Author: THOMAS HART CLEMENTS
TAKE FIVE (OK 15!)
Both of these videos are the Best of the Best. View them both but in the order presented here.
THE PATH TO SPEAKING IN TONGUES
No single topic in the Church is more enigmatic than that of Speaking in Tongues. Speaking in Tongues is largely abandoned and ignored by the Church. This is a tragedy in the time of the close of this dispensation of The Grace of God.
In this work I will convey exactly what Speaking in Tongues is. I will fully explain the dynamics, the protocol, the purpose, the types of, the manifestations, the benefits, the history, the power, the corruption of the Truth of it written in the stars, the necessary mindsets and necessary conditions of the spirits and hearts of the Saints pertaining to Forgiveness and Love of one another.
Tongues is not of the minds of man.
Other considerations are having repented from sin, having accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and having received at least two Baptisms.
Please note that God is a God of Love.
The very foundation of Speaking in Tongues is Love, Humility and willingness to submit yourself to God.
SILVER AND GOLD
5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.
6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
WE ARE A PECULIAR PEOPLE
There is much talk about revival. Some Churches have revival every year. Many of us are on the lookout for the next Revival of Fire. We often talk of past revivals, those of last year, five or ten years ago and even one hundred or two hundred years ago.
Miracles were seen as people received salvation and were healed and delivered. All these events were short lived with the lookout for the next one being launched.
I see no consistent evidence of a display of The Great Commission as was commanded in the book of Mark chapter 16 verses 16-20.
What is worse, though, is that the backward progress of the so-called apostate church (1 Timothy 4:1-3) is taking an “in your face” posture.
Those of us who profess to be in the Church need to examine ourselves. Is Jesus the Resurrected Son of God? Do I harbor unforgiveness in my heart? Do I love my neighbor as myself? Have I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior? been water baptized and filled with The Holy Spirit of Fire at the Hand of Jesus Christ? This is no light thing. Careful consideration is necessary.
Lately, I have been giving the Millennial Reign role of the Church a lot of thought. At this point I desire to share broadly some of my thoughts in favor of expanding in more detail later.
Essentially, We the church are in sort of a bootcamp. We have been amply trained (Hebrews 5), told that we reside in Heavenly Places with Christ (Ephesians 2:5-7), told that we are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9), and told that we are Sons (Children) of God (1 John 3:1-2).
Additionally, we know that once transitioned into the new world (Millennial Reign) we (The Church) will have glorified bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51-53). We will be unlike the other inhabitants of the earth. Flesh and Bone like the Lord!
Two last things: Importantly, also we will rule and reign with a rod of iron with Him for one thousand years (Revelation 2:26-28). Secondly, I petitioned the Lord as to what we will be called during the Millennial Reign. Will we be the Church still, the Bride, the Saints the Body of Christ? He will get back to me with the response to that question and when He does, I will let you know.
So, what am I saying? I am saying let us recognize who we are. Let us be “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world” (2 Peter 1:4).
Let us grasp this concept!
ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!
Look at us. We are all walking around with masks on. That is those of us that have any sense. Covid-19 is obviously a real thing. It is one of the several End-Time signs.
End-Time as we know it and preamble to the new “Righteous only need apply” age. You must be saved to be considered Righteous.
Revelation, chapter six in the Bible is where the events of the Tribulation (and Great Tribulation) begin. They are the seven seals; the seven trumpets and the seven vials are presented later in the book.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you will have been “raptured” (caught away or snatched) from the earth to be with Jesus Christ in heaven before the Tribulations starts.
THE SAIL BOAT DREAM
On September 22, 2016, I dreamt that I was out in a sailboat sailing on a river.
There was a great stone (big rock) adjacent to the river and in the mist of some trees.
We had word that the stone was about to explode.
We were currently not moving as we had encountered an obstruction. The waters of the river were flowing nicely.
I recall adjusting the kick-up rudder to clear the obstruction to be able to sail on.
The Stone did explode as we began to sail and flow freely.
As I have said before in this work, the interaction with God in the process is regular. This dream is a good example.
The message (interpretation) to me is clear; the Stone is the Lord Himself. The river is that which flows from Him eternally (Utterance), the trees are the people (the Saints). The explosion is symbolic of the Spirit of the Lord being poured out on all flesh in this end time.
The obstruction that was overcome by the navigation adjustment is symbolic of the Enemy. The navigation adjustment represents the Church (Ecclesia) adopting proper protocol where walking in (and by) the Spirit (of the living God) is concerned.
Utterance is spoken forth through the Saints throughout all the World.
THE INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES
How does one interpret Tongues? This is the question that I hear most often about Speaking in Tongues.
Tongues, for our purposes here has its first mention in the book of Mark, reading:
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; (Mark 16:17)
If you are a believer, you should be speaking in Tongues.
The second mention of Tongues is in the Book of Acts, Chapter 2.
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1-4)
Speaking in Other Tongues is introduced to the 120 visitors to that Upper Room meeting that day. Those gathered there were from different areas and spoke different languages (tongues). They heard their languages as being spoken by those who did not know their language (vs 5-11).
And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? (Vs 12)
Peter said to them:
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
And on my servants and on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: (Acts 2:16-18)
The essence of the pouring out of the Spirit of God is Tongues. He pours it out incessantly (Acts 2:33). Visions, Dreams, Anointing, Light, Revelation, Faith, Prophecy, Power, Healing, Deliverance, Wisdom, Shalom and much more are the by-production of this “Living Water” (John 7:38).
God works by His Word (John 1:1-4). The purest form of His Word is Tongues or as He is commonly called, Unknown Tongues.
The primary use of Tongues equates to Him proclaiming those things which He decrees through His Mouthpiece; His Body, the Church even the Church Members (The Saints).
These transactions are meant to be done in private. Even when “Speaking in Tongues” happens in the church building during the Assembly it should occur in “ones own space”.
Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. (1 Corinthians 14:19)
The Bible tell us that when Speaking in Tongues in the “open” Assembly there is to be the “Interpretation of Tongues”.
The Bible says this:
If any man speaks in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.
But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. (1Corinthians 14:27-28)
Tongues (divers kinds of Tongues with the word divers being added by the translator) with Interpretation of Tongues is equal to Prophecy. These Spoken Manifestations are given for the edification (building up), exhortation (encouraging) and comfort of the Local Assembly.
One simple thing to remember is that when Tongues or Divers Kinds of Tongues with the Interpretation of Tongues happens GOD IS ALWAYS IN THE ROOM.
God is in the room giving the Utterance when meditational Prayer in the Spirit or when Ministerial Tongues with Interpretation happens.
HE IS GIVING THE UTTERANCE. We, His Body are a co-laborer. His Spirit works through our spirit with the natural tongue being the mechanical part or necessary apparatus for the execution. HE GIVES THE INTERPRETATION.
We do well to keep our minds (souls) out of this Spiritual/spiritual transaction.
LIEGE
Several years ago, I had a dream or a vision in which the only message was the word LIEGE.
Now this is a word that at that time I was not familiar with so I did what any self-respecting dream enthusiast would do – I googled it.
So, as a side note do know that Liège is a province of eastern Belgium. Formerly ruled by independent prince-bishops, it became a part of the Netherlands in 1815 and of Belgium in 1830. It is situated along the Meuse River.
Now as you know, Liege speaks to a relationship between a Lord and His servant or Vassal. More specifically the concept is relative to Feudal Law and the responsibility that the two parties have to one another. On the surface, one is likely to think of the “Lord Liege” as the dominate party in the relationship and this is reasonable as the Lord is the one with the stuff.
