Follow the Anointing 2
Luke 11:11-13 If
a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will
he give him a stone? or
if he (A child)
ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? (Something from the devil, or the serpent to harm or kill his
child) Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him
a scorpion? If
ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children: how much more shall your heavenly Father (Not give his children something from the devil
or a demon to harm or kill them? But lovingly)
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? (To
be so in-filled and imbued of the Promise of the Spirit)
Jesus
promises that whosoever believes in Him, those that have tasted
and seen that the Lord is good, (By hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit without
being lead, guided, and so taught.) that when these
pray to the Lord and seek Him to receive the Baptism of the
Holy Ghost accompanied by the Gift of Tongues – that God will
not give them a demon, that they will not be taken over by
devils, but that they will indeed receive the real and true
Baptism of the Holy Ghost and the real and true Gift of Tongues
– that are sealed and virus proof from the hand of Jesus Christ
Himself.
Completely different than my weak and beggarly
experience when I first came to Christ, when I received the
Baptism of the Holy Ghost some months later it was a powerful,
powerful, life-changing experience.
In the
winter of 1973, while I was still 14 years old, I received
the Baptism of the Holy Ghost in an evangelistic meeting in
a public school in New
Jersey. The evangelist’s name is not
important here – we need to only say that when I was touched
with the tips of two fingers, I was “Slain
in the Spirit” (Man-made term) in a manner that has never, ever occurred in my life since.
As I fell backwards
(Bible Term), I felt as if I was floating like a feather toward the ground. Time seemed
to stop in regards to my body, my soul, and my spirit. As
my body descended, at the same time my arms became lighter
than air as if huge helium balloons were attached to them
and arose independent of any of my thoughts in worship to
God in heaven. As this occurred I saw a bright light, and
the heat and warmth thereof enveloped my head and then my
body.
As my arms
arose independently, my mouth also independently burst forth
in an uncontrollable torrent of tongues, while mentally I
was more or less just an observer to these goings on.
When
I came to rest on the floor, this bright warm light of the
anointing of God, or Shekina of God, was coursing and flowing
like waves and billows through my body. I remember the surprise and delight of my being bathed in this
Divine light that was at the same time outside and inside
me. Feeling this heat of the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit and these waves and billows surging so deeply inside
me, I felt my soul being cleansed; it felt like layers of
dirt and grime were being stripped away like thin layers of
skin.
As I was laying
there praying and worshipping in the Spirit (Which was completely independent of my thought processes) – I became concerned in my understanding that I too should
myself pray and worship for all that He was doing. I forcibly
tried to pray, thank, and worship God with my mouth, but I
found that I could not. I then started laughing in my mind,
but not with my lips because God had inhabited
my mouth, (Bible Term) – Tears ran out of my eyes as the Spirit of God had so enveloped me -
body, soul, and spirit.
As the Holy
Spirit was praying and worshipping through me speaking mysteries,
my understanding was unfruitful (Bible Term) of what was
being spoken by the Spirit in unknown tongues
(Bible
Term) –At the same time,
I still had this overwhelming desire to praise God and thank
Him with my understanding for this unspeakable gift. However,
I discovered that I could not gain control over my mouth.
After a few attempts, still determined to praise God,
I ended up doing so in my mind while my mouth continued speaking
in tongues.
At that moment
I felt a burst of praise, thanksgiving, delight, and excitement
rise from within me. I felt it move up into the light of God, and
had a vision -- though very short. I saw the words spoken
with my understanding, not as words or as sounds, but as substance
rising up into this heavenly light. It seemed that I was a
part of these words and these words were a part of me and
they entered into heaven before the throne of God. The throne was not on a platform, there were
no steps leading up to it. There were no walls, there were
no Greek pillars. I saw nothing other than this throne. The
throne itself was very plain and box-like with a flat back
that was as high as the seat was deep with box-like arm rests.
It appeared to be made out of stone rather than metal with
a golden hue to it.
The
words then seemed to echo and resonate. This seemed to continue
for minutes as more words arrived and echoed and reverberated
or redounded. I saw no angels, nor did I hear them speak -
neither did I see nor hear God.
