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2. christianity
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Holy Water and Incense
Chapter One
Part One—Evangelicals Discovering Holy Water
Revelation and Direction
As our church began to discover the beauty and truth of liturgical worship and
sacramental theology in the late 1980s and early 1990s, my inquisitiveness led me to ask
the Lord the question, “What is holy water?” Coming from the nondenominational
Evangelical mentality, my questions included “How is holy water different from any
other type of water?,” “How can holy water be used to affect the lives of people when I
have believed for so long that faith is the only requirement?,” and “What references are
there to holy water in the Bible, and what support for its use can be found in the writings
of the ante- and post-Nicene fathers of the Church?” Most importantly, I wanted to know
if the references to “holy” water found in Scripture were pointing to a sacramental tool
that invokes the power of God when used in faith, or if they were simply Biblical
metaphors for a “deeper” spiritual truth. Shortly thereafter the Lord began to answer my
questions.
It was at this same time that I read a story about the use of holy water in a book by
Leanne Payne. At a girls‟ Christian camp, Ms. Payne was a counselor, and at the very
beginning of the week, she discerned that not all was spiritually well with the some of the
girls in the camp. This, of course, would be typical given the diverse backgrounds from
which a large group of girls come. However, things rapidly began to get worse. Ms.
Payne found out that one girl was heavily involved in the occult and black magic, and
had begun to involve the girls in her cabin in her activities. According to the story, the
girls were using a Ouija board and trying to levitate each other. As a result, the camp
counselors were having a difficult time getting the girls to come to chapel, sing, and
participate in Bible study; and, by midweek, the girls refused to attend chapel at all. It
was then that Ms. Payne remembered the use of holy water in her church, although she
was unaware of its power and effects. She then drove to a local church, obtained some
holy water from the priest, brought it back to the camp, and sprinkled it all over the girls‟
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cabin while the girls were on a nature hike. When they returned, the first one to enter the
cabin was the girl who was involved in the occult and had introduced it to the other girls.
To Ms. Payne‟s amazement, the girl immediately fell on her knees and began repenting
and asking God for forgiveness. A revival then broke out in the camp, and during the rest
of the week, the girls repented and worshiped God.
Another incredible incident took place at St. Michael‟s in San Clemente during one of
our Wednesday night services. It was then that Fr. P.J. Boardman, a CEC priest from St.
Michael‟s in Middletown, Rhode Island, was preaching a deliverance service. As many
of you know, there is much weeping at deliverance services, so we had sent a couple of
our priests across the street to buy some tissue. As they were crossing the parking lot of
the supermarket, a man came up behind them and tried to attack them for no reason (of
course, they knew it was demonic). One of the two priests then commanded him in the
name of Christ to stop, and the man was thrown back in the air a few feet, knocked out
cold. After that, they dragged him into St. Michael‟s and positioned him over the altar
rail while Fr. Boardman was preaching. Now, if there was ever a man who understood
the use of holy water, it is he. Immediately, he began to douse the man with holy water,
while renouncing the works of Satan. Within a few minutes, the man regained
consciousness, began weeping, repenting and praising God. He then stated that he must
take this message of God‟s love back to his own people and walked out of the church.
We have never seen him since, but the incident surely left a mark on my understanding of
the power of holy water.
By reading and hearing these two stories, God began to open my spiritual eyes and ears
to the message of the use of holy water for the sanctification of men.
Cleansing and Purification
Now, what exactly is God doing when we administer holy water? In Ezekiel 36:25-33,
God says, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse
you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a
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new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart
of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you
will keep My judgments and do them.” The Lord goes on to say in verses 29 and 33, “I
will deliver you from all your uncleannesses…On the day that I cleanse you from all your
iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt.”
What does this mean? The explications and implications are many. First of all, the
emphasis should not be on our ability to make ourselves holy, but on God‟s means of
doing it. He says that He will sprinkle us with clean water, and we are made clean. As a
result, we receive new hearts and new attitudes, and we will be delivered. It also implies
that Israel (the people of God) had gradually slipped into a place of apostasy and
rebellion. Their thoughts, their hearts and their attitudes had become hardened against
the ways of God, which brought self-deception concerning their relationship to their
Creator and Redeemer. The people of God needed to be cleansed from their sinful ways
and thought processes. Finally, the Lord tells us that upon our cleansing by water,
civilization can once again thrive and the land can become inhabitable and fruitful.
One of the truths that we hold dear as evangelicals is that the Blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses us from all of our sins. This is a true statement, and in no way should it be
altered or qualified. However, we, as evangelicals, have assumed by default of the
previous statement that all of our thoughts (the meditations of our hearts) are therefore
pure and clean. As charismatics, we have supposed being filled with the Holy Spirit
automatically means complete redemption of our thought processes. We‟ve assumed that
Satan or our flesh holds no more sway over our minds. There is an important distinction
that must be made here: While our souls are cleansed through the atoning work of Christ
(our sins are forgiven), our minds are still in the process of redemption. In other words,
like Peter who had good intentions, we can still think on the side of Satan during various
times of our walk with the Lord. The dangerous situation in which many Christians lose
themselves is when those demonic paradigms (disguised as good and holy) overtake the
minds of those believers. At that point, they become of no good service to the Kingdom
of God. In fact, much of what they think is hostile to God and His economy. And the
end result is this: whatever your mind thinks, your heart becomes. This is exactly what
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happened to Israel in Ezekiel 36. While they had already made a covenant with God
(they were walking out their salvation), they had fallen into a place of rebellion which
allowed for wicked thoughts and actions; therefore, they needed God‟s deliverance.