As we further consider this relationship, though, we understand that the Lord is expressly dependent upon His vassal (liegeman) to help Him run things. They are mutually reliant upon each other. The word liege is both a noun and an adjective in its use.
Feudalism is also described as the dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants (villeins or serfs) were obliged to live on their lord’s land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection.
So where am I going with all this? Well, it was not difficult for me to ascertain that what my Lord (Jesus Christ) was showing me in this dream is that we are in a mutually beneficial relationship.
Specifically, He was demonstrating that He needs me (and you if you are in Him) to understand His responsibility in our relationship and He not only needs me to hold up my part but that I must be sure to hold Him responsible to do is His part.
So let us be clear; Jesus Christ is Lord and God. He is Sovereign. I am just telling you what He told me. We must know what His responsibilities are to us and hold Him responsible.
We too need to know what it is He needs of us and move forward in those things. Do know that our relationship with Him avails to us all the resources of Heaven inclusive of Heaven’s military.
Can I get an Amen
THE LIGHT MAN
There once was (and still is) a man. An ordinary man. This man had a glimmer of light in his heart – in the center of his being. Faint it was, hardly noticed by anyone except his parents. It stayed that way for years and years but was obtaining a solid position in there – like a tree as it stretches out its root system to be able to stand even to reach the clouds.
One day this nice gentleman was made aware of an outside source of light. One that was exterior to him but that is very much like the light which he owned. This Light is the greatest of all light. It is the Light of the world. It is the Source of all life in the universe.
He somehow knew that that light was beckoning him to let It come into him. It wanted to join him and grow in him. This most powerful Light would be a co-laborer with the light of our friend whom we mentioned first in this little story. It would be a Helper. The Great Light is a source of Eternal information and Jethro; let us call our friend Jethro, can access this information and increasingly so as he builds his relationship with the Light.
Once choosing to cohabitate with the Light – join his light with that Light – change was swift and exponential. The light that was in him was no longer just a flicker. It had grown, filling his abdominal cavity to an explosive ability. His cranial cavity became alive and radiant with activity because of the Light. He began to know things, to see and hear more clearly. His sense of right and wrong became keener. Key components of the two referenced systems are now more aware of each other and working together. Compassion and love are intrinsic in his personality.
His thoracic cavity is also infiltrated by the Light giving him increased ability to spew out words of encouragement here and there and upon those whom he chooses or when he is petitioned to do so. His message is one of love. That Light shown throughout his whole body. His movement is more graceful and displays positive intent.
The Light is no longer contained inside his body. It emanates from his body and becomes like a force field of love and all that is positive. Those meeting him senses this Power (that is what it is, power) not fully, if at all, understanding what it is.
But that is not all. Remember that I said that that Light is external to that of Jethro. Well, the Great Light while it works within Jethro, it (He) also has a life and agenda all His own. That Light is always everywhere Jethro goes, even if the atmosphere is dark. In fact, there are times when the Light will pick, for example, to intervene in the ordinary course of nature to bring about some change. An example of this might be to open blind eyes or to cause a cripple person to walk.
The Light (you noticed the upper-case L) now that He has opened a line of communication (communion even) with Jethro is able to conduct such work in the natural realm using a natural person.
Spiritual Gift or Spiritual Manifestation?
The Spiritual Gift (Manifestation) of Faith supersedes the measure of faith or the fruit of the spirit faith from Galatians. The Manifestation of The God kind of Faith is the Ultimate Faith that does Miracles and moves mountains and is limitless. I’m going there. Come with me!
HEALING BETH
Yesterday while I worked on one of the houses that my uncle left me, a couple came by to check on him. The wife, who walked with a cane (had had a heart attack, three strokes & has (had) MS) and dragged her right foot when she walked; broke down weeping when I told them that my uncle had died.
Once we agreed that he is in a better place I asked her if I could pray for her and cleared it with her husband while asking him to support her as she was not steady on her feet.
I set up a few ground rules with them such as how sickness, infirmity, oppression, and the like, had all been borne by Jesus Christ on the cross, the importance of Faith in that fact and of course the fact that He (Christ) is Lord and Savior.
I commanded that any and all demons depart from her and I commanded her body to function properly and to be healthy from the crown of head to the bottom of her feet. This I did in the name of Jesus and because of the Authority of that name and because of the Blood.
After praying for her a few moments, I recognized the Presence of the Holy Spirit upon us. As she started to lift first one hand and then the other her husband became nervous and thought that she was having a seizure (she often had those). I asked him to be patient telling him that she was alright.
Suddenly, she shouted that she was healed and ran, yes ran, off jumping up and down and praising Jesus. She started calling folks and telling them that she had something to show them. She was speaking about her healing. Just thought I would share this little story with you. I would be remiss if I did not say “PRAISE GOD!”
“GIVE ME WHAT BELONGS TO ME” A lesson about Tithing
This is an older dream of mine that I previously posted on the edreamsandvisions.com website.
A few days ago, I dreamt that I was gathering the mail from my now deceased father-in-law’s mailbox. The mailman had just delivered the mail. When I opened the mailbox, along with a few assorted pieces of mail there were two large stacks of money. There were thousands and thousands of dollars.
My first thought was “could this be my money?” Wasn’t my mailbox though. As I gathered up the money, two of Mr. A’s children nicked a few bills from the top of one of the bundles. They said, “daddy won’t mind, going to just get a manicure.”
As I went in to present the bundles to Mr. A, we determined that one of them was his and that he didn’t know who the other one belonged to. I guess this meant the other one was mine or at least my job to haphazardly try to find the true owner.
Meanwhile as I had been slow to slide on over to Mr. A his very large pile of green, he said to me sternly, “give me what belongs to me.”
Now, there were other persons in the room. Some were siting at the table where he and I were sitting. Now as I passed his bundle on over to him, he at once started to disperse the smaller bundles from his larger one to those is the room.
These folks were worker associates of his. They apparently did all the legwork and it was time to be paid. He slid money bundles to those at the table and I recall him tossing one over his left shoulder to a person sitting back in the corner.
I knew that this was a lesson about tithing. He went about remitting to those owed at once and fully. I had been asking the Lord to give me clarity about tithing and this was His answer. It was clear to me that I should go at once to the third chapter of the Book of Malachi. Malachi 3 is the go-to text at tithes and offerings time in the Church.
It is my intent to sort through the referenced scripture and to show you what I see but for now, in a few words, what God showed me is that tithing is a principle and mandate for now as it always has been (vs 4).
We are admonished that we will be thoroughly judge and that faithful giving is a thing of righteousness (vs 3).
In verse 6 He says, “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” “Ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” basically means that the tithes and offerings is not a thing of the past but is ongoing. No change.
THE HARBINGER
Harbinger: something that foreshadows a future event: something that gives an anticipatory sign of what is to come
On December 24, 2019 I had a dream. I called it Laser Cluster-Missiles. Now I know that the dream was about Covid-19. The dream occurred before there was wide-spread knowledge about the virus.
God showed me that there would be many deaths. He did not say how the virus would be brought under control. I will put a link to that dream at the bottom of this post.
On February 13, 2020 I dreamed that the President is dead. This dream is also posted to my blog and a link is below.
There was no clear foul play, but there he was, lying there dead. This dream was one that I fully expect to manifest. I expect to wake up one day to see this in the news.
There are two other of my dreams that fit into this story. One of them is about an earthquake and the other is about an airplane crash.
I believe that the referenced dreams are all Harbingers relating to the end-time.