After
a short time, though it seemed like 20-30 minutes, the evangelist
said you probably want to stay there forever. I still couldn’t
respond in English and remember responding in gestures to
say yes. Yes, that this was so anointed. Yes, that this was
so heavenly, and so filled with glory that I did not want
to depart this at all. But he pulled me up to my feet and
sent me, along with others that had likewise received the
Baptism of the Holy Ghost, back to our seats as he moved on
to do other things in the meeting. Even so, I tried to hold
on to what was going on, and after I sat down, tried for a
period of time to continue to pray in tongues, which by then
had come under my control, so I missed much of the meeting.
Say
whatever you will, but what occurred that night turned my
life completely inside out for Jesus Christ. Within a short
time after that I was on fire for God, I could not go to enough
meetings in a week. I began reading the Bible almost every
waking moment until I read the Bible cover to cover twice
and the new testament a full seven times {This took me 13
months) My mother, at the time, though newly saved and newly
filled with the Spirit, (Though not in the
same measure) thought I had lost my mind because
of my intense hunger and desire for reading the Bible, seeking
God and fellowshipping. So deep was her concern that she talked
to others in the meetings and asked them to check on me and
befriend me. She also talked to the pastors of these meetings
and asked them if what was occurring in my life was the fruits
of this Baptism of the Holy Ghost and was this okay?
Jesus Christ had become my every
waking moment. At the time, I thought nothing of this, it
was just in my heart, my soul, and my spirit to do so, and
this is how I walked.
I will not testify of how the
Lord also had signs following. These would just occur, many
times without warning. I was just a guy that was there and
nothing more.
When we think of fanatics, we
think of people who generally, relentlessly try to push their
beliefs on someone. When we look at sports-fanatics, physical
fitness fanatics, computer fanatics, stock market investment
fanatics or whatever, all of these tend to be consumed with
their hobbies or vocations.
At the ages of 14,15,16,17, and
18, I was not interested in music, I was not interested in
sports, I was not interested in clothes, cars, or girls –
My whole interests were in Jesus Christ, the Bible, going
to meetings where people loved the Lord, and fellowshipping
with people who likewise loved the Lord regardless of race,
denomination, or reasonable differences in doctrine. I found
that I thrived on speaking with older people that had been
in the faith for twenty, thirty, forty or more years – because
I could sense and feel so much more of the Holy Spirit, the
Anointing, and the Presence of God in them, especially after
receiving the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. When I first came to the Lord it was as if God
was only whispering. After receiving the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit, it was not as if God was speaking to me in a plain
voice like when I speak to someone else, but what was once
a whisper was now turned up ten notches from what it previously
was.
There were further fruits. I hungered
and thirsted to sup with the Lord and with others that supped
with Him so as to partake of this anointing, this presence
of God which was in them, around them, and carried in their
words. To be honest, at times in meetings I was not listening
to the speaker, but I was partaking of the Spirit and life
I saw, sensed, and felt – this was and is as manna coming
down from heaven, bringing into me life, revelation, understanding,
and more importantly, changing me into His Image and Likeness
from Glory to Glory – anointing by anointing.
I was following the anointing.
Following hard after Him even though I could not explain what
was happening to me. Along the way, I have met fellow travelers in
the Spirit and anointing of the Lord, which had this same
intensity of spirit as I, but when I was a child, all of these
were at least fifteen or more years my senior. This
continued even after I went to attend Bible school, but now
those whom I sought spiritually to partake of their anointing
were 30, 40, 50 and some times 60 years my senior
Those days were so powerful and
so precious, I can not tell you.
If this Baptism of the Holy Ghost
so drove me into Jesus Christ, so caused me to read the Bible
and understand what I was reading in it for the first time
- where the word of God became so alive and jumped out at
me so that it read like a best seller, action thriller which
I could not put down. If this Baptism of the Holy Ghost and
speaking in tongues so revolutionized my prayer life where
I could not get enough of waiting on and talking to Christ
prior to going to Bible school at Pinecrest; a school that
at that time taught and emphasized those very things. – How
could anyone declare this Baptism of the Holy Ghost to be
illegitimate, false, and not of God?
We have not expressed this Baptism
of the Holy Ghost on the basis of personal experience and
feelings alone (Thought, feelings, and personal experience are
not illegitimate by any means in the word of God for the Apostle
John declares that which our eyes have seen, that which our
ears have heard, that which our hands have handled concerning
the word of Life that speak we unto you.) but along
with this piece of personal testimony, we have also provided
irrefutable biblical evidence for anyone of an honest heart,
with the help of the Holy Ghost as bearing witness to our own testimony, as a second
strong witness to what this Baptism of the Holy Ghost
alone can do in one’s life.