One of the chief problems in evangelical thinking is the notion that, once a person is
saved, he no longer needs deliverance. That is simply not true; we need deliverance on a
regular basis because of the fact that our minds are constantly polluted from what we see
and hear in the world. You must remember this: your mind is in the process of
redemption, but it is not completely redeemed. And, if we are not careful, the heresies
and lies of Satan can take root in our hearts if we don‟t remove them from our minds on a
regular basis. What does God give us to purge our minds of those lies? I believe one of
the best tools is holy water.
Another interesting verse regarding the purifying effects of water is found in Ephesians
5:25 and 26. In this chapter, St. Paul is talking about the relationship between Christ and
His Church, and he states
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave
Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of
water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy
without blemish.
Paul is making it clear that the Church, although it is justified by Christ’s work on the
cross, is in need of sanctification (the purification from sinful ways) and makes it way
toward being spotless as she walks toward and with Christ. How does Christ sanctify His
Body, the Church? It is through the washing of water by the word. While some of my
friends would like to separate the physical and spiritual implications of this passage, I
don’t believe this is what Paul understood. Based upon other epistles by St. Paul, I don’t
think he had a dualistic view of God’s Kingdom that makes the “washing of water” a
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mystical and nebulous metaphor for a spiritual truth. Instead, I believe he had a
sacramental understanding of the use of water for the purification of Christ’s Body.
Old Testament References
As I continued to ponder about holy water and its power, the Lord began to show me a
number of correlations between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Before I go
any further, I want to make it clear that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. The things He
was demonstrating in the Old Testament were for done for our sakes so we could
properly understand the New Testament. In fact, the New Testament is incomplete
without the Old Testament.
With that said, the Lord began to show me that the same water that was used to deliver
the children of Israel at the Red Sea, was the same water that brought judgment on
Pharaoh and his armies. He also showed me that the same water that saved Noah and his
family, removed all the wicked from the earth. The water that saved them was the same
water that destroyed their enemies. Then the Lord showed me in I Peter 3:20 and 21 that,
just as Noah and his family were saved by water, “baptism, which corresponds to this,
now saves you.” The implications of this passage are more than can be discussed in one
book, but let me make a few points. First, the water was and is God‟s instrument for both
salvation and purification—Noah was risen to “new life” above the water, and sin was
washed away by the same water. Baptism has the same effects. When we are sprinkled
with the waters at baptism, we are buried with Christ—our sin nature becomes dead—and
we are risen to new life through His resurrection when we rise out of the water. Second,
for Noah and his family to survive, he had to obey God‟s command to build the ark
within which they would be saved. The ark represents the Church. Upon entering the
Church we are saved and walk out that salvation. And the initiation into the Church
is…baptism.
You may be asking and saying, “What does all this have to do with holy water? I already
understand the Biblical mandate concerning baptism.” Let me make a few more points
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and explain more of God‟s revelation to me before I give you the complete picture of the
importance of holy water.
The Power of the Holy Spirit in Holy Water
It was at this point that I began to examine the powerful effects of holy water. For
example, why are the demons so afraid of water?
Romans 6 says that at our baptism, we are buried with Christ, and then we rise to new life
in Christ. Through the waters of baptism we died. You have already died, contrary to
what your natural mind might be telling you! At your baptism you died, and then rose to
new and eternal life in Christ. This correlates with Hebrews 2:14 which says:
Through Christ‟s death, He destroyed him who had the power of death,
that is the devil, and delivered all those who, through the fear of death,
were subject to lifelong bondage.
What this says is that Christ took on our nature, our humanity, and died that He might
deliver us, destroy him who had the keys to death, and deliver all those who were bound
by fear of death.
I am certain that most of the phobias people have all stem from one cause—the fear of
death. If we can get the revelation that we have already died through baptism, we will
begin to realize the freedom that Christ has given us. It is the beginning of true liberty. If
you are a baptized Christian, you‟ve already died.
The reason holy water is so powerful is that it is like spitting in the face of the devil.
When we dip our fingers into the holy water and make the sign of the cross, we are
reminding ourselves and our archenemy that we‟ve already died in Christ through the
waters of baptism. When we do this, we are proclaiming to Satan, “You are destroyed
for your power has been taken from you. Just as Pharaoh and his armies were destroyed
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by water, you, too, have no power over me. Not only am I freed from the power of death,
I have arisen to new life in Christ.”
The interesting thing about demons is that they do not like water. In the Gospels it says
that when a demon goes out of a man, he walks around seeking a dry place, a desert. I
believe this is because water provides life. Throughout Scripture we can find references
to water‟s ability to provide and sustain life. When the desert is irrigated with water,
flowers begin to bloom, cities are able to thrive, and barns are filled with plenty.
However, when life dies, the land perishes and becomes a desert. This is exactly what
Satan wants. He seeks to kill, steal and destroy. His minions, the demons, wander
around seeking ways to destroy life and to remove it from the land; hence, the desert is
their favorite haunt. Desolation is their goal.
An interesting sidebar about the demons‟ hatred for water can be found in the historical
pre-millennial view. Many who ascribe to this view of the world believe that prior to
Genesis 1, the earth was inhabited, and Lucifer actually lived on the earth as an
archangel. Furthermore, they believe that it was then that Satan rebelled against God,
and one-third of the angels sided with him. As a result, God destroyed the earth with
water to wash away their wickedness. Many of those who hold to this historical premillennial view believe that demons are afraid of water because they had been destroyed
by it once, and now they are disembodied beings who roam the earth seeking to destroy
God‟s creation, primarily mankind.
