Review
We're carrying on our series on Hebrews 6, the First Principles; and we've talked about: Repentance from Dead Works; Faith towards God; and the Doctrine of Baptisms - baptised into Christ, and into His body; baptised into water; baptised in the Holy Ghost.
Today we want to speak on the Laying on of Hands. I encourage you, if you have a Bible, to follow it through; then at the end of this service, we want you to be touched by the presence of God, so let's read from Hebrews 6:1.
"Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection or maturity, not laying again the foundations of: repentance from dead works; faith towards God; the doctrine or teaching of baptisms; of the laying on of hands; of the resurrection of the dead; and of eternal judgement. And this we will do if God will permit."
And so we see it's talking here about foundations - spiritual foundations. The Bible likens your life to a house - a house needs foundations. The first spiritual foundation to be laid is your relationship with Jesus Christ. So the first of these foundations are: repentance from dead works, empty activities, and trying to gain favour with God; instead coming to a place of faith and trust in the living God. The first part of the foundation takes us out of a life of sin, and puts us into being joined to God, and brings us into a body called the body of Christ.
Then, as a consequence of that, we begin to understand what ‘baptisms’ is. The doctrine of baptisms is the teaching. Baptism is to be ‘immersed’ or ‘dipped’; so because we are now immersed in Christ, our old life has gone away, from God's point of view; and so we are water baptised.
Water baptism - we're buried. The old life is buried out of sight. We arise to walk in a new life with God. Water baptism is about saying goodbye to an old self-centred life, a life which is all about me and what can I get out of life; to a life lived to bring honour to God.
So following the water baptism is: Baptism in the Holy Spirit - the immersion into a new realm of the supernatural. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is usually accompanied by the gift of Speaking in Tongues - a language we've never learned, a language of the spirit; and we are ushered into a dimension of the spirit.
It's your choice whether you stay there, live there, walk there and grow in the supernatural dimensions on your life; but never, never stop short, or at the beginning. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is just the beginning of that life in the spirit.
Main Message
Now we're going to look at the doctrine of Laying on of Hands, and it’s very simple. It's just what it says - it's actually you lay hands on someone. One person lays hands on another person; and as a consequence of that there is a spiritual connection between them. It's not just some empty ceremony - in the Laying on of Hands: as we lay hands on a person, there is a connection of one person to another.
One of the most important things that we need in our life is human touch. God is a personal God. He's not sort of someone remote and far off, and so touch is very vital to human life.
One of the ways that God has ordained that things are transmitted into our life, is through connecting and touching; and particular ways we can touch, lay hands on people is one of them. Notice when Jesus healed people, sometimes He touched them first - many times He laid hands on them; so we'll look at what the laying on of hands is for, but let me get you to understand what is really at the core of it...
Keywords: laying on of hands, impartation, healing, tongues, prayer, commission, spiritual connection, impartation, leadership transition, miracles, flow of power, blessing, commission, faith, belief, laying hands on the sick, connection, blessing imparted, new level of authority, impart spiritual gift, activate gift, deliverance, spiritual empowerment