End-time events are happening in the earth and the greatest of these, The Rapture of the Church” could occur at any moment.
Note worthy: regarding the earthquake dream (Matthew 24:7) I expect it to happen any day now and will cause many to dedicate their lives to the Lord and the airplane crash dream speaks to separating the wheat from the tares (Matthew 13:24-30). Be the wheat!
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD AND GOD. HE IS THE ONLY PONTENTATE!
I DREAMED THAT THE PRESIDENT IS DEAD
MANIFOLD WISDOM FOR THE PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. (Ephesians 3:8-12)
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. (Romans 16:20)
“EVEN WHEN I DON’T SEE IT, YOU’RE WORKING!”
And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (Mark 16:20)
Way back before time started there was Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:19-21 says this :
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
In the THE BOOK OF ENOCH, Enoch records that during his visit to heaven (And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Genesis 5:24) and while being given a tour of the Same by the Angels, that there was a Person in the midst of the host of heaven, present with the Head of Days that had a face that was full of Grace Whom they referred to as the Son of Righteousness. This was none other than Jesus Christ pre-incarnate.
Even now, the fact that Jesus Christ is Omnipresent must become more than just a cliche term but rather a reality for the believer.
What’s more, the Authority of His Name spoken by the believer enables the Power of Heaven in the earth.
We don’t have to see Jesus to know that He is present. He always has been and always will be.
Here is a story that I like to tell about Healing and Deliverance: About a year ago when I visited a Church for the second time, I was asked by the Pastor to pray for the sick people that were present.
I prayed for several of the people and God healed and ministered within the midst of them. One of the ladies that I prayed for got the Pastor’s attention to tell him (and the congregation) of a vision that she had while I laid my hands on her and prayed.
She said that while I prayed, she had a vision in which she saw the Lord. She described Him as being dressed all in white. She could not see His face clearly. This lady was due to have a surgical procedure within the week and the Lord told her that the procedure would be a success.
So, you see the Lord was working amid us. As far as I know, no one saw the vision except that one lady. I certainly had no indication of what the Lord was doing. The vision was the sign. Can there be any doubt as to the lady’s testimony?
COVID-19, THE RAPTURE AND YOU
What is the commonality? Covid-19 and the Rapture are certainly related, but how about you and the Rapture? And, what the heck is the Rapture?
Let me just run on over to the Word. We find this in the Book of Matthew:
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:6-8)
The above bible passage outlines things that will happen on the earth as the time of the earth as we know it is about to come to an end. These signs will precede the Rapture.
The Rapture will be evidence by the disappearance of all Christians (both dead and alive) from the earth. The Lord, Jesus Christ, will Rapture (harpaso) or “snatch” them (us) into Heaven to abide with Him. This action will signal the beginning of the tribulation and great tribulation in the earth. These events will last three and a half years each. It begins with the introduction of the Antichrist into the world. All hell literally breaks loose at that time.
The Rapture may or may not apply to you. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then I stop short of saying what Mr T would say. Google it though!
Long story short, we are currently experiencing the end-time signs. The Rapture of the Church could happen at any moment. Say the sinner’s prayer and you are in. If not said, then not. After the Rapture, then seven years of Tribulation. After that, King Jesus and the Saints rule and reign on earth for one thousand years. After that, a final disposition for all sin and sinners in the lake of fire.
After these things shall the Earth be rid of corruption and all things are become new.
CONFIRMING THE WORD WITH SIGNS FOLLOWING
And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (Mark 16:20)
The Bible verses leading up to the above scriptural reference is the Lord Jesus Christ giving the disciples some final instruction as to how they were to carry on the work that He had started in the earth.
“These signs shall follow them that believe.” “In my name” He said. “They shall cast out devils, speak with new tongues, pick up serpents, not be harmed by poisonous things that they drank and that they shall heal the sick by laying hands on them.”
I believe that the operative verse that is highlighted above is often overlooked and many times to the peril of well-meaning Saints, both the Laity and the Ministers.
As I have tried to gain a true Spiritual perspective of what God is trying to teach us about how He is going to bring about His Kingdom “on Earth as in Heaven”, much has been revealed to me.
Healing and Deliverance is near and dear to me, so I am going to say just a little more about that in this piece.
I believe that we should see Healing and/or Deliverance every time we pray for the same. Knowing the applicable scriptures (promises) is essential.
First, let us look at Mark 16:20 above and break it open a little bit or “unpack” it as some would say. This is easy.
It says, “they went forth and preached everywhere the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following.” My point is about ninety-nine percent made if we just take these words at face value. They went and preached everywhere, and the Lord was working with them and there were signs following that confirmed the Word.
Let me tell you this important story from which I received Extreme Revelation and Light about Healing and Deliverance. About a year ago when I visited a Church for the second time, I was asked by the Pastor to pray for the sick people that were present.
I prayed for several of the people and God healed and ministered within the midst of them. One of the ladies that I prayed for got the Pastor’s attention to tell him (and the congregation) of a vision that she had while I laid my hands on her and prayed.
She said that while I prayed, she had a vision in which she saw the Lord. She described Him as being dressed all in white. She could not see His face clearly. This lady was due to have a surgical procedure within the week and the Lord told her that the procedure would be a success.
So, you see the Lord was working amid us. As far as I know, no one saw the vision except that one lady. I certainly had no indication of what the Lord was doing. The vision was the sign. Can there be any doubt as to the lady’s testimony?
Here is another quick story. A few months ago, I had a conversation with a friend that lives about 3000 miles away. She told me that her sister was sick and had been told by the doctors that there was little hope. “Any time” were his words.
They had started to move her things from her apartment and were just biding the time.
It is important that when we pray for someone’s healing that we pray the right prayer. What I mean by that is that we pray in agreement with the sick person and their family. We must know and believe the promises that God has given us about healing.
Long story short, after a considerable time, my friend called me to say that her sister was much improved. I believe this to be a miracle. Praise the Lord for that. I said, “Praise the Lord for that!
“The Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following.” There are different avenues in which God may heal or deliver a person. God can heal people that we pray for even if they are found some distance away. We see a story of this kind of healing here.
There are situations where the touch of the Lord sometimes absent a believer and sometimes through a believer will bring about an instantaneous healing or deliverance. This operation is usually dynamic in that the Weight of the Lord is present. God can be felt.
The following passage, I view as sort of an insurance policy. If all else fails, He (The Lord) says that where there is agreement of at least two believers that whatever they ask for shall be done for them. Does not this include healing and/or deliverance?
Again, I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:19-20)
You see there in verse 20 that the Lord says that He is in the midst of them. The Lord is always in the midst of us and working with us. Signs following!
THE BLOOD OF A DEAD MAN
For seven years after the Rapture of the Church (which could happen at any moment), God will impose the Tribulation and the Great Tribulation upon the earth. A time (one year), times (two years) and half a time will be the duration of each.
The Rapture will signal that God is now absolutely going to pour out His wrath on all upon the earth. This will be the worse time ever on the earth. A time only eclipsed by eternity in hell itself. Do not be that person!
Matthew 24:6-8 says this about the beginning of an unbelievable precursor to the End Time.
And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows.
So, you see, the handwriting is on the wall. I assure you that the Coronavirus is a wake-up call to the Church and to the world. I believe that the Lord showed me prophetically this event in a dream.
Further, I believe that the Lord showed me in yet another dream that the End-Time is near-by. This time it is an earthquake — the costliest earthquake in history. I think it will come soon.
Revelation is the book of the bible the tells us about the events leading up to the end of the world as we know it (inclusive of the Rapture of the Church and the tribulations) and the beginning of a New Age. All the corruption brought about by the fall will be burned with fire and the earth will be made new.