In St. Matthew 8, Christ casts out the evil spirits in two demoniacs, but, prior to them
being exorcised, they beg Jesus to send them into the nearby herd of swine. Immediately
after Christ gives them the command to go into the pigs, the herd rushes over the side of a
cliff into a body of water. Think about the torment those demons experienced in relation
to this viewpoint!
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The Ministry of Deliverance
During the late 1960s and early 70s, many pastors, especially those involved in the Jesus
Movement, became heavily involved in deliverance ministries which involved the casting
out of demons who had possessed or oppressed the body and/or soul of an individual.
During those times, I, like many Evangelical pastors, would proclaim to the demonic
forces, “Come out in the name of Jesus!” This has been the most repeated phrase in
deliverance ministry, and for good reason—it is dictated by the Bible and quoted by the
apostles. However, delivering someone can be a great struggle since the demons do not
want to leave; it is their goal to destroy mankind by influencing and inhabiting their lives.
As a result, I would have to spend hours or even days trying to deliver someone. It is a
ministry that requires much prayer and fasting. But I‟ll tell you a big cannon that we can
incorporate into our deliverance, one that shouldn‟t be hard for Pentecostals to accept
because they believe in anointing people with oil. The big “cannon” against demonic
strongholds is holy water. When you start to minister deliverance to someone, sprinkle
him with holy water and say, “Demons, come out in the name of Jesus Christ.” What you
are doing is spitting in the face of the devil and saying, “You have no more power over
this person. He has already died with Christ, and you cannot hold him in bondage. His
life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Jesus went into the grave, you were
destroyed, and you know you were destroyed, you know you have no power over this
person.”
Now let me say something about the holy water fonts in the back of liturgical churches.
We have them at every entrance of the nave at St. Michael‟s, and we should have them in
every church in the CEC. The holy water fonts are there for parishioners to minister selfdeliverance to their minds as they enter in to hear the Word of God and participate in the
sacrament of Holy Eucharist. When we enter, we should dip our fingers into the font and
make the sign of the cross. In essence, we are saying a prayer—“In the name of the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God, cleanse my mind and my heart of wrong thoughts. As
I enter Your sanctuary, cleanse my mind of the corrupt thinking of this world. Cleanse
me so that I can hear and receive your Word and worship you in the beauty of holiness.”
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When we do so, we are reminding ourselves of our baptism; we are risen to new life
through Christ‟s resurrection. We are also reminding Satan and ourselves that death and
the demonic forces have no more power over us.
I always encourage our parishioners to do this when they come to church, especially at
Wednesday night services, because they have been out working in worldly environments,
and battling the enemy all day long. It is easy for their minds to become filled with what
the world has told them, and much of that information are lies. The mental battles they
face can make them weary and unreceptive to the Word of God. They need the
deliverance of God through the holy water to clear their thoughts and settle their hearts.
.
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Part Two—Protocol for the Use of Holy Water
The Blessing of Holy Water
First of all, holy water can only be blessed by a bishop or a priest. The priest has been
given the authority to consecrate physical things set aside for use in the Kingdom of God
and to thus invoke the Holy Spirit to manifest His presence in those items. The complete
prayers of blessing for holy water can be found at the end of Chapter Two.
Second, any water may be set apart for use as holy water. While some priests may prefer
to use “designer” bottled water, others may wish to use tap, river or spring water. For
aesthetic purposes, the water should be clear and clean since it will be used to bless the
homes of parishioners, and will also be available in holy water fonts at the entrances of
your churches.
Third, salt is used as part of the blessing of holy water. In fact, the salt itself is blessed
prior to being mixed with the holy water. The reason salt is used is rather simple. Just as
salt is used as a purifier in the natural, we recognize its symbolic and spiritual
implications and effects. Perhaps the verse where we see salt used most powerfully is in
II Kings 2:19-22:
Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please notice, the situation of this
city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground is
barren.” And he said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they
brought it to him. Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in
the salt there, and said, “Thus says the Lord: „I have healed this water;
from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.‟” So the water remains
healed to this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spoke.
Salt is used both literally and figuratively throughout the Old and New Testaments as a
purifying agent; it drives out anything foul. So, too, it is used to drive out foul spirits.
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When the salt, already a purifier in the natural, is blessed with the presence of the Holy
Spirit, it purifies the spiritual as well. Remember, the physical and the spiritual are really
inseparable. Wherever the holy water is applied (i.e. a home), the salt in the water acts as
the purifying agent.
Storage of Holy Water
As with all things consecrated for holy use, holy water should only be stored in a clean
container that has, itself, been blessed. Never store holy water, or any other blessed item,
in a container that would be used for common storage use. For example, do not keep
holy water in a plastic bowl that was used to store yesterday‟s lunch and will later be
used to keep leftovers from dinner. Remember, the key word in “holy water” is “holy.”
Administration of Holy Water
All baptized Christians may administer holy water when they deem it is necessary for
deliverance. They may sprinkle holy water in their homes, and/or they may apply it to
their children or themselves. However, only bishops and priests are authorized to
administer holy water in services sanctioned by the episcopate. For example, the bishop
may wish to bless the parishioners at the beginning of the Holy Eucharist on Sunday
morning. He may defer the responsibility of this action to a priest, a deacon or even a
layman. The key point is that those who do so act under the authority of their bishop
and/or priest.
Let me make another point—the power of God in the holy water is not any less effective
when a layman sprinkles his own home than when it is used by a priest in the church.
The difference is a layman is the priest of his own home, but he is not the priest of the
homes of other parishioners. A bishop or a priest, on the other hand, is the overseer for
the entire diocese and/or parish. He is their God-ordained and God-appointed shepherd,
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and he is the one who is responsible for blessing the flock. Therefore, it is his
responsibility, and not that of the layman, to bless those in his charge.