With these two witnesses, and
with a third witness, even The Anointing, and Presence of
God in the person of the Holy Ghost standing in agreement
with the written Word of God, and bearing witness also of
the words which I have testified here, how could anyone even
suggest that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit could be anything
but Holy and sanctifying to those who truly walk therein?
How could any one even reasonably
suggest the gift of tongues is of the devil? To do so is just
blind conceit and prejudice.
Luke
11:52-53 Woe unto
you, lawyers! for
ye have taken away (Stripped away from the
people) the key of knowledge: (The Spirit of revelation and understanding.)
ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering
in ye hindered. And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and
the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke
him to speak of many things: (Jesus is saying that the rabbis of Pharisees, the Scribes
and the Lawyers had subdued in Israel
all individual and personal hearing from God. They slew the
prophets [In the verses previous] and prevented any under
their Talmudic tutelage from entering into this kind of relationship
with God.)
1 Samuel 3:1 And
the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the Word of the LORD (The word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of the Father) was precious
in those days; there was no open vision. (There
was no prophetic ministry, no dreams, no visions. All that
had been passed on from Moses to the 70 elders had ceased.)
What we see so clearly in this
study is that Christ’s mission centered around His baptizing
all that would come unto Him with the Baptism of the Holy
Ghost, so that every believer might be able to hear from God
for themselves just as Adam did in the garden.
In Luke 11:52-53, the rabbinical
orders of Christ’s day had made war with the prophetic in
Israel
- they had slandered, abused, cast out and slew them, purging
Israel of all
prophets. Furthermore, they were intent on blocking any from
entering in to any kind of personal relationship with God,
and hearing the voice of God – indoctrinating them, beginning
as small children, in their Talmudic Shuls against such things.
Having not seen a prophet in Israel for 400 years – We note that
no priest and no rabbi needed to tell anyone that John was
a prophet sent from God. Everyone in Jerusalem
and Judea knew, with no man
teaching them that the Spirit of God rested upon John. They
came out from miles around to see the Lord move upon this
prophet and to hear his words. The threat that the coming
of John the Baptist posed to the Talmudic anti-prophetic rabbinical
orders was enormous -- and to add to the danger that the coming
of John posed, God then raised up a second prophet, Jesus
Christ, who had more signs and wonders than both Elijah and
Elisha combined whom also the common people recognized as
the Messiah without any teaching or preaching from their rabbis.
When the established order becomes corrupt, God moves outside
of that order, and likewise without teaching or preaching
that order of who ever they may be understands that God is
declaring the day of their order as being over.
It is sad for me to note here
that the Christian rabbis of this day in evangelical and fundamentalist
circles have made war against the prophetic in the church
of this hour. These have slandered, abused, cast out and spiritually
slain, as they have sought to purge their synagogues and rabbinical
orders of all prophets. They are intent on blocking any from
entering in to any kind of deep personal relationship with
Jesus Christ that might produce any personal hearing of the
voice of God in the lives of their believers. And so they
have gone the route of heavy indoctrination against such things,
beginning with members of their synagogues and Shuls at a
very young age.
It is sad for me to note here
that the Christian rabbis within Pentecostal denominations
and Charismatic circles are at different levels working on
much of the same things with their own disciples, placing
themselves and the teaching ministry above the word of God,
above one’s personal relationship with the Lord, above that
which the Lord speaks and reveals to any individual, and above
Holy Spirit’s ability to lead and guide, and to teach every
believer. These departures from the words and commandments
of Jesus Christ, and from the stated purpose that His central
mission was to in-fill, imbue to overflowing with the Holy
Ghost each and every one that would believe on Him – and cause
them to be a prophetic people and nation under Jesus Christ’s
direct leadership and guidance – are not even subtle, they
are brazen, and those who follow such men and ministries have
to have had their conscience seared with a hot iron – to so
burn out the voice of the Holy Spirit, His rebuffs and convictions
over those who so walk.
Take heart if you feel uneasy
reading these words, if they cut you to the quick, if you
feel conviction of any kind as to your deeds and partaking
of the fetid waters that the multitude of rabbi’s that you
have heaped to yourself have given you to drink.
