Do Pastors Have The Authority To Command The Holy Spirit?

By James Quansah, Pastor

“Thus says the LORD, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.” (Isaiah 45:11).

Many Christian ministers appear not to have regard for the superiority of the Spirit of God in this generation. Others do not seem to know Him at all. Yet, some of the ministers have the courage to command the Holy Spirit when ministering. I have never read anywhere in the Bible where a minister sent the Holy Spirit on an errand or commanded Him to do something for him.

However, at many church meetings, some ministers command the Holy Spirit during what they call prophetic ministrations. For instance, a pastor may say, “I have seen 15 people here who are being given money or babies.” Then, he gives an order: “Holy Spirit, bring these 15 people to me at once; bring them to the aisle right now. I am counting one, two and three. Bring them right now, in Jesus name!”

What a ministration! Men having the authority to command and order around the Holy Spirit who is God! Do ministers have the authority to instruct, control and command the Holy Spirit? Are we not His servants? Is He not the One who decides how things should be done in the church?

The sad part is that many of these pastors are deceived into thinking that there is nothing wrong with their ministrations as their commands always receive positive responses. They think those responses come about as a result of the move or obedience of the Holy Spirit. Little do they know that evil spirits can counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit to deceive them. Pay attention here! The Holy Spirit does not contradict Himself or is not a servant to be commanded.

One pastor argued that his authority to command the Spirit of God is based on the passage of the Scripture above. It appears, the pastor only read the King James’ Version (KJV) of the Holy Bible. But he did not know through diligent research that the writers, editors or publishers of KJV made a grammatical mistake in the verse.

Theologians argue that a question mark (?), which should have ended the verse under consideration, which is a question was rather replaced with a full stop or period, thereby changing the meaning of the verse or putting the verse in an error. Consequently, the appropriate rendering of the verse should read:

“Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: Ask me of things to come; WILL YOU COMMAND ME concerning my children and the work of my hands?”

This is what is contained in several other versions of the Bible including New Living Translation (NLT), New International Version (NIV), and English Standard Version (ESV),

Now, no matter the position one takes on the verse, it is inappropriate for a pastor to command the Holy Spirit or God. I have never seen or read about a servant commanding his master. If a slave commands his lord, then, the slave has become the master, and the master a slave.

God is a King and all His sons and daughters including bishops are servants or slaves. And God purposed that all His children should be led, guided or supervised by the Holy Spirit in building the church of Christ. Thus, the Holy Spirit is the main Builder of the Church using men and women as vessels.

One major thing servants of Christ who want to be led by the Spirit of God may have to do is to learn how to hear His voice. God may speak to us through dreams, visions and trances. He also may speak to our hearts (spirits) or through His prophets. Most importantly, God may speak to us through His written Word as we are led to read, study, and meditate in it alertly, day and night.

Right from the day the apostles were baptized in the Holy Spirit, they began witnessing Jesus Christ under the power of the Spirit. He was their authority, directing and showing them what to do and where to go. The apostles submitted themselves to the authority of the Spirit in building the Church. They recognized and related to the Holy Spirit as their Master. They knew Him as a person.

In Acts 5: 3, 9, when Ananias and his wife, Sapphira sold their land with the promise to give the money to the apostles for the work of God, but kept back for themselves part of the proceeds, Peter explained that the couple did not tell a lie to and test the apostles, but their Master, the Holy Spirit. Peter knew that they were but mere servants and needed not to take the credit or honour.

The Ethiopian Eunuch’s encounter with Evangelist Philip also gives us another interesting illustration of how the early church related to the Spirit. “He (Ethiopian Eunuch) had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot…And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the lord carried Philip away…” (Acts 8: 29, 39, emphasis mine).

We can clearly see from the scripture above that it was the Spirit who was using Philip, but not Philip using the Holy Spirit. It is what He says that must be gladly obeyed. Philip knew that he was a servant so he obeyed the instruction of his Master. The apostles were connected to Him and they could hear Him when He whispered or dropped any hint even about soul-winning.

One day, the Holy Spirit sent Peter to the house of Cornelius to preach the Lord Jesus to him and his household for the salvation of their souls. “And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them,” (Acts 10: 19- 20). As a servant, Peter had no option but to comply with the order from above. He went down to the men.

All these examples point to the fact that man is not in-charge of the Church, but God. Let us, therefore, repent of our sins of pride, arrogance and boasting by pleading the mercy of God for forgiveness. Let us stop commanding the Holy Spirit but submit to His authority, giving honour to whom honour is due.

[email protected]