It is chock-full of not-so-pleasant themes. One of those themes has to do with blood. Here is a dialogue in which the Father is asked when He would revenge the atrocities endured by Christians converted during the tribulations and later martyred:
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (Revelation 6:9-11)
In the Bible we find many occasions where God avenges the blood of His servants. Scriptural references include Matthew 23:34-36, Psalms 58:10, Genesis 4:15 and Deuteronomy 21:1-9 are a few of them.
As mentioned, we see blood often as God pours out His Wrath in Revelations. In chapter six we see the moon become as blood. In chapter eight we see the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
In chapter eleven we see the two witnesses having power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
In chapter fourteen, we see the Lord began to cleanse the Earth of the unsaved as thus: And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs (vs. 19-20).
This passage uses the symbolism of grapes in a winepress to describe the eventual defeat of the wicked in the end times. As grapes are crushed and broken to release wine, the bodies of God’s enemies will be smashed in a bloody defeat. Taken in literal terms, this verse describes a cascade of blood some five or six feet (2 meters) high and 180 miles (290 kilometers) long. Most interpreters see this as primarily symbolic.
So, you see, lots of blood. And this only starts the conversation. Now, more about the blood of a dead man. Somehow, I imagine this to be blood in a congealed state. Every living soul in the sea died. Here is the scripture reference.
THERE IS A TRAIN A COMING
In the nineteen sixties, there was a popular song being played on the radio entitled People Get Ready. It was a popular song but with a distinct religious, even Christian flavor.
For 2000 years now believers have eagerly awaited and anticipated the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The widespread revelation of the Rapture of the Church is more recent in Christendom. The hope of His coming, though, has been persistent and is eminent.
The Bible speaks of two categories of people to be dealt with in the end-time. Sometimes referred to as sheep and goats, they are the sinners and the believers. Eternity for these two different groups will be vastly different.
I assure you that the current Corona-Virus (COVID-19) matter that has caused the whole world to be locked down is a wake-up call to the masses. If you are not already saved, you would be wise to give it some serious thought right now.
I have no rights or financial interest in the copyrighted material that I am including in this post.
You don’t need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin’
You don’t need no ticket you just thank the lord
Picking up passengers coast to coast
Faith is the key, open the doors and board them
There’s hope for all among those loved the most
There ain’t no room for the hopeless sinner whom would hurt all mankind
Just to save his own
Have pity on those whose chances grow thinner
For there is no hiding place against the kingdoms throne
You don’t need no baggage, just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin’
You don’t need no ticket, just thank the lord.
COVID-19 and the RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH
In December I posted a dream entitled Laser Cluster Missiles. The Lord gave me this dream prior to there being public knowledge of the so-called Corona-Virus or COVID-19.
You are probably aware that this virus is one of the most menacing pestilences to ever arrive on the earth. This thing has literally caused the whole earth to stand still.
There have been other great plagues on earth before killing hundreds of millions of people and it looks like this one has the potential to cause a substantial number of deaths if it is not quickly brought under control.
When I had the dream that I referenced above, I titled it Laser Cluster Missiles because that is what the Lord told me to call it. All I could see in the dream was the people falling dead. There was no evidence of bullets, bombs or other projectiles — just folks falling dead.
It wasn’t until perhaps April that I had the revelation that the dream was about the Corona/Virus. Knowing what I have come to know about COVID-19, it made perfect sense to me to call it Laser Cluster Missiles. That is exactly what it is. It attacks with laser accuracy. The virus appears to contain an almost infinite number of ways (hence cluster) to attack the body. It becomes a projectile or missile when it is sneezed or coughed out.
So what does this have to do with the Rapture of the Church? Maybe even, what is the Rapture of the Church?
First, the Rapture. One day, in the not to distant future (no one knows for sure when) the Lord Jesus Christ will snatch (Rapture) those people of the earth that are His (Christians) up to Heaven to be with Him. We will abide with Him for about seven years while the Tribulation and Great Tribulation takes place on the earth. The worse events imaginable will occur during this time and God will protect the Church from them by translating them to Heaven.
There is one other thing about the dream that was brought to my attention a few days ago and it was this. At the end of the dream I exited the safety of the egg-shaped pod that I was in and entered up some stairs.
At the time, I though that it was just stairs and that I was rejoining the people in the mall. Lately, though, I have began to wonder if the Lord was showing me that the Rapture is near!!!
There is no further end-time prophecy pertaining to the Rapture. It could happen at any moment. Are you ready?
Here is an interesting article that I cam across today regarding COVID-19.
“the manifold wisdom of God”, JUST WHAT DOES THAT MEAN
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. (Ephesians 3:10-12)
Okay, let’s work on that for just a little while. This is good stuff! Much of my work for the present days, weeks and likely months if the Lord tarry will be centered around the CaronaVirus. It may be that the CaronaVirus (COVID-19) is the event that will catapult the world into the Tribulation/Great Tribulation.
First, who are the principalities and who are the powers? The principalities are the top ranking demons or devils. Satan an/or Lucifer fit that bill. They are the guys who burn the midnight oil devising plans to steal, kill and destroy mankind and anything or anyone associated with us.
The powers are a second tier of the heavenly bad guys. They are like bad cops to whom authority, and discretion as to how to use that authority are given. They may mete out justice (or injustice) any way they see fit.
They are the cancer in your body. They are the evil spirits in your children. They are blindness. They are ODD, OCD, ADHD and a long list of other diseases, infirmities and disorders. They work to viciously destroy unto death, us.
The context of Manifold Wisdom for our purposes here is to make known to those renegade spirits with a little more clarity what the Lord meant when He says this:
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. (Revelation 6:13-14)
Here what we see is the fallen angelic host of heaven being cast down to the earth when the atmosphere or firmament necessary for them fly continuously above the earth is “rolled together.”
This is one of the many events that will happen during the tribulations.
Manifold basically means many or varied. We, The Church are charged with advising the principalities and powers of them all. I believe that the referenced Wisdom comes primarily as a result of Praying in the Holy Ghost (Praying in Tongues).
Let’s get busy.
PRAISE THE LORD!
COVID-19 IS A LASER CLUSTER- MISSILE
Back on December 24, 2019 I had a dream and I entitled it “LASER CLUSTER-MISSILE“. I posted it to my “dreams and visions” Blog. I will insert a link to that dream at the end of this post.
I had the dream before the Corona-virus was made known to the public and the shelter in place and so-called world-wide lock-down was enacted. So, I knew the dream to be surreal and bizarre. I knew, too, that it was from God. It was very vivid.
I am going to give the interpretation of the dream here and then send you on over to the original dream. Be sure to go there.
Firstly, in the dream, I am interacting with the world, in the world. Secondly, a preliminary (wake-up call, if you will) comes on the world. People start to fall dead around me. God is showing just a very small taste of the end-time events that are are sure to come.
The next scene in the dream (there were four separate scenes) I found myself safely enclosed in an egg-shaped pod. This is akin to This.
The fourth and final scene has to do with stairs and entering again into the company of people going about their business.
My initial interpretation of scene number four was that I was just re-entering the world but further thought and Revelation has me re-thinking that.
As you know, those of us in the Church are eagerly anticipating the the return of the Lord. That may be what I was shown. Remember, though, we don’t know the date or time.
Okay, now to “LASER CLUSTER MISSILE.” When I had the dream, The Lord impressed upon me that the world was being attacked by a laser cluster missile. Now, I had to sort through some things to make some sort of sense as to what He meant. Frankly, until COVID-19 (The Corona-virus) was revealed the only light that I had was of cruel mechanical weaponry. You know, bullets and bombs.