Know that it is a good day in God, for you can still
hear in some small measure God’s still small voice in your
heart.
It is a happy, joyous day when God rebukes corrects and
chastens you.
It is a fearful day of gross darkness when you hear nothing,
feel nothing and sense nothing of God.
John 15:4-6 Abide (Meno) in me, and I in you. (Come under my rulership and influence so that
I might truly be in thee) As
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide (Meno)
in the vine; no more can ye, (Be fruitful spiritually in and of yourselves) except ye abide (Meno)
in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth (Meno-eth) in me, and I in him, the same bringeth
forth much fruit: (This fruit is borne of our personal intimate knowledge of
Jesus Christ plus nothing – This fruit is borne of our hearing
the Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Father. This
fruit is borne out of our being in-filled and imbued constantly
with the living waters of Jesus Christ – Which He declared
as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.) for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide (Meno) not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered;
and
men gather them, (Talmudic rabbis then gather these cut off and withered branches
into their synagogues)
and (When they are finished
with them) cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
When we are filled
with the Holy Spirit – contrary to what men teach on this
subject, it is not a static one time event that happened at
8:59 on Tuesday, three years ago.
For all too many, due to their
teaching and indoctrination, their experience of the Baptism
of the Holy Spirit has in fact become a static one time event
that happened at a specific time and date in their life and
nothing more.
Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled (Greek Plero-U-Sthe
Plero-Pleroo –To fill to the full, To satiate, to satisfy [Pleko- To braid, To weave, To be plaited, To be intertwined] U-Uper Overflowing, above or beyond capacity exceedingly beyond.
Sthe-Stheno To strengthen, to make mighty, to empower) with the Spirit.
When
considering the meaning of this passage, we must measure it
against Jesus Christ and His ministry as recorded in the Gospels
– In regard to Christ’s being filled with the Holy Ghost,
no where in the gospels do we find Jesus staggering from the
effects of His being filled with the Holy Ghost, no where
in the Gospels to we find Jesus drunk from being filled with
the Holy Ghost – Instead we see when the Holy Ghost rested
upon Christ and then indwelled Him – Jesus was quite sober
along with John the Baptist. We see that the Holy Spirit,
instead of making Christ drunk, staggering about and filled
with laughter –drove Christ into the wilderness to fast and
pray alone for 40 days – after which Christ returned from
the wilderness in the power of the Spirit. – I would prayerfully
pose to you that this passage in particular has been hijacked
to the detriment of the body of Christ by a group of preachers
and their followers that seek to use the Baptism of the Holy
Ghost, and in particular the outpouring of the new wine of
the Spirit, for entertainment value, to make a spectacle of
themselves and their ministries, and to offer Christ and the
Holy Spirit as a “High” and an “Intoxicant” to those of this
party-hardy generation.
The
Greek, especially here, when rightly divided is speaking of
the excesses of drunkenness – as opposed to being Plero-U-Sthe with the Spirit, and shows no similarities between drunken
excesses’ and being filled with the Spirit whatsoever. Beyond
the definitions of the various word particles that comprise
Plero-U-Sthe we have posted above, we wish to note that the tense
of this Greek word shows continuous action which means:
To be filled, and filled, and filled.
Was
Christ so filled? Yes.
Did Christ so walk
day by day, hour by hour, and minute by minute? Yes
Was Jesus so braided, so woven, so intertwined with the Father
through the Spirit? Yes.
Was Jesus so filled to overflowing, so satiated, and so satisfied,
so over flowing beyond capacity with the Holy Spirit?
Yes.
Was Jesus so strengthened, so made mighty and so empowered
by His being filled and filled and filled by the Spirit day
by day, hour by hour and moment by moment?
Yes
I would humbly
suggest to you that by taking something so Holy and cleansing,
so designed to intertwine you with Jesus Christ, so spiritually
strengthening and empowering – that some have turned it into
a circus sideshow of drunken excess for a good high and a
laugh for an evening – is sinful, corrupt and perverse before
God. I would humbly suggest that those that have partaken of such things,
that you have been robbed, cheated and despoiled of the true
power that is available in being filled and refilled by the
Holy Ghost after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you.