Disposal of Holy Water
Occasionally a certain amount of holy water used during an ecclesiastical service may be
left unused, and no acceptable way of its storage can be found. For example, when our
priests perform house blessings during the Easter season, many of them bless the water at
the homes of the parishioners. Too often they have water left at the end of the house
blessing.
The proper way to dispose of the remaining water is to pour it onto the earth. That does
not include driveways or sidewalks. Find an open piece of land such as a lawn or flower
garden, and dispose of the holy water in that location. Under no circumstances should
you pour the holy water down a sink drain, or into the toilet. It is holy water.
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Frequently Asked Questions—Holy Water
Q1. In Acts 19:12, the sick are being healed with handkerchiefs and aprons that had
touched Paul’s body. Would it be appropriate to compare these handkerchiefs and
aprons with holy water?
A1. The premise for using the handkerchiefs and aprons is the same as with holy water.
Both the handkerchiefs and holy water are blessed by someone who has been placed in
authority to preach the good news of Jesus Christ. Both are physical objects used to
impart the power of God through the Holy Spirit. However, I believe there are more
Biblical references to the use of holy water than there are to using handkerchiefs. It
would be more accurate to compare Paul‟s use of handkerchiefs to Oral Roberts‟ use of
the television to heal the sick. Both of these items are things around which a church
would not develop a particular theology or regular practice. Of course, this statement
does not preclude their use. The use and blessing of water for spiritual purposes, on the
other hand, can be seen throughout Scripture and in the writings of the Fathers of the
Church, and those precedents support its regular usage.
Q2. When you say that holy water is a potent tool for use in deliverance, are you
implying that it can be used as a substitute for prayer and fasting in preparation for the
casting out of demons as stated by Christ in Matthew 17:21?
A2. First, let me make a statement about the obligations of our bishops and priests in the
Charismatic Episcopal Church. Before a candidate is ordained to the priesthood, he must
make a commitment that he will pray the Daily Office of Prayer everyday of the week.
He must spend time with the Lord regularly to fulfill his obligation of being a true
shepherd for his parish. That commitment is nonnegotiable. The priest must also
participate in the sanctioned fast days (ember days) of the Church. He is also highly
encouraged to fast when he believes the Lord is telling him to do so.
Second, I don‟t believe in an “either, or” theology. For instance, faith cannot be
separated from good works. We should not be of the mentality of either faith or works.
Separating the two is destructive to the Church as well as to the individual and society.
What I do believe, and what the CEC ascribes to, is “both, and” theology. Therefore, I
believe in applying both holy water and prayer and fasting. In Acts 19:13-16, the Jewish
exorcists tried to cast a demon out of someone by using the name of Jesus, but the demon
mocked them by saying, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” At that
point the demon “leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them…”
Why did that happen? Why did the demon not “know” them? It is because they didn‟t
invoke the name of Jesus in faith. Just as Simon the sorcerer sought the power of the
Holy Spirit for his own gain, these men tried to use the name of Jesus with wrong
motives. As a result of their lack of faith, the demonic spirit was able to overtake them.
Both faith and the speaking of Christ‟s name are required. And faith is built up through
prayer and fasting.
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Holy water contains the power of the Holy Spirit through the blessing of the priest, but
that power is not released unless the one administering it uses it in faith. He must believe
in the power of God to see deliverance occur. In other words, he doesn‟t put his faith in
water, but in the presence of the Holy Spirit in the water. The combination of both holy
water and prayer and fasting is the most powerful way to overcome demonic forces.
Q3. What historical precedents indicate the use of holy water in the Church?
A3. This is a good question which invites another point to be made as well. Many
Christians use the argument, “If it isn‟t in the Bible, then I won‟t do it.” This sounds
good, but, let‟s face it—the New Testament doesn‟t give us much information about the
form of worship used by the early Christians. The few references regarding worship in
the New Testament indicate that the early Christians used a liturgy focused around the
Table of the Lord (Holy Communion). For us to gain a better understanding of early
Christian worship and practice, we must rely on other ecclesiastical documents from
integral sources.
The first known document regarding the subject, one which attributes to St. Matthew the
precept of using holy water, is entitled Apostolic Constitutions written under the name of
Pope Alexander I, who lived during the second century. From this point on, there are
numerous references in Church Tradition to the use of holy water and the miracles that
followed as a result. One could easily suppose that first and second century Christians
used holy water for expiatory and purificatory purposes similar to its uses under Jewish
Law. In fact, evidence demonstrates that many early Christian homes had receptacles of
water used for the purpose of cleansing prior to participating in the Table of the Lord.
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Chapter Two
Part One—The Power of Incense
Full-Gospel Use of Incense
Before I move into this topic, let me make a comment. One of the idiosyncrasies of the
various denominations in the Protestant West is their tendency to choose and pick verses
that support their theology, and disregard or qualify those that may appear contradictory
to their teachings. Most of the time, church leaders are guilty of seeing in Scripture only
those things that they want to see. It is easy for them to say that they hold to everything
the Bible teaches, and, at the same time, not do everything that Scripture says. Many
evangelical pastors will put on their church marquee “We are a Bible teaching church.
We are a full-gospel church.” Yet, when you examine closely to what doctrine they hold,
you find that much of what Scripture has to say is left out of their sermons.