After seeing a picture of the virus, I knew immediately that it was the weapon in the dream. Briefly, if you pay close attention, you will see the laser like accuracy related to the multiple individual ways for it to attack the body and the projectile attributes of having been sneezed or coughed. I am going to send you over to YouTube to see a video of the laser cluster missile.
CORONAVIRUS, COVID-19 THE PROPHETIC DREAM
Back on December 2019, I posted a dream. I now know that the dream was about the COVID-19 (The Corona Virus).
At the time, I thought “what a strange dream?” As it turns out though the Lord was giving me a WORD OF WISDOM (PROPHETIC look into the future). More importantly, He was prompting me to get the word out that COVID-19 is a “WAKE UP CALL”.
The seriousness of this current day event that literally shuts down the whole world from my standpoint shows the strength of the MOST HIGH. I do not believe that He caused it but, I know that He is allowing it for His own purposes.
You see, I believe that we are rapidly approaching the End-time. I know. however, that the events of the End-time are outlined or given in the Bible.
The expected End-time will occur bringing wars, famine, earthquake, rivers and oceans of blood, destruction of the great empire Babylon, demons being released into the earth and a whole long list of the most terrible things imaginable. My point is that COVID isn’t.
The message of the dream is that I and all those of like faith as me will float through this turbulent time in great comfort (well reasonable comfort).
Our charge at this stage is to do THE GREAT COMMISSION. FOCUS is the watch word. Discipline is the necessity. LOVE & FAITH are the essence!
PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS, CLOUDS THEY ARE
And from the rock I cut off a great fire, and from the fire I created the orders of the incorporeal ten troops of angels, and their weapons are fiery and their raiment a burning flame, and I commanded that each one should stand in his order.
And one from out the order of angels, having turned away with the order that was under him, conceived an impossible thought, to place his throne higher than the clouds above the earth, that he might become equal in rank to my power.
And I threw him out from the height with his angels, and he was flying in the air continuously above the bottomless. (The book of Enoch)
The preceding represents the MOST HIGH explaining how he created the Angels and how one of them rebelled. An interesting note here (seen by slightly more study of the Book Of Enoch), is that this rebellion took place on the second day of The Creation. In the book of Isaiah, chapter 14, we see this story played out.
Here in the book of Luke chapter 10, Jesus comments on the expelling of Satan from heaven, saying that He saw him “falling as lightning“.
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. (Revelation 12:4) Here we see further detail about the expulsion of Satan and one third of the angels down to the earth.
“And he was flying in the air continuously above the bottomless” (or earth).
The Principalities and Powers that are referenced several time by Paul in the New Testament are Satan and his angels. They are for the most part relegated to existing in the air above the earth “flying continuously.”
Jude says this about them: “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” and this:
These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.”
Peter, in Second Peter chapter two, says this: “These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever” and much more about these angels that have gone bad.
Paul tells us that these are the enemy with whom we wrestle. Yes, our enemy while we are in the earth is not with our cousins or brothers or the races but with angels. Paul says in Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
He cautions us in verses 10&11 to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might” and “Put on the whole Armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil”. Yes, the devil, Satan, a fallen angel and his devil horde.
We don’t win a war or even a battle with the devil without the Armour of God.
Paul also refers to the Principalities and Powers as the prince of the power of the air, This is likely because the air above the earth where the “bottomless” is located is there current domain. These spiritual entities have no physicals bodies. It does appear, though that they desire to reside in or to possess physical attributes.
Those exiled angels that were kicked out of Heaven because of their rebellious deeds are now all flying around the earth utilizing clouds for comfort until The Day of the Lord. They are out there flying around in plain sight.
Just as Satan wished to “sift Peter as wheat“, it is his desire to do likewise to each and every one of us.
In the face of these overwhelming circumstances Paul tell us, The Church, that we are to remind the devil of his fate. And there is this.
Offensively, Paul tells us this: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” Simply stated, this means to Pray in Tongues!
REPENT NOW WHILE THERE IS STILL TIME
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. (Revelation 14:6-7)
THE FRAGRANCE OF THE HOLY GHOST, More on the subject.
Initially when I first met the Fragrance of the Holy Spirit, I talked a lot about It. I would notice It often, sometimes several times a day. Though It is referred to as a Fragrance, it is not discerned by the human olfactory system. I know this because there have been several instances wherein, I knew the Presence was near but when I asked others nearby if they smelled anything, they would say no.
An awareness of the Fragrance of the Holy Spirit is a Supernatural knowing. It is akin to the Spiritual Gift of Discerning of Spirits. The Presence of the Fragrance or The Carrier of the Fragrance is revealed by the Holy Spirit.
I have a couple of theories about this. I will share the theories here and close out this brief post (I expect that there will be more and increasingly powerful posts to come) with a few accounts of recent displays of love and comfort to His from Him.
Theory number one is the Fragrance that is being revealed is that of Angels as they abide among us, perhaps during Their travel up to down from Heaven carrying Heaven’s Fragrance with them. Theory number two is that It is the Holy Spirit Himself (the Anointing) that is upon the individual person or persons.
Before I give the examples, let me suggest to you why I believe that this is happening. In most cases, I merely go to the person and share with them that I believe that they are carrying the Fragrance of the Holy Spirit and that there are Angeles around them. They almost always acknowledge this truth. I then explain to them that I believe that the Lord would have me to encourage them that they have uncommon backing and resources from Heaven at their disposal and that they should move forward in their purpose because of this fact. These meeting usually end with them showing me appreciation for the kind words and with me saying “Praise the Lord.”
Here is an example: today I was in a local big-box store and as I was checking out, I sensed (I generally don’t say smelled) the Fragrance. There were several people in my immediate vicinity. So, I looked around to try and figured out which of those folks were carrying the Fragrance. The candidates were the cashier, a young Hispanic lady, the young man that was assisting her, a gentleman in the line next to the one that I was in and the little grandmotherly lady (all or four feet tall) in the line behind him. By the way, in the vernacular of some bygone days, the Fragrance was “paying off” (it was very strong).
Ok, you guessed it! I chose the little old lady. Now I know I’m supposed to say that I was led by the Holy Spirit that it was the nice lady, and that is likely why I did.
As she rolled up to the exit door, I rolled up behind her and touch her on the shoulder (really shouldn’t be touching people nowadays) and asked her if I could ask her a question once we cleared the exit. She said yes. I asked her if she were a Christian to which she said yes. I asked her if she were a strong Christian, pointing out to her that there was a very strong Fragrance from Heaven present with her. She said that she was.
I told her that I felt that I was to tell her about the resources that are available to her in Heaven and that she should go forth in the confidence of that word. She thanked me and uttered a few words of blessings my way. I said, “Praise the Lord” and we parted company. As I walked away, I thanked the Lord for confirming His continuous friendliness toward His servants.
A month ago, today, I was visiting Lagos, Nigeria. I was there to attend some services at the SCOAN (Synagogue Church of All Nations). During the process of the services (some more so that others) the Fragrance of the Holy Spirit was palpable as It was blown about the very large sanctuary by the many cooling units found throughout the venue. It was most refreshing. For me and I am sure that for many others there, there was no doubt about the Presence of God in that place.
Lastly, while we were in Lagos, we were made aware of the contrast between the mainland section and the island sections of Lagos. While visiting the island (Victory Island), commonly referred to as V I we thought to get something to eat. Finding a place to eat is not always the easiest thing to do when visiting a new country.