Consider now the words of Jesus Christ on this matter:
Luke 6:24-26 (Jesus talking
to the disciples) But woe unto you
(Cursed
are those of my disciples)
that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. (You have been robbed,
cheated and despoiled by the serpent of your spiritual birthright
and the spiritual blessing of fruitfulness and dominion in
exchange for corrupt earthly carnal riches, wealth and power
– and for you, it all ends here.) Woe unto you that are full! (Satisfied daily
with sumptuous meals with all manner of delicacies) for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! (In drunken revelry,
living the continuous party lifestyle of those that are rock
stars and celebrities.) for ye shall mourn and weep. (As you find yourself
cast out into outer darkness)
Woe
unto you, when all men shall speak well of you!
for so did their fathers to the false prophets. (Here, Jesus links this culture of laughter, drunken feasting, and ever
celebrating and partying celebrity lifestyle with the false
prophets that received honor and sat at the table of kings
in the whole of Scripture.)
This should give believers of this day and
hour great pause.
Note the similarity of the warnings and curses
given by Christ here, with the warnings of being utterly cut
off of those who attended the rich, full and laughing church of Laodicea.
Note well also the words Christ spoke again to His disciples
on how the Church shall be at the time of His second coming.
Matthew 24:37-39 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son
of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they (The Church
of that day) were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage, (Living
a lifestyle of one continuous party and celebration) until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And (They) knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also
the coming of the Son of man be. (With those in the church knowing not, the hour
of their coming judgment and their being swept away.)
Luke 18:8-9 (Christ again speaking
to His disciples) -- When the Son of man cometh, shall
He find faith
(Faithfulness in
those who declare themselves to be His Church) on the earth? And He spake this parable (In answer to His
own question) unto
certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous,
and despised others:
John 7:38-40 He
that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should
receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that
Jesus was not yet glorified.) Here, John the Apostle declares that the meaning of Jesus saying
“Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” – is
speaking of the infilling of the Holy Spirit and is refilling
and refilling and refilling, spoken in Ephesians 5:19 “Be filled with the Spirit”.)
This refilling,
refilling and refilling is called abiding in the vine as He is the Vine
and we are the branches and without our receiving of our daily
refilling from Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, we have
no Dunamis, we can do nothing
of ourselves, but instead are weak and sickly and dead, dried
out branches.
Can
we start to see here that our spiritual problems and lacks
are relational in nature? (The lack of any
firm, solid, deep, abiding, personal relationship, with Jesus
Christ) It is not that God’s arm has been shortened, nor is it that
Jesus has given up the keys to the kingdom and can no longer
do any of these things (As
Hagan’s disciples and clones teach).
It is that men do not believe the Words and
Commandments of Jesus Christ and seek in their place to
follow instead the doctrines and traditions of men that they
are espoused to. These have discipled themselves to an endless
multitude of preachers and teachers that have not the power
of Jesus Christ, that have not the anointing of Jesus Christ,
that have not the rivers of living waters flowing out of their
bellies as Christ, that can not Baptize men with the Holy
Ghost, that can not give out the gifts of the Spirit, nor
can they give out spiritual
ministry – over and over in the word of God it is stated
that only Jesus Christ
–through the auspices of the Holy Ghost can do these things. And neither can men refill, refill and refill believers with
the Spirit daily - only our Lord, Savior,
and Master, Jesus Christ can.
In other words, as plainly as can be said, ye have not because
you trust in men more than you do in God. Ye seek men. Ye
disciple yourself to men, ye take men’s yokes and place them
upon you. Ye take men’s words and doctrines and traditions
over the words and commandments of Jesus Christ – therefore
ye have not. Therefore you reap emptiness, futility, and desolation.
Proverbs 1:23 Turn you at My reproof:
(Repent! And) behold, I will pour
out My Spirit unto you, I will make known My Words unto you.
The Greek in the following verses is extremely
revealing.
Acts 1:13-14 And when
they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where
abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip,
and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus,
and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued
(Proskar-Terouvtes, Proskar-Proskardios
Of the heart
Ter-Teras A sign, Wonder,
Omen, or Portent --Something that foreshadows a coming event.
A prophetic event or something of prophetic significance. O-The U-Upo To
come under, Beneath, To bow, To come under the authority or
influence of another, Ntes-Antao To
meet face to face, To partake of as
in being seated at a table
[Out
of their hearts, in obedience to that which was prophetically
spoke – they ceded their authority and influence, and instead
came face to face and become partakers]) with one accord (Omo-Thm-Adon.
