49 Religious Lies Jesus Told Me to Stop Believing - 18 The Gifts of the Holy Spirit Aren't for Today

Summary

Mark Virkler argues that the gifts of the Holy Spirit—including tongues, prophecy, healing, and miracles—did not cease after the Bible was written or the early church began. He says he once accepted the opposite teaching from his pastor. He even used a passage about people performing miracles but being told, “I never knew you,” to conclude that speaking in tongues was evil. He now interprets that passage as warning about a lack of intimacy with God, not condemning spiritual gifts.

Virkler criticizes churches that stop certain practices because people in cults or other groups also do them. He recounts stories of churches avoiding miracles or celebratory worship after seeing witches perform similar acts. He argues that reacting to what evil people do is not a sound way to determine Christian practice, and that such reasoning can leave churches powerless.

In a journaling passage that he attributes to Jesus, Virkler says God’s power was not meant to stop operating once Scripture was complete. The passage points to Jesus’ promise that believers would do greater works and to the outpouring of the Spirit described in the Bible. Virkler presents the current period as a restoration of the Spirit’s gifts and encourages Christians to seek and practice them.

Practices and Lessons Virkler Recommends

• Explore the baptism of the Holy Spirit and tongues. Virkler says it took him more than a year to learn to speak in tongues because he expected Jesus to move his tongue for him. He explains that a person chooses to speak, refrains from deliberately forming the syllables, asks the Spirit to guide them, and speaks from the resulting flow.
• Pray for healing and persist. He describes praying more than once when needed and continuing to pray rather than assuming one attempt must be enough.
• Look for possible underlying causes. Virkler says that identifying what he considers the root cause of an illness, or praying for deliverance from a demon, can sometimes help with healing. He presents deliverance as a practice he uses and teaches.
• Invite the person to act in faith. In an anecdote about a man with painful arthritis, Virkler prayed for the man’s knees and then asked him to walk around the church. The man later reported that the pain was gone. Virkler presents this as an example of combining prayer with an action the person had difficulty doing.
• Teach and practice, rather than only lecture. He urges churches to teach healing and miracles, then hold practicums. In these, small groups gather around people requesting prayer, lay hands on them, listen for what participants believe is the Spirit’s guidance, pray or speak accordingly, and share what happened.
• Journal and reflect on Scripture. Virkler invites viewers to walk, look up Bible passages related to the belief, ask God what they should understand from them, write down what comes to mind, consult trusted advisers if desired, and put the resulting convictions into practice.

The video closes with a spoken affirmation rejecting the belief that the Spirit’s gifts are no longer available and affirming the speaker’s desire to receive and use the Spirit’s power.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Mark Virkler — Presenter and narrator, speaking from his own experience and interpretation.
• “Jesus,” as presented in Virkler’s journaling — A message Virkler says he received while listening to God; it is not presented as a separate speaker in the video.
• Unnamed pastor — Described by Virkler as having taught him that the gifts ceased.
• Unnamed Pentecostal missionary and Bible-school teacher — Cited in an anecdote about a church avoiding miracles because local witches reportedly performed healings.
• Unnamed pastor who ministered in South America — Cited in an anecdote about a church stopping celebratory worship after witches adopted similar practices.
• Biblical passages and teachings — Invoked by Virkler, including the passage about people hearing “I never knew you,” Jesus’ statement about believers doing greater works, and the promise that the Spirit would be poured out so people would prophesy, see visions, and dream dreams.