We initially selected a place having the same name as a popular US restaurant only to find out that it wasn’t the same thing. It looked like a very poor choice. After considering a couple of other places we decided to just head back to the hotel. We did decide to give it just one more try, choosing one of three that we found on Google maps.
While we considered this, I sensed the Fragrance of the Holy Ghost. It was at that time that the driver took it upon himself to press his finger on one of the choices and began to drive. When asked by the others in the car what we were doing I explained that I had just sensed the presence of the Fragrance of the Holy Spirit and that the driver was led by Him to make the executive decision (in which he didn’t bother to consult me). I knew, however, that God had chimed in to help us with the matter. The choice was an excellent one. I had the Sea Bass. It was delish!
Here is the link to the place we ate at.
God is good ALL THE TIME.
PRAISE THE LORD!
Protocol For Speaking in Tongues
Questions and answers
What is Speaking in Tongues?
Speaking in Tongues is Supernatural UTTERANCE given by the Holy Spirit in a language that is unknown to the speaker. Speaking in Tongues is God speaking through Believers.
How do I begin to Speak in Tongues?
There is a long answer to this question and a short one. The Lord is leading me here to present the short one. Repent of your sins, received Jesus Christ the Resurrected Son of God as your Lord and Savior. Join a Church where Speaking in Tongues is part of the Doctrine. Be Baptized in Water. Have the Elders (Leaders) of the Church pray with you and lay hands on you for Baptism by the Holy Spirit. Praying in Tongues will happen at the time of Baptism by the Spirit as you yield your tongue to the Lord.
If your desire to be filled by the Holy Spirit with the evidence of Speaking in Tongues does not happen immediately, just stay in Faith for God to fill you with His Spirit with the evidence of Speaking in Tongues and He will lead you on to Higher Spiritual Levels forthwith as you earnestly desire.
How do I Interpret Tongues?
Interpretation of Tongues is a Supernatural operation done by God manifesting through a Believer interpreting Divers Kinds of Tongues previously presented either through another Believer or the Believer revealing the interpretation. So, you do not. He does.
What are the benefits of Speaking in Tongues?
Speaking in Tongues serves to strengthen the believer Spiritually. Speaking in Tongues is the Gateway to operating in the Spiritual Gifts. “He that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself” (1 Corinthians 14:4).
Is Speaking in Tongues a Spiritual Gift?
No, speaking in tongues is not a Spiritual Gift in the sense normally thought of.
The twelve Spiritual gifts of 1 Corinthians chapter 12 are: The Word of Wisdom, The Word of Knowledge, Prophecy, Decerning of Spirits, Diverse Kinds of Tongues, Working of Miracles, Gifts of Healing, and Interpretation of Tongues. Divers Kinds of Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues are Spiritual Gifts.
Speaking in Tongues is the sign or evidence of having received the Holy Spirit.
How are Speaking in Tongues, Divers Kinds of Tongues, and Interpretation of Tongues different?
Divers Kinds of Tongues and The Interpretation of Tongues are Spiritual Gifts or more accurately, Supernatural Manifestations of The Holy Spirit (actions taken by the Holy Spirit) and is for Ministry. Speaking in Tongues is a prayer language for Exalting God and edifying the Believer.
Is Speaking in Tongues of the devil?
No. The devil does, as with most things of God, offer a counterfeit operation.
Does Speaking in Tongues make me more spiritually powerful?
Yes. Speaking in Tongues edifies the Believer. UTTERANCE renders Revelation. “And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19). But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost (Jude 1:20).
Is it okay for me to Speak in Tongues in Church?
This is the $64,000 question. The answer is mostly no. Speaking in Tongues is for private prayer and the Exalting of and Communing with God. Divers Kinds of Tongues with the Interpretation of Tongues are for Ministry in the Church Open Assembly.
Should there be an Interpretation of Tongues every time I hear them?
Yes, when in the Church Open Assembly. This process must be effectively managed by the Leader in the Pulpit to assure that there is no confusion. “If any man speaks in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God” (1 Corinthians 14:27-28).
Is there absolutely no time when Speaking in Tongues other than Divers Kinds of Tongues is permissible in the Local Assembly?
The Bible does not speak to this, but I have observed in Church Assemblies where there had been obvious solid instructions pertaining to Speaking in Tongues and Spiritual Manifestations thus: sometimes during the Altar Call the Congregants would all pray softly in the Spirit to undergird the Prayer that was coming from the pulpit. This is done with the hope that those unsaved persons would be convicted in their hearts to come forward for Salvation. I have also observed that during Healing and Deliverance Ministry the quiet orderly Praying in The Spirit from the pews to be quite aggravating to the demons. Yep, said it, demons!
Such prayer was always done within the space of the individual member and without any disturbance whatsoever. In other words, decently and in order. These are immensely powerful times of prayer.
When should I Speak in Tongues?
Pray always, day and night. Common sense applies. “But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditates day and night” (Psalms 1:2). “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18).
What is the best place for me to Speak in Tongues?
Anywhere where you are not intruding into the privacy of someone else.
What is the difference between Talking in Tongues, Praying in Tongues, and Speaking in Tongues?
These terms are interchangeable.
Should all Christians Speak in Tongues?
Yes. “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues” (Mark 16:17).
Did Speaking in Tongues cease?
No. “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:39). Here Peter Utters Revelation regarding The Infilling of the Holy Ghost and Speaking in Tongues.
Tongues of Men and Angels, what does that mean?
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1). The word charity is translated from the Greek word agape which is also translated as love.
This scriptural passage is used by some to make a case against the validity of the use of Tongues by the Church today.
If we more closely examine the meaning of the word “though” as used in this passage, we see that it is translated from the Greek word “ean” which means if. So, does not indicate that Paul speaks with the tongues of men or angels, but means if that were the case, that absent love, it would be of no effect.
I found no other reference to “Tongues of Angels” in the Bible.
Was there speaking in Tongues before Pentecost?
No. There is no evidence of Speaking in Tongues prior to the time of the Church or the Dispensation of Grace.
Does praying in the Spirit mean Praying in Tongues?
Yes, generally when a Saint speaks of praying in the Spirit he is referring to Praying in tongues.
What Should I do if Speaking in Tongues is not Taught in my Church?
Pray to the Lord for instructions. This matter must be Prayed through.
Is it scriptural for my Pastor, Praise Team Leader, or other Leader in the Church, to pray in Tongues during an Open Assembly where no Interpretation is offered?
No. Nowhere in scripture can such a demonstration be found. We are told in 1 Corinthians Chapter 14 that Interpretation of Tongues should accompany the Speaking of Tongues (Divers Kinds of Tongues) in the Assembly and absent such Interpretation that the Saints should remain quiet. We are told that all things should be done decently and in order. No exceptions are made for the Leaders in the Church. Disobedience of this rule is the greatest cause of confusion regarding Speaking in Tongues. Speaking in Tongues in the Assembly is not supposed to be soulish utterances from someone in the Pulpit but an UTTERANCE from God through the Spirit Filled Saint for the Exhortation, Edification and Comfort of the Church.
Must I be water baptized to Speak (Pray) in Tongues?
Yes. The scriptural pattern indicates the necessity for Water Baptism.
“And he said unto them, go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16). “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men, and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:37-38). Here Peter, after preaching the apparent first post Pentecost sermon admonishes new converts to Repent, be Baptized and be Filled with the Holy Ghost (which would have been evidenced by their Speaking in Tongues). There are several occasions cited in the Book of Acts where the writer made it a point to point out that there was Water Baptism prior to the Baptism with the Holy Spirit.