Omo-Omou One, With, or together
-
Thumos With All
One’s soul, With all
one’s life breath, passionately and fervently. Adon-Ado-To sing, Ados Joy.
[They came and worshipped fervently with all that was in them])
in prayer (Pros-Eu-chE Pros [Dative] A motion away from, [Accusative] A motion to a place,
God’s throne in heaven.
In classical Greek Pros-Eu-Che is not prayer but a place of prayer. Euche in Classical Greek means: To Pray or To offer one’s vow.
Eu means: To euologize To
speak well of.
Che-Cheo in Classical Greek
means: To pour, To pour out, To pour forth, To flow. [The full meaning of the word Prayer here is: They
had built a house of prayer, where they cried out to the Lord,
in prayer, in worship, and in the making of vows, powerfully
pouring forth unto Him from the deep in them from the brokenness
of their hearts and crushed souls that they felt and were
deeply affected by]) and supplication, (Densei- [The Analytical Greek Lexicon lists Deo
as the root word and lists
its meaning as:
To lack, To fall short of]
In Classical Greek Densei-Denso-Deo is NOT a word used of prayer or supplication being made to God
– it used of: Personal lack, To fall short
of, To miss. [Here we see that they were also in a state of
deep repentance, a great sorrowing, both towards God and towards
one another.]) with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with
his brethren.
Here, the Apostles, Disciples and Women Turned at God’s reproof -- Peter, and the others
with him through deep repentance, fell upon the rock and were broken deep within their
soul and spirit before the Lord and one another – The process leading up to this moment, and what
happened here over the process of weeks of fasting and prostrating
themselves before God is what and is the straight and narrow
gate Christ spoke of
– This is the point of conversion Christ spoke of to Peter.
A number of things brought
them into this spiritual critical mass we read of here. Their
failure to understand even the simplest of things Christ spoke
to them for 3½ years, their being filled with strife, selfishness,
and carnality, as opposed to the selflessness of God and Jesus
Christ that was made so painfully manifest before their eyes,
their complete lack of spirituality, to the point of their
not even having developed any semblance of a prayer life as
Christ’s disciples, their utter betrayal of Christ in the
garden abandoning Him to the temple guards to be tried and
slain by the priests and the head of every rabbinical order
that ran the Sanhedrin, their knowing of what occurred with
Christ step by step as He was being scourged, to His being
made to carry His own cross to Golgotha, to His being nailed
to the Cross, His shedding of every drop of His Blood and
His death – The weight of their own sins and their lending
themselves to Christ’s betrayal and death shattered His Apostles
and Disciples. His resurrection filled them with fear and
terror as they were sure they would all be executed for their
crimes against Jesus Christ and the Father. And
finally, Christ’s ascension to the right hand of the Father
now leaving them who now felt so unworthy, so unholy, so unrighteous,
so unqualified to fill Christ’s sandals – and carry forth
His Words and Commandments to all nations.
Look now at what is before
you, and see, by the eye of the Spirit, the meaning here as
opposed to what men teach - Such repentance, such prayer,
such fasting, and such resoluteness before God, -- such inner
transformation and conversion of their hearts of stone to
hearts of flesh.
Look, see, and understand.
Did this happen when they
first believed?
Did this happen when they saw miracles, signs and wonders?
Did this happen when Christ died on the Cross?
Did this happen when Christ rose from the dead?
Did this happen when Christ appeared and taught them for 40
days?
Did this happen when they saw Christ ascend to the right hand
of God?
Pray that God will open your
heart and understanding to what is being spoken here.