This is much the same with the book of Malachi. On the one hand, numerous churches
believe in the Biblical mandate of making tithes and offerings to God. The support for
this practice is seen throughout the Old Testament, and is encapsulated in Malachi 3:810. On the other hand, many of those same churches, especially those who claim to be
full-gospel, Bible believing churches, seem to have missed or ignored Malachi 1:11.
Malachi 1:11 says this: “„For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My
name shall be great among the Gentiles; in every place incense shall be offered to My
name, and a pure offering; for My name shall be great among the nations,‟” says the Lord
of hosts.” Now you understand that the Lord is not saying that His Name is great only
during the daylight hours, don‟t you? God is saying that His name is great for all
eternity. That is a true statement, no matter how many scholars try to prove He doesn‟t
exist. As long as the sun rises and sets, as long as history continues, God‟s name, Father,
Son and Holy Spirit, is great. That is indisputable amongst those who call themselves
Christians.
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However, the caveat for the entire verse is found in the second part of the verse. How
will His name become great amongst the nations? According to this verse, how does
God‟s Name become great here on earth? In every place incense is offered in His Name,
God will be great amongst that people, that nation. The incense, which is the prayers of
the saints, is the impetus that causes the people to honor the Holy Trinity.
If we take a casual glance at our present-day culture, it is easy to see that God‟s Name is
not great among the nations. Why is that? The possible reasons are too numerous to list
here, and they may all be true. But one big reason not given by most evangelical
churches is found in Malachi 1:11: incense is not being offered to God in most of our
churches. If we desire to see His Name great among the gentiles, we must work to teach
the Gospel of Christ, anoint the sick, help the widows and orphans, administer the
Sacraments, and educate our children in the ways of God. But we must also offer incense
to God as we worship Him.
Another great verse where we see a reference to the use of incense is in Psalm 141:2:
“Let my prayer be set before you as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening
sacrifice.” In this Psalm we see David crying out to God to be made holy before Him.
Why did David use the word “incense” as a comparison to his prayer before God?
David, a good Hebrew, understood the use of incense in the Tabernacle and didn‟t see his
prayer as some abstracted feeling or message to God, but as a physical reality ascending
to His throne. Let me give you some examples. In the books of Exodus and Leviticus,
instructions for the proper use of incense give clear reference to God‟s approval of its
use. In Exodus, God says to the people of Israel, “You shall make an altar to burn
incense on; …Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha and galbanum, and pure
frankincense with these sweet spices…you shall make of these an incense, according to
the art of the perfumer, salted, pure and holy.” (Exodus 30:1 and 34-35, NKJV) Here
God shows not only His approval for the use of incense, but here He actually commands
its use. In the preparations of the High Priest, the Lord spoke to Moses that, “…he shall
take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands
full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. And he shall put the incense
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Holy Water and Incense
on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on
the Testimony, lest he die.” (Leviticus 16:12 and 13, NKJV) What does this represent?
The cloud of smoke from the incense covers the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant as
the prayers of the people of Israel calling out for the mercy of God. This was David‟s
prayer, a prayer of mercy from God to be made holy, not by his own works, but by God‟s
grace. And this is done through sacramental means i.e. incense.
There are many other Scripture references for the use of incense in the Old Testament,
but what we must understand is that this was a part of the worship in the Tabernacle as
commanded by God, and this form of liturgical worship continued in the “Church” (the
people of God) even until the time of the Messiah. The use of incense was acceptable
and natural for David as it was for any other of the Jewish leaders and prophets since the
time of Moses. What we need to see is that Jesus Christ, being a good Jewish citizen,
participated in the same liturgical Jewish worship just as His ancestors did, and incense
was a part of that worship. Many of my Protestant brothers say, if Jesus said not to do
something, then we should obey His command and not participate in the questionable
practice. And if He didn‟t do something in the New Testament, then we should follow
His example as well. Their rallying cry has been “We only do what Jesus did!” That
sounds good, until we take a closer look at their argument. First of all, Jesus never said
anything about not using incense, and, furthermore, He would have witnessed its use in
the acceptable Jewish form of worship. If He was truly against its use in Christian
worship, I am sure we would have seen something about its prohibition in the Gospels.
Many people are just simply afraid of incense because they do not understand the whole
Word of God, and quickly assign arguments against its use so they don‟t have to deal
with their religious prejudices.
The reasons for these prejudices are many—for some people, these practices too closely
resemble those of the Roman Catholics; for others, it is just foreign to their Protestant
sensibilities. Perhaps the most abused defense against the incorporation of
liturgical/sacramental practices is the claim that they are demonic or of pagan origin.
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Holy Water and Incense
Neither one could further from the truth, yet I‟ve heard it said by many pastors that
incense and holy water are both tools of Satan to cause Bible believing Christians to be
distracted from the work of the Holy Spirit.
One of the ironies of this kind of thinking is that many of these same pastors at one time
thought that the gift of speaking in tongues was also demonic, until they, themselves,
became baptized in the Holy Spirit and that particular gift became prevalent in their lives.
How was their mindset transformed? It was because they believed the Word of God in
faith, and abandoned their rational “line upon line, precept upon precept” mentality which
prohibited them from entering into the full will of God for their lives. Now these men are
free in the Holy Spirit, and no longer assign derogatory names to certain gifts outlined by
St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians.
The Power of Incense; The Power of Prayer
The use of incense in the Church is not just some ritual that has no consequence. It is not
simply some aesthetic used to make the church smell pretty. Instead, it is actually prayer.
How do I know this? In the Revelation 5:8, St. John says, “Now when He had taken the
scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb,
each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the
saints.” John goes on to say in the eighth chapter, verses three and four,
Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar.
And he was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of
the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the
smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God
from the angel‟s hand.