Paul was Baptized immediately after having Received the Holy Ghost. “And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou came, hath sent me, that thou might receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized” (Acts 9: 17-18).
Here is what happened to the Gentiles at Cornelius’ house when Peter preached the Gospel to them – “While Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all of them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days” (Acts 10:44-48).
And while there was no apparent reason for Jesus to Speak in Tongues, we see that even He was Baptized (by John in the Jordan) before receiving the Anointing of the Holy Spirit. “And it happened in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:9-11).
What spiritual attributes should I exhibit to know that I am ready to be Filled with the Holy Spirit to Speak with Tongues?
Having a fervent desire for the things of God; to know Him and to obey His Statutes is required. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).
Love and Faith are necessary. The Fruit of the Spirit that are imparted to new Believers are foundational for those who wish to learn to live in the spirit before God. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23).
At what age is it ok for a child to Speak with Tongues?
I do not know. Urgent prayer petitioning the Lord for clarity is in order where you are disturbed in your spirit about the youthful age of someone who is Praying in Tongues.
What are the dynamics of Speaking in Tongues?
“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spoke 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.)” This passage from the book of John 7:38-39 speaks of rivers of living water flowing out of the belly of Believers. This is no more than a description of a Believer Speaking in Tongues. The river (UTTERANCES) is flowing being poured out by the Lord. “Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33 NIV).
Believers may immerse themselves into this flow at will. When to start and stop the Speaking in Tongues is controlled by the Believer. Believers may sometime feel a burden to Pray in Tongues because of a dream, intuition, or a word of knowledge. The Believer will co-labor with the Lord Praying in the Spirit until the burden is lifted. This exercise of Praying in The Spirit (Speaking in Tongues) is to be done in private.
As mentioned before, Divers Kinds of Tongues is a so-called Spiritual Gift. This UTTERANCE is by the Manifestation (Anointing) of God as the Holy Spirit comes upon the Believer. Authority and Power upon the Words will be in evidence. Interpretation of Tongues must follow with the same level of intensity as Ministry for Exhortation, Edification and Comfort of the Church and usually during the Church Assembly.
What should I do if I find myself in a situation where there is much speaking in tongues and no interpretation?
You should leave.
How can I be sure that when I am Speaking in Tongues that it is of God?
These two scriptures verses should help you with that. If you proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, it will be Him that Speaks through your spirit. “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Corinthians 12:3). “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God” (1 John 4:2-3).
“Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:9-11).
CREPT IN UNAWARES (AND HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT)
We find these three words in the in the 4th verse of the book of Jude. Jude has only one chapter:
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness (unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness, insolence), and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
In 2 Peter chapter 2, verses 2-3 we see a confirming or similar scriptural passage:
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
What are these Prophets trying to tell us? Who are these persons that they are warning us about? Could this be one of the most important messages that the Bible offers? Is this God Code of the Highest Order to the Church?
Let’s look at how Jude and Peter refer to these fellows: before of old ordained, Ungodly men, false prophets, presumptuous, self-willed, natural brute beasts, spots and blemishes, adulterous, beguiling, sinners, covetous, showoffs (sporting themselves), having cursed children, wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest, filthy dreamers, These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
Now remember those mentioned are leaders in the Church. I believe, though, that we see a ray of light in 2 Peter 2 at the end of verse three where we find “whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.”
The Holy Spirit seems to be saying that judgment (of those referenced atrocious entities) is at hand.
But, lets take a closer look and name these guys. The vail has been turned back the time for the prophetic words of Amos Chapter 9 verse 13 to become manifest. It reads in part “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed.” This is God-speak for the Church shall overtake Satan’s Kingdom and that the works of the devil shall be destroyed (1 John 3:8).
So, who are these individuals and where did they come from? Let me just cut to the chase. Paul, in the Book of Ephesians, Chapter 6, verse 12 cautions us that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” This statement is not metaphorical.
We see more talk about principalities in Romans Chapter 8, verses 38 and 39 where the Apostle Paul tells us these principalities are not able to separate us from the Love of God. Colossians Chapter 1:16-17 tells us that they were created (as was everything that was created) by and for Jesus Christ.
Jesus does tell us that He saw Satan (the head of the principalities) fall as lightening from Heaven. The book of Enoch says that this occurred during the second day of The Creation. We know that he got into trouble with the Father because of pride (Isaiah 14:11-13). Ezekiel Chapter 28 sheds light on the woes of Satan (Lucifer) as God deals with the Prince and King of Tyrus, apparently the man and the principality (in the heavenlies) that influences the man.
Further, we see in the Book of The Revelation, Chapter 12:3-5 that when Satan was cast out of Heaven that one third of the angels of Heaven were cast down to the earth.
Jude verse 6 (And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.) details still another group of fallen angels. One other likely vast group of demonic entities are the off springs of the Jude and 2 Peter referenced angels who’s spirts are still on the earth.
Those angels that were cast down to the earth with Satan are likely the so-called “principalities, and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 10:12).
The unraveling of the mysteries as to who these “certain men” are is that they are demon-possessed men. Possessed by the referenced principalities and or their demonic agents. They are doing everything that they can to thwart Kingdom Work.
They have been hiding in plain sight for God only knows how long. But they are now visible, you guessed it, in the heavenlies.
The Lord has commanded the Church as per this scriptural passage:
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. (Ephesians 3:9-12)
That is the charge. We can find these guys most anywhere. Aside from the local church, another sure bet is to check out the clouds in the heavenly. Want to see? Look here. Look carefully. These are real-time taken pics.
Clouds they are!!clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; (Jude vs 12)
These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. (2 Peter 2:17)
THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS
THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS
(The manifestations of the Spirit)
The Spiritual Gifts or “manifestation of the Spirit” is still an enigmatic concept or phenomenon in the Church. The simplest way that I know to describe it is that it is God doing what He wants to do when He wants to do it; “as He will”.
The activities are not controlled by the believer nor is the time or place of the manifestation. They are not gifting that are vested to any individual human. When God wants to move or interact in with created man, He does so.
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits;
to another Divers Kinds of Tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. (1 Corinthians 12:4–10)
First Corinthians 12 presents The Spiritual Gifts. The Lord controls them working together with the believer. Philippians 2:13 comes to mind, reading “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
The above text uses several terms to describe the manifestations of the Holy Spirit i.e., diversities, administrations and operations. The Spiritual Gifts in operation are presented in many ways as God (“the same Spirit, the same Lord and the same God”) works through His Body the Church.
It is through the Spiritual Gifts that the Body of believers, i. e. the Church is edified, exhorted and comforted (1 Corinthians 14:3) and the work assigned to Her by Christ is completed.
The Nine Spiritual Gifts may be divided into sets of three. The Revelation Gifts reveal something, the Power Gifts do something, and the Inspiration Gifts say something.
The Word of Wisdom is the first of the Revelation Gifts. The Word of Wisdom is not that wisdom derived from knowledge or experience or perhaps age. A future event that God reveals to man prophetically is A Word of Wisdom.
This is a Word of Wisdom:
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so, shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)
“By the word of the Lord”. The coming event that he is speaking of is the rapture of the Church.
A Word of Wisdom may be given in a dream, vision or spoken directly into the spirit of an individual.
The Word of Knowledge is the second of the Revelation Gifts. It is revelation given by Holy Spirit of an existing fact where there is no natural way for it to be known to the believer.
There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always.