The Lord Jesus Christ is still
the true vine, still The Way, The Truth, and The Life -- if
you will indeed follow the anointing. The Lord Jesus Christ
is still The Great Shepherd who is calling out to His sheep
by name, and leading and guiding all that are His Own -- if
you will indeed follow Him and become His disciple. And if
you hear His voice, and follow where He leads you through
the auspices of the Holy Ghost -- He will lead you to this
precise path in your life, to this precise place that He led
the Apostles and Disciples – To this place of emptiness, of
brokenness, of humility, and of knowing in every cell of your
being that no good thing dwelleth in you, and that by your
own strength, by your own intellect and understanding, and
by anything that you might offer in and of yourself – that
the Kingdom of God is not furthered, and that Jesus Christ
and the Father receive no Glory. – It is from this place that
Abraham trod, and Moses and the prophets so walked, and that
this was not the finishing line for the disciples and apostles
just prior to the day of Pentecost – it was the starting baseline,
it is the basis from which all true New Testament ministry
was in the days of the apostles supposed to function, (Independent
of gifts and operations of the Spirit as noted in the Gospels,
and the book of 1st Corinthians) and it
is yet true today though entirely lost upon the church – that
Jesus Christ’s words and commandments yet stand, and that
those who seek to truly become His disciples and to be His
servants must needs BE LED down this same path, (As
those who have made themselves disciples of Jessie Penn Lewis
and Disciples of the teachings of the cross – self flagellate,
abuse, mistreat and neglect their flesh – in the image and
likeness of Roman Catholic Asceticism and Monasticism – so
as to abuse themselves to the point that they feel holy and
worthy of the Lord. Know that in all actuality -- these acts,
these works of the flesh and soul are strange fire, and a
stench in the nostrils of God.) We
must hear the voice of Jesus Christ, calling us by name, and
follow Him down this path of meekness and lowliness of heart
– learning of Him as we go – to come to this point of critical
mass in our walk, this point of conversion, this point of
personal justification and personal sanctification – where
the Lord thereafter may begin to entrust us with our true
spiritual riches in Him, and may begin to share and impart
these to others as He wills, not as we will.
When we look out around us,
we see ministry that has not so entered what the disciples
and apostles entered into in order to function and be the
men we read of in the Book of Acts and in the Epistles. Neither
have these ministries so walked this path. Instead we see
a ministry that is drunk by their taking the Glory of God
to themselves and ever lifting up their own names and their
ministries. We see a ministry that continually traffics on
the Gospel and makes merchandise of God’s sheep so as to enrich
themselves to the point of living like the wealthy and becoming
celebrities and stars with their followings and groupies.
We see ministry that is bent on empowering themselves so that
they might rule as kings and execute their judgment over God’s
heritage and the unsaved.
This is not how Christ so
walked. These clearly know not His voice and are not following
Him as their shepherd. Clearly these walk in their own flesh
and after their own imagination.
And
yet in the face of all that we see, the word of God states
of those who so followed after Christ and so enter in, in
the upper room.
Acts
2:1 And when the
day of Pentecost was fully come, they
were all with one accord in one place. (That they remained there in that same most holy,
sanctified state and did not run out in their own strength
and power – but waited for Jesus Christ through the Spirit
to call the next move.)
Once they were so imbued, so filled to overflowing
– they remained subject to Christ and His leading and guidance
as to where and to whom they were to preach even as it was
in His earthly ministry.
Isaiah
55:1-3 Ho,
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that
hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine
and milk without money and without price. Wherefore
do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour
for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto
Me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall
live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even
the sure mercies of David.
Now we would be utterly neglectful
not to speak and declare that those thereafter
who received this same Baptism of the Holy Spirit
received it not as the disciples and apostles did in Acts 2:4, and we are speaking of all of those in the Book of Acts and those who are written
of in the Epistles
as demonstrated in
the Corinthian Church (We need to see ourselves and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
that we have received in this same light – if we are indeed
to ever grow and progress spiritually as the Lord would have
us to.) But that they as well as we have received
The Baptism of the Holy Ghost – without having walked down
the path that the apostles and disciples so walked, and neither
did they nor we come to this place of brokenness and humility
within our heart and soul, this place of spiritual critical
mass, this place of entering into personal sanctification
and personal justification before the Lord.
Can we see what we are speaking of here in the Word of
God? Can we see these things in scripture?
We can see what we are speaking of here as
revealed by the Spirit most pointedly in Isaiah, the prophet.
For in the Book of Isaiah, chapters 1-5, we see Isaiah was
called and anointed by God to be a prophet, but in Isaiah,
chapter six, God called Isaiah into a higher calling, he called
Isaiah from being a prophet anointed of the Lord, to being
an Apostle. One who had personally entered into personal sanctification
and personal justification before the Lord, one that was to
walk in brokenness of heart, one whose soul was pierced –
so as to speak and prophecy of the Highest Order, testifying
of the coming Christ, His life and His ministry, His suffering,
death, and resurrection. And we note Isaiah was also granted the signs
of the Apostle as well.
