LAYING ON OF HANDS - Hebrews 6 verse 1 – 2

INTRODUCTION

Oooo La La it is that time of the month again people fresh manna from the throne.  As I have said I am dealing with the fundamentals of our Christian walk and you can’t get more basic than this. However, it is the little foxes that spoil the vines. If the foundations be destroyed what will the righteous do?

Laying on of hands is one of the six fundamental principles of the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ listed in Hebrews 6 verse 1-2:

 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

² Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

I am very concerned for the unwary sheep like myself.

We will now listen to a video done by Pastor Kenneth Hagin.

APPRECIATION

I forgot to thank this Pastor last month.  How could I?

·         Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo from over there at Kingsway International Christian Centre in England NO LIMITS/LINE CROSSER/BARRIER BREAKER/ IDENTITY – 31 Insights into Prayer, (we are the only army that marches forward on our knees), 30 Reasons Why Christians Should have a Business, 50 Blessings and 80 Reasons Why You Should Give Thanks to the Lord – As Dr. Otabil says when these guys interpret the Bible you wonder if it is the same book you are reading.

I pray the Lord will continue to increase him.

REFLECTIONS

I have been very concerned about what I see taking place as I visit churches in this country.  Having come from a deliverance background I am aware of the dangers that can happen if there is no control in this area.  I remember my Pastor in Jamaica would warn people not to go around and allow people to lay hands on them arbitrarily.  They should know the lives of people before allowing them to lay hands.

So, people if you see me ignoring your prayer lines been there done that.  It is self-preservation.  If you lay empty hands on empty heads all you get is empty. Zero times zero is zero. Hence, the reason the Apostle Paul admonished Timothy not to lay hands on anyone suddenly I Timothy 5 verse 22.

CRITICAL DEFINITIONS

In Christianity, the laying on of hands (Greek: cheirotonia - χειροτονία, literally, "laying-on of hands") is both a symbolic and formal method of invoking the Holy Spirit primarily during baptisms and confirmations, healing services, blessings, and ordination of priests, ministers, elders, deacons, and other church officers, along with a variety of other church sacraments and holy ceremonies.

We will now look at the ministry of laying on of hands throughout the scriptures beginning at the book of Genesis. In the garden of Eden there was no need for the laying on of hands because God and man were at one.  Then Adam violated the relationship, hence we now have to lay hands and do all the other things that we call church to invoke the presence.

THE MINISTRY OF LAYING ON OF HANDS

1.      The Laying on of Hands for Blessings

Abraham did not have to bless Isaac because he was the covenant child. He sent away his other children with gifts Ishmael and the six others Genesis 25. However, Isaac had twins and we encountered intrigue with these two boys one loved by the mother and one by the father.  The elder Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage (be careful what you are selling your destiny for) to his younger brother and then suddenly developed amnesia when it was blessing time.  So, by sleight of hand and ingenuity Jacob and his mother engineered it so that the younger got the blessing. Let me recommend here Buy the Future a sermon on the subject by Dr. Mensa Otabil.

In Genesis 27 we see Isaac blessing Jacob and declaring that he would rule over his sibling. In verses 32 to 40 one realizes how important the blessing is because when Isaac realized that Jacob had gotten the blessing instead of Esau he ‘trembled very exceedingly’ and when Esau realized that he had missed out he cried.

Having established the significance of the blessing Let us jump over to Genesis 48.  This is Israel (Jacob) blessing his grandsons, Joseph’s sons.  The man was ready to give up the ghost (may you live until you die) so he was blessing some and getting back at some for sleeping with his concubine and for breaking covenant.  Don’t wait until you are dying to vent on your children is the lesson here. Genesis 48 vs 13-20 We see how Israel was deliberate about the blessing and how he was guided by the Lord and how he invoked the blessings of the lineage from Abraham. Ephraim did become greater than Manasseh in a short time. I Chronicles 12 vs 30

Jesus and the little children

In the book of St. Mark 10 vs 15-16 Jesus suffered the little children to come unto Him and blessed them by laying His hands on them.

2.      Succession Planning

Just a note here God is the original Management Guru he was doing the things that we are now discovering from before the foundations of the Earth. Succession Planning is all over the book. We all know our ultimate destiny.  If you are not sure read the Book of Revelation it is stated quite clearly. All categories are taken care of Revelation 21 vs 7-8. Just in case you are having degrees to sin. God has one degree sin.

Let us hop over to the book of Deuteronomy and look at the operations of that great man of God Pastor Moses.

Numbers 27:18-23King James Version (KJV)

¹⁸ And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;

¹⁹ And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight.