This is the worship of the Church Victorious that is offered to God in Heaven, and it is
the worship we should replicate here on earth. The incense we offer before God during
the Daily Offices of Prayer and the Holy Eucharist is the prayers of the people.
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Holy Water and Incense
We can see how the power of prayer is manifested in the use of incense in Numbers
16:46-48. Just prior to these verses, Israel rebelled against her God-ordained leaders,
Moses and Aaron, and the Lord began to exact punishment on the people for their sin. At
this time, Moses commands Aaron to do the following:
So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar,
put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make
atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the Lord. The plague
has begun.” Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the
midst of the congregation; and already the plague had begun among the
people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. And
he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped.
How could this have any effect on the will of God to punish and destroy the people of
Israel? Through the intercession of Moses, the plague was stopped. Moses cried out to
God, “Please, don‟t destroy Israel!” But we don‟t see these words being used in the
verses, so how did he cry out to God, how did Moses intercede on behalf of the children
of Israel? He did it through the use of the incense. It became Moses‟ prayers, a physical
reality of the cry of his heart. Combined with faith, Moses was able to intercede for the
people of Israel through the use of incense.
Another instance where we can see the power of incense is found in II Chronicles 26:1623. These passages tell the story of how King Uzziah offered incense in rebellion to the
instructions given by God. Only the sons of Aaron were allowed to enter the temple of
the Lord to burn incense, yet King Uzziah, full of pride and rebellion, took it upon
himself to enter the holy place and commit this sinful act. When confronted by Azariah
the priest, Uzziah became angry, but, while the censer was still in his hands, his forehead
broke out with leprosy. From that point on, he was isolated from the rest of the house of
Israel because of his rebellion which lead to this incurable consuming disease.
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Holy Water and Incense
The point is that God not only sanctions the use of incense by His people, He gives strict
orders pertaining to its usage. The implication is that incense is a powerful sacramental
tool that is used for the intercession of the saints, and it must be regarded in that way. To
view it as simply ornamental or ceremonial is not only missing the point; it is a
degradation of the sacramental God gives us to intercede for the Body of Christ.
Besides that, to have the view that incense is nothing more than an aesthetic used to
create a certain environment is to assume that one understands the mysteries of God.
That is a dangerous mindset to have for it places so-called “rational” thinking on par with
the thoughts and ways of God. That was the sin of King Uzziah—through the sin of
pride, he believed he was above the law. As a result, he died leprous and in isolation.
Mystery versus Mind
The next question is “How can incense be the prayers of the saints?” My only answer is
that I don‟t know. It is a mystery, just as all the Sacraments are a mystery. For example,
St. Paul tells This is something I can‟t explain, but I believe it. Our minds are not
equipped to understand the mysteries of God, but they can comprehend what the
Scriptures teach us and command us to do. When God says that incense used in liturgy is
the prayers of the saints, I just accept it because I figure that God knows more than me.
Who has the gift of speaking in tongues figured out? We do it, yet we can‟t understand
it.
Now you may think that what I am telling you sounds strange, but how about when Oral
Roberts was on television in the 1950s preaching that God would heal the sick if only
they would reach out and touch the television screen and believe for healing? And, guess
what, those people who had faith and touched the television were healed. Many
thousands of people have been healed through that form of ministry. How did that
happen? I don‟t know, but somehow God used a physical object through which He
manifested His power to deliver and heal. You see, we charismatic‟s do strange things
all the time, yet we have our little idiosyncrasies. We‟ve believed that God would heal
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Holy Water and Incense
people through the television, we‟ve believed that speaking in tongues is a gift of God,
we‟ve believed that being slain in the Holy Spirit is a work of God, yet we have a hard
time believing that incense should be used in the church as an offering for prayer. I
believe the answer to this is that, although the use of incense is Biblical, many Protestant
Evangelicals have a disdain for any form of worship or practice of the Roman Catholic
and Eastern Orthodox brothers. Unfortunately, they blind themselves from seeing the
Biblical, fruitful and helpful practices that have been used by the One, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church since the first few centuries.
The Natural Leads to the Spiritual
I also think that a church should smell like a church. It should have a distinctive odor to
it that makes it unique from every other building in our towns. God reminds us of His
reality through the use of our natural senses. The aesthetics of the church are not there
simply for enjoyment; their primary purpose is to bring remembrance to our minds,
which are still in the process of redemption, that God is alive and very much involved in
the affairs of our daily lives. Through taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell, our natural
senses lead us to the knowledge that God sits on His throne in Heaven ruling over the
entire universe. The problem facing the Church and the world is the devil uses every
means at his disposal, especially our natural senses, to convince us that God is dead and
that there is no point in having faith in something unseen. Incense is just one means of
using the natural to point to the reality of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It provides
an odor that tells us that there is something special, something holy, about this particular
place. When you go to St. Michael‟s Pro-Cathedral Church in San Clemente, you don‟t
have any doubt in your mind that you are in a holy place because of the smell of the
incense that is offered up daily.
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Holy Water and Incense
Part Two—Protocol for the Use of Incense
Appropriate Times for Use of Incense
As I‟ve already stated, the primary time for using incense in worship is during the Holy
Eucharist. It is at that time that we are joined with the Church in Heaven through the
Body and Blood of Christ, and it is also the time that we are joined together as the Body
of Christ here on earth. We are brought together as a communion, and together we offer
up our petitions to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, through the use of incense.
Incense can also be offered to God during any sanctioned Church office, such as the
Daily Office of Prayer (Matins and Vespers). Although the officiant may not be ordained
to bless the Sacraments (i.e. a layman), during this office he acts under the authority of
his bishop, and through the bishop‟s authority he is able to offer the incense as the
prayers of the people.
