(quoted above) was fulfilled. God poured His Spirit "on all flesh".
It started first with the 120 believers in the upper room, as recorded
in the Book of Acts, where it say, "When the Day of Pentecost had
fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there
came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the
whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided
tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as
the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:1-4).
Later that day 3000 more people believed, were baptised, and received
the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Just
what is the "gift of the Holy Spirit"?
The
Holy Spirit, you may remember, is the third person of the Holy Trinity,
through whom the entire Godhead works with humanity.
"There is in God something analogous to 'society'. He is not
a single person, loving Himself alone… He is triunity: three equal persons,
each one dwelling in the other two by virtue of an unceasing movement
of mutual love".
"There is distinction, but never separation. Father, Son and
Spirit - so the saints affirm, following the testimony of Scripture -
have only one will and not three, only one energy and not three. None
of the three ever acts separately, apart from the other two. They are
not three Gods, but one God".
"Each of the three is fully and
completely God. None is more or less God than the others".
Our Lord Jesus Christ repeatedly promised the gift of
the Holy Spirit to His disciples.
Early in His public ministry He said, "'If anyone thirsts, let him
come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said,
out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'. But this He spoke
concerning the Spirit…" (John 7:37-39). Jesus also said, "I
will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that
He may abide with you forever" (John 14:16).
Christ promised the Holy Spirit would reveal truth to the Church.
"When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into
all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He
hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify
Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you" (John
16:13-14). Jesus says the Holy Spirit will bring glory to Christ. This
gives us an excellent means of testing whether or not acts attributed
to the Holy Spirit are indeed valid.
The last words of Christ before His Ascension include a promise:
"John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the
Holy Spirit not many days from now" (Acts 1:5). This word was fulfilled
ten days later on the Day of Pentecost.
The people who heard the Apostle Peter speak at Pentecost asked
him how they might receive salvation. He answered, "Repent, and let
every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts
2:38). We repent (turn from our sins and toward Christ); we are baptized;
and we are given "the gift of the Holy Spirit" through chrismation.
That practice has never changed.
All people, when they are baptized into the Church, are "sealed
with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His
glory" (Ephesians 1:13-14).
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was an evidence that the last
times, the day of the Lord, had come. Hence, Pentecost was a proof to
the Jews that Jesus indeed was the Messiah. And the outpouring of the
Holy Spirit upon the Gentiles (Acts 10:44-48) was a proof they were equal
to the Jews in this final age.
The guarantee is a first installment, a down payment of
what is later to be completed: we both are redeemed and shall be redeemed.
Thus, having the Holy Spirit dwelling in us is proof that we will
receive eternal life. The trick is not to grieve the Holy Spirit, by our
sins, and cause Him to abandon us.
How will we know if we have the seal
of the Holy Spirit? By performing miracles or healings? By speaking in tongues? Or by being
an apostle, or an evangelist, or a prophet? No. You could have one or
more of these gifts but still grieve the Holy Spirit. It is by producing
good fruit - "for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness,
righteousness, and truth" (Ephesians 5:9). And, "the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23).
But
the greatest of these is love.
"Love
suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself,
is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not
provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in
the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures
all things. Love never fails" (1 Cor. 13: 4-8).
Gifts of the Spirit such as healing and prophesying, wonderful
as they are, are temporary and incomplete. They are for this age, while
we are "children". But love continues into the age to
come: it is eternal, complete and fulfilling.
We said previously that before Pentecost, humanity was barred from
God's Presence. The Death, Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ changed all that. For God now lives in the heart
of every believer.
This is a great mystery! The Creator of the whole universe condescending to live
in our mortal bodies!
St. Symeon the New Theologian describes this beautifully:
"I
know that the Immovable comes down;
I know that the Invisible appears to me;
I know that He who is far outside the whole creation
Takes me within Himself and hides me in His arms,
And then I find myself outside the whole world.
I, a frail, small mortal in the world,
Behold the Creator of the world, all of Him, within myself;
And I know that I shall not die, for I am within the Life,
I have the whole of Life springing up as a fountain within me.
He is in my heart, He is in heaven:
Both there and here He shows Himself to me with equal glory"
Likewise the Apostle Paul says, "Do you not know that you
are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone
defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God
is holy, which temple you are" (1 Cor. 3:16-17).
I pray that we all live in repentance, faith and love. "Chase
after love", as St. John Chrysostom urges us, and keep yourselves
holy. For you are God's holy temple.
from
Voice in the Wilderness, June-July 1996, vol 4/3
published by Greek Orthodox Church of Saint George, Brisbane QLD
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