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.