Acceptable and Unacceptable Incense
It should be noted that not all incense is appropriate for use in prayer. There are
numerous manufacturers of incense, many of which are oriented toward new age
teachings and the occult. These are not acceptable for use in Christian worship.
The best way to purchase incense for Christian worship is to contact Fr. Jim Obermeyer,
Vicar of Christ the King CEC in Newhall, California, USA. He offers a wonderful
selection of incense created exclusively for Christian prayer. If this is too costly of a
means, contact a Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox manufacturer. Many Greek
Orthodox monasteries produce a number of liturgical items for purchase including
incense.
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Holy Water and Incense
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Some Evangelical Christians make the assertion that the use of incense by the
Roman Catholic Church was simply an adaptation of pagan practice to encourage
pagans to attend church. Is that a true or fair statement, and, if not, how does the
Church defend herself from such accusations?
A1. While it is true that pagans have used incense throughout history, that fact does not
detract from the Biblical truth and foundation for its present day use in the Church.
Throughout both Old and New Testaments, we can clearly see references to the
acceptable use of incense by the “sons of Abraham.” In fact, God delineates between the
acceptable and unacceptable (Godly v. pagan) ways to use incense. In the books of
Exodus, Leviticus, and II Chronicles, we can see God‟s specific instructions for its use in
the Tabernacle and the Temple. You must remember that pagans during this time also
burned incense, so when God gave parameters for its use, He was showing that it was not
only acceptable, but also a holy obligation. He was demonstrating the difference between
pagan use and Godly use of incense. Furthermore, in II Chronicles, Scripture shows us
that there were parameters within the House of God for the acceptable offering of
incense. King Uzziah unlawfully offered incense in the Tabernacle, and, as a result of his
unrepentant and hardened heart, he became leprous even until the time of his death.
Another point I would like to make about this topic is that I believe many Christians have
a gnostic impulse which causes them to dismiss the use of anything physical in their
worship. Since the Enlightenment, Protestant Christians have equated the disembodied
spiritual realm with the Kingdom of God. This kind of thinking and much of the doctrine
that results from it approaches the borderline of heresy. Christ ascended into Heaven
with His physical body, and this is the example of things to come. I believe we shall see
a day when the physical earth and all who have stood in faith for God the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit will also be glorified in their physical bodies. Christ came to redeem the
earth, not to destroy it.
To make the accusation that the use of incense by the early Church was simply a
marketing technique used to bring pagans into the House of God is silly and foolhardy. I
believe from my reading of the early Church Fathers that it was a natural transition from
Jewish worship to newly-founded Christian worship. Although some Christians were
opposed to its use in the first couple centuries A.D., I believe that it was a reaction to the
abomination of offering incense to Caesar. And since there were so many martyrs who
died at the hands of Caesar and his government, this would be natural. However, it does
not invalidate the correct use of incense in the Church. God tells us that for as long as
history lasts, incense shall be offered to Him, and, where it is offered, His name will be
great.
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Holy Water and Incense
Q2. What is incense? From what is it produced?
A2. Incense is an aromatic substance mainly produced from tree resin. In ancient times,
incense was procured from the resin of the Terebinth trees, primarily the Boswellia sacra
of Arabia Felix and the Boswellia papyrifera of India. To enhance the aromatic smell of
the burning incense, and to produce a thicker smoke, other ingredients are added. The
resin is dried and cut into small pieces which can then be put onto the burning charcoal.
Q3. It is interesting to see that the New Age movement embraces the use of incense in
their practices. Do you think there is a correlation between the use of incense in the Holy
Liturgy and New Age practice?
A3. Yes I do, and this is why the Western Church, primarily those who disassociate
themselves from sacramental theology, lose their power to transform this world. I
certainly believe that when New Age adherents burn incense for their religious purposes,
they are praying to their gods, whomever they may be. Of course we know that they are
appealing to demonic spirits, but that doesn‟t take away from the power that is evoked
through their burning of incense. Believe it or not, demonic spirits do have a certain
amount of power. I believe the New Age movement obtains much of that power through
the burning of incense; it is their prayer. Much of the Protestant Church can‟t resist that
power, either, simply because they dismiss the belief that the power of prayer can be
greatly enhanced by the use of incense. If we begin to do as Malachi 1 states, then part of
the “wall of Jerusalem” will be put back into place as defense against the godless
kingdoms of this world.
Both New Agers and Christians who hold to sacramental theology believe in the power of
incense; however, pagan New Agers offer their incense to their false gods, but Christians
offer (or should offer) their incense to the only one true God.
Conclusion
I believe that one of the main reasons God‟s name is not great among the nations is
because we, the Western church, have a hard time believing that incense, holy water, and
other sacramentals can really affect our worship and our culture. Instead, we‟ve believed
that it is only through sheer numbers of people that we are able to change the world. We
have believed that “horses and chariots” will actually do the saving, although we confess
otherwise. Consequently, if your church is rather small and doesn‟t seem to be growing,
it is easy to get dismayed and think, “We‟ll never be able to convert all our city to
Christ.” However, that is not the case. The reason many of you may think that is
because you can‟t see beyond the “veil.” There is only one Church, the Church in
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Heaven and the Church on earth, and every time you have a Holy Eucharist, you are
joined with the Church in Heaven, “with angels and archangels and all the company of
Heaven.” Now I think, and some may consider it only speculation (like speculation about
speaking in tongues or touching the television for healing), that when the prayers are
being offered up in the worship service with the incense, there is a joining of the Church
in Heaven and the Church on earth in prayer. Now that is a mighty army for God—there
are more people in Heaven than there are in the whole world right now! The
intercessions of the saints through the use of incense brings us to the throne of God, His
mercy seat, and He hears our cries to Him.