We can see most pointedly the results in
Numbers where God took of the Spirit that was upon Moses and
placed this same Spirit upon the elders of Israel – and the
power of it, yet the woeful results when Aaron (A false apostle,
the foreshadowing of the Antichrist) spoke and
said “Break off the earrings” and caused all of Israel to
sin – and those that had been so filled and imbued followed
after the ways of Aaron. (Take heed to these words – and know that likewise in the Epistles
is recorded the beginnings of the great falling away of the
early church.) The difference
between Moses and the elders that had received of the same
Spirit that was upon him –was that they had not yet walked
the path that Moses walked, nor had they come to the place
of critical mass before God, in brokenness of heart and spirit,
of having entered into personal sanctification and personal
justification before the Lord.
There are many other examples but we will move on to
Jesus Christ Himself.
In the life of Jesus Christ when He was baptized in water
of John the Baptist and was subsequently baptized with the
Holy Spirit by God Himself, the word of God declares that
Jesus did not receive the full-power of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 4:1-11 Then
(After Jesus was baptized in the Holy Ghost,
then)
was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
And when he had fasted forty
days and forty nights, he was
afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he
said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones
be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into
the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself
down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning
thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at
any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto
him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy
God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high
mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and
the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will
I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith
Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
What we read here
in the Gospel of Matthew in great plainness of speech is that
Jesus Christ, the second and last Adam received at the river
Jordan
“in measure” this baptism of the Holy Spirit. (As in the same manner the first Adam in the
garden received dominion of Spirit from the hand of the Father
“in measure,” for the first Adam also had to be tested and
proved in all points like the second and last Adam, Jesus
Christ, before he [The first Adam] was to be granted the fullness
of this dominion of Spirit.)
Hebrews 4:15 For
we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities; but
was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
From
the standpoint of the Father, this testing, this proving of
Jesus Christ involved Jesus life with His earthly parents,
with the tutors and governors He had been placed under, and
this testing and proving ended in the wilderness when Satan
could not tempt or find any fault in Jesus Christ. (Elsewhere we have described
what occurred in Jesus life to that of what occurred with
Abraham as he entered into personal sanctification and personal
justification before God.)
Here
now is what, in great plainness of speech, the word of God
declares was the result of this intensive praying and fasting
and waiting upon the Lord that occurred in the life of Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, after He had entered
into the wilderness forty days earlier with the Baptism of
the Holy Ghost in measure.
Luke 4:14 And Jesus returned
in the power of the Spirit into Galilee:
and there went out a fame of him through all the region round
about.
Over
the years many have questioned the lack of power in their
Baptism of the Holy Spirit as opposed to what they read in
Scripture and the New Testament and here we have the answer
that has been in plain sight for all to see all along and
in quite concrete terms – for as the 70 elders that received
of the Spirit of God that was upon Moses by the hand of God
Himself and these were found wanting in their in-filling,
and the Apostles and the Disciples had to first so walk as
Christ did, be broken, and come into spiritual critical mass
in the upper room before the Spirit was so poured out upon
them in power – We, as those in the early church as recorded
in Corinthians, Galatians, along with the Seven Churches of
Asia Minor that are recorded in Revelation, have not walked
the walk that Christ did, we have not been tested tempted
and proven on all points, we have not walked as the disciples
between the Last Supper and the Upper Room so that we might
be so broken, so painfully aware of our sins and short comings,
so stripped of our personal gifts, natural talents and abilities,
and fall upon the rock and be shattered. And thus we have
not entered into this personal justification/personal sanctification
before God that He can then entrust us with our true riches,
even the power of the Spirit that came upon Jesus as He departed
from the wilderness to begin in earnest the ministry and calling
God had given Him from the beginning.
Here we find a small image of what we are speaking of elsewhere
in the Gospels.
Matthew 19:20 The
young man (Seeking to become a disciple and apostle of Jesus Christ) saith unto Him (Jesus Christ), All these things have I kept from my youth up: (With my own strength,
and power) what lack I yet?
And Jesus answered Him . . .
Pray and meditate upon those things that are written here and
let the Lord break this bread unto you that it might become
life and health unto your bones.
Isaiah 64:7 There
is none that calleth upon Thy Name, that stirreth up himself
to take hold of Thee.