²⁰ And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.

²¹ And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.

²² And Moses did as the Lord commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation:

²³ And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.

The Lord had Moses to impart not only honour unto Joshua but also wisdom. Let us now look at Deuteronomy 34:9King James Version (KJV)

⁹ And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses.
Of course Joshua laid hands on no one so we have in the book of Judges Anarchy in Israel

3.      Victory

This illustration that I am going to use Dr. Mensa Otabil has a fantastic sermon on it called Don't Hold Back.  The Story is in II Kings 13 verses 14-19 you are going to have to fight but I will guide you. The laying of hands of the prophet speaks to transference of anointing and guidance 2 Kings 13:14-19King James Version (KJV).

¹⁴ Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.

¹⁵ And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.

¹⁶ And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands.

¹⁷ And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.

¹⁸ And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed.

¹⁹ And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.

4.      Healing/ Miraculous Power

The laying on of hands characterizes Jesus’ Ministry we see this in St. Luke 4 vs 40 and St. Mark 6 vs 5-6. In the latter scripture, we see that doubt and unbelief can hinder the ministry. The gospels are replete with instances where Jesus laid His hands and wrought healings and mighty miracles.

In Acts 28 vs 8 Paul laid his hands on a sick man and he was healed and immediately opened a healing school on the island of Malta.  This came about because in verse 5 of the same chapter Paul had shook off in the fire a deadly snake that bit him and under the observation of everyone who was expecting him to die nothing happened. There will be many snake bites in life, it is not unto death, it is only for the glory of God. Just shake off the serpent and move along. Gene J always nullify gene S.

5.      Baptism of the Holy Spirit

The book of Acts has many instances of this occurring.  This was a common feature of the apostle’s ministry in the book of Acts so much so that one man wanted to buy the power.  This took place in Acts 8 14 -20.

Also in Acts 19 vs 1 - 6, the disciples were baptized in the Holy Spirit.  The Holy spirit can also be received without the laying on of hands as in Acts 2 the upper room and Acts 10 the house of the gentile Cornelius.

6.      Set Apart for Ministry

We will look at two instances of this in the Bible the instance in Acts 13 vs 3. As it was in Acts 6 the Apostles fasted and prayed before laying on of hands.  You can’t lay empty hands on empty heads, one should always seek the direction of the Holy Spirit before laying on of hands. After all it is His show not ours.

No dissertation on this subject would be complete without looking at the instance with the young man called Timothy. Paul had to admonish the little young fellow not to be intimidated. In modern day parlance, we would say ‘Timothy don’t watch nuh face. Do your thing Brother.’ I Timothy 4 verse 14.

¹⁴ Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery

Let us watch this video done by Pastor Benny Hinn to cement the new concepts that we have learnt.

In the Old Testament hands are imposed on sacrificial animals in order to set them apart for special purposes (; Leviticus 4:4 Leviticus 16:21; 2 Chron 29:3 ). The notion of separation for an uncommon purpose also lies behind the imposition of hands on the Levites during their ceremony of consecration ( Num 8:5-15)

CONCLUSION

 In concluding, let me repeat that we must be very deliberate about what we are doing.  As Pastor E.A. Adeboye would say ‘God is not a talkative’.  There are reasons why He does the things He does, in the way that He does them. It is beneficial to us. We have to trust His heart. In addition, if we do not get the fundamentals right what sort of a structure can we build.

The organization of the church is right there in the Bible for all to see.  There needs to be no experimenting, if you are interested in order and transparency.  King David was very careful with king Solomon he kept saying see that you do everything according to the plan.  Likewise, Moses in the wilderness. Church Organization is for another Blog. Success leaves clues (Tony Robbins) no need to reinvent the wheel pattern those who are successful. Hence, the need for spiritual fathers.

I have been reflecting in recent weeks and thinking to myself that you can leave a job or they fire you. Having had many firings, myself.  You can steal some money and you go to prison and serve your sentence. But in the Church Leadership if you mess up this is what you get St Matthew 18 verse 6.

But whoso shall cause one of these little ones who believe in Me to fall, it were better for him that a millstone were hung about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

The mafia calls it ‘sleeping with the fishes’.  I was wondering where they got the terminology. Next month I will tell you about Mario Puzo's "The Godfather' fantastic book. I am winding down no more new material.

You might not be serious about God’s business but He is very serious about His business so don’t touch it if you are interested in pleasing men above God.

Once again, this is me Lillene’s baby girl coming to you from up here in the true north.

À bientôt!