Let me qualify all that I‟ve said with this: “Without faith, we cannot please God.” And
that is the truth. The use of holy water and incense is not a magic trick; instead it is the
use of these tools through faith that causes them to be effective.
Having said that, I believe it is the lack of use of these tools that has kept the Western
Church from becoming powerful in our culture. The battle cry of many of my
evangelical friends has been “Faith only!” And they are correct to a degree. Where I
diverge from their thinking is that I believe that God wants to establish His Kingdom here
on earth by using physical things to empower His people. He wants, once again, to
consecrate the physical world as holy unto Himself. He wants to bring about the Paradise
He once intended for Adam and Eve.
Since the Enlightenment, Western culture has seen the physical and spiritual world as two
separate entities. One is considered profane while the other is viewed as holy. So, in the
West, we see our physical lives and the physical environment around us as profane, and
Heaven as the holy destination of our disembodied spirits. That is not how the early
Fathers of the Church understood God‟s Kingdom—they saw the two worlds as
inextricably linked, and the Eastern Orthodox Church still holds to this same belief.
We‟ve done the same thing with faith. We‟ve made it a disembodied entity that is
nebulous and vague. When some of my friends have pleaded the blood of Jesus, I‟ve
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Holy Water and Incense
often asked them, “Where is the blood? Is it floating around in space somewhere?” Of
course, I‟m being facetious, but it is also an honest question. Where we find the blood of
Christ is in the cup of our salvation at the Holy Eucharist.
When we “see” things such as holy water and incense, we should develop the perspective
that the entire physical world was created by God for His pleasure and use. And some of
those things are set apart by God for the redemption of the world, chiefly bread and wine.
But also incense and water. We need to view them not only as natural elements, but also
as potentially spiritual weapons against the kingdoms of this world. We need to regain
the understanding prior to the Enlightenment that the physical and spiritual dimensions of
things created are inseparable. We need to understand that God desires His “will be done
on earth as it is in Heaven.”
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Appendix
The Blessing of Water
Salt, and pure and clean water, being made ready in the Church or Sacristy, vested in
surplice and violet stole, shall say,
V.
R.
Our help is in the Name of the Lord.
Who hath made heaven and earth.
And immediately he shall begin the Exorcism of the salt.
I adjure thee, O creature of salt, by the living + God, by the true + God, by the holy +
God, by God who commanded thee to be cast, by the prophet Elisha, into the water to
heal the barrenness thereof, that thou become salt exorcised for the health of believers;
and do thou bring to all who take of thee soundness of soul and body, and let all vain
imaginations, wickedness, and subtlety of the wiles of the devil, and every unclean spirit
fly and depart from every place where thou shalt be sprinkled, adjured by the Name of
Him, who shall come to judge both the quick and the dead, and the world by fire. Amen.
Let us pray.
Almighty and everlasting God, we humbly beseech thy great and boundless mercy, that it
may please thee of thy loving-kindness to bl+ess and to hal+low this creature of salt,
which thou hast given for the use of men, let it be to all them that take of it health of mind
and body, and let whatsoever shall be touched or sprinkled therewith be free from all
uncleanness, and from all assaults of spiritual wickedness. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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Exorcism of the Water
I adjure thee, O creature of water, by the Name of God the Father + Almighty, by the
Name of Jesus +Christ His Son our Lord, and by the power of the Holy + Ghost, that
thou become water exorcised for putting to flight all the power of the enemy; and do thou
avail to cast out and send hence that same enemy with all his apostate angels: by the
power of the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall come to judge the quick and the dead,
and the world by fire. Amen.
Let us pray.
O God, who for the salvation of mankind hast ordained that the substance of water should
be used in one of thy chiefest Sacraments: favorably regard us who call upon thee, and
pour the power of thy bene+diction upon this element, made ready by careful cleansing;
that this thy creature, meet for thy mysteries, may receive the effect of divine grace, and
so cast out devils, and put sickness to flight, that whatsoever in the dwellings of thy
faithful people shall be sprinkled with this water, may be free from all uncleanness, and
delivered from all manner of hurt; there let no spirit of pestilence abide, nor any
corrupting air; thence let all the wiles of the hidden enemy depart, and if there be aught
that layeth snares against the safety or peace of them that dwell in the house, let it fly
before the sprinkling of this water: so that the health which they seek through calling
upon thy holy Name may be protected against all things that threaten it. Through Christ
our Lord. Amen.
Then the Priest shall cast the salt into the water in the form of a Cross, saying,
Be this salt and water mingled together: in the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and
of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
V.
R.
The Lord be with you.
And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
O God, who art the Author of unconquered might, the King of the Empire that cannot be
overthrown, the ever glorious Conqueror: who dost keep under the strength of the
dominion that is against thee; who rulest the raging of the fierce enemy; who dost
mightily fight against the wickedness of thy foes; with fear and trembling e entreat thee O
Lord, and we beseech thee graciously to behold this creature of salt and water, mercifully
shine upon it, hallow it with the dew of they loving-kindness: that whosoever it shall be
sprinkled, with the invocation of thy holy Name, all haunting of they unclean spirit may
be driven away; far thence let the fear of the venomous serpent be cast; and wheresoever
it shall be sprinkled, there let the presence of the Holy Ghost be vouchsafed to all of us
who shall ask for thy mercy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Upon completion of this prayer, the holy water is ready for use.
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