He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming into him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, what is it, Lord? And he said unto him, thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
He lodges with one Simon a tanner; whose house is by the seaside: he shall tell thee what thou should to do. (Acts 10:1-6)
Here, by The Word of Knowledge the Lord reveals to Cornelius the name and location of the Apostle Peter who would be summoned to come to his home to pray for his household.
Once I had a dream about one of the ladies in our church. In the dream the lady’s name was called three times. I knew in my heart that there was some distress involved and we contacted the lady the next day.
When we reached her, we discovered that she was out of cash and had no way to get food for herself and her children. We took her shopping and gave her some cash for her pocket.
The Lord didn’t give us details, but by A Word of Knowledge, we knew that there was something wrong and that we were to help. Reflecting further about the dream and considering the symbols used by God, I today have an even greater appreciation of the love that God had at the time for His daughter and has now for His servants.
The third Revelation Gift is The Discerning of Spirits. This operation of the Holy Spirit opens a window to the invisible world for the believer to look through. Supernaturally and miraculously, the believer is availed of transactions of another dimension. A revelation about Discerning of Spirits could appear as a vision, a trance, or in a dream.
This example of the gift of Discerning of Spirits is found in the book of Acts:
And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, these men are the servants of the Most-High God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. (Acts 16:16–18)
The invisible person behind the actions of the damsel had been revealed to Paul by Holy Spirit. Ephesians chapter six tells us that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). The Holy Spirit could name one or more of these unseen bad guys if you were to meet them. The Discerning the Spirits.
The first of the Power Gifts of the Spirit is The Gift of Faith. The Gift of Faith is to be distinguished from “The Measure of Faith” (Romans 12:3) and “Saving Faith” of Romans 10:17 (“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”).
The Gift of Faith transcends the faith referenced in Mark 11:22–26 which is the faith to remove mountains. The Gift of Faith is sometimes referred to as Special Faith or “The God Kind of Faith”. Like all the Gifts of the Spirit, the Gift of Faith is a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit. It is an operation of the Holy Spirit administered by The Holy Spirit. The believer need only co-labor with God to the extent of being yielding and willing.
The Gift of Faith brings an individual’s level of faith to that of the Divine by the operation of God. The fulfillment of blessings and curses, alterations, creations, destructions, removals, and even the raising of the dead are manifested by this Gift. There is no limitation where the Gift of Faith is present just as “In God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27).
Here is an example of the Spiritual Gift of Faith, Paul raising Eutychus form the dead:
And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell from the third loft, and was taken up dead.
And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.
When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he left.
And they brought the young man alive and were not a little comforted. (Acts 20:9-12)
The second of the Power Gifts is The Working of Miracles. It can be defined as the supernatural manifestation of the power of God that alters, suspends, or in some other way controls the laws of nature.
Paul restores Eutychus to life and shakes off a deadly viper from this hand with no ill effect in Acts 20 and Acts 28 respectively. These are just two of the miracles documented in the Book of Acts.
The third Power Gift is The Gift of Healings.
In the Acts of the Apostles there is Peter’s healing of the lame man at the gate Beautiful (Acts 3:1–11) and Eneas of a palsy, recorded in Acts 9. as well as other miracles which he worked.
Paul healed a cripple in Lystra (Acts 14:8–10). “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them” (Acts 19:11–12).
The Inspiration Gifts are for ministry. They are for the exhortation, edification, and comfort of the Church. The first of the Gifts of Inspiration is the Gift of Prophecy. Strong’s Concordance describes prophecy as “a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; esp. by foretelling future events.”
The first of the Inspiration Gifts is The Gift of Prophecy. The Gift of Prophecy is a direct communication of edification, exhortation, and comfort by the manifestation of God co-laboring with a believer. “But he that prophesies speak unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort” (1 Corinthians 14:3). It is the simplest form of inspired utterance in a known language.
In the book Ever Increasing Faith, Smith Wigglesworth says this:
We see also that he that prophesies speak unto man to edification and exhortation and comfort. How important it is then that we should have this gift in manifestation in the Church in order that the saints might be built up and made strong and filled with the comfort of God. But with this as all other gifts we should see that it is operated by the Spirit’s power and brought forth in the unction of the Spirit; so that everyone who shall hear prophecy, as it is brought forth by the Spirit of God, shall know that it is GOD who is bringing forth that which for the edification of those who hear. It is the Spirit of God who takes of the deep things of God and reveals them, and unctionizes the prophet to give forth, that which is a revelation of the things of God.
Utterance in prophecy has a real lifting power and gives real light on the truth to those who hear. Prophecy is never a mind reflection; it is something far deeper than this. By prophecy we receive that which is the mind of the Lord; and as we receive these blessed, fresh utterances through the Spirit of the Lord the whole assembly is lifted into the realm of the spiritual. Our hearts and minds and whole bodies receive a quickening through the Spirit-given word. As the Spirit brings forth prophecy, we find there is healing and salvation and power in every line. For this reason, it is one of the gifts that we ought to covet.
An example of the Gift of Prophecy from the Book of Acts is found inserted below. Paul is warned against going to Jerusalem:
And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.
And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owns this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. (Acts 21:10-12)
The second of The Inspirational Gifts is Divers Kinds of Tongues. “To another, Divers Kinds of Tongues”. The original Greek text did not include the word “divers.” The translators added it. “Kinds of tongues” is how it reads with the distinct connotation of diversity meaning of different nations.
The word “Divers” is italicized in the KJV indicating that it was not in the original text but was added by the translator for clarity and emphasis. The connotation in Strong’s Concordance points to its meaning “varying ethnics or languages”.
Divers kinds of tongues are supernatural utterances of God through the spirit of a believer in a language that is unlearned by and unknown to the believing speaker.
The tongues that were spoken at Pentecost were Divers Kinds of Tongues. The Pentecost outpouring of Tongues was dual purposed; it was ministry to unbelievers and power for ministry to the believers.
Divers kinds of tongues are for public ministry. Acts 2 offers a demonstration of believers speaking a language that they didn’t understand but that was understood by some of those who were standing by. “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2: 4).
Following shortly the above passage:
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, “Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? (Acts 2:5-7)
The Interpretation of Tongues is the companion gift to Divers Kinds of Tongues. Generally, when Tongues are uttered in the Assembly the Interpretation of Tongues should go with them. Paul says this:
If any man speaks in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. (1 Corinthians 4:27)
Interpretation of Tongues is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. What was said in Tongues is not only the utterance of the Holy Spirit, but the interpretation is also given by the Holy Spirit. Whenever there is a recitation of Tongues in the open Assembly there should be either interpretation or judging by the presiding leader.
The operation of the Spiritual Gifts represents a crucial step in the Spiritual Growth of The Church (The Local Assembly). Fulfilling The Great Commission absent the Spiritual Gifts is substantially severely hampered.
SPEAKING IN TONGUES IS THE DOORWAY TO THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS!
THE FRAGRANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
I have noticed lately that there is a fair amount of discussion about a fragrance, a very pleasant fragrance, being experience by folks usually of the Christian variety. The stories range from false alarm accounts where what the person was smelling a timed released deodorizer in the bathroom to clear bona fide occasions where intense worship, prayer, fasting or otherwise seeking the Face of the Lord had taken place.
A few months ago, I met with a friend to share with him some things that the Lord had shown me about ten years ago having to do with God’s purpose for him. The dynamics of the meeting were very powerful as it was led by the Holy Spirit. The interesting thing is that I kept sensing this fragrance. This Fragrance is not natural but is Supernatural.
The Fragrance was very strong, (though not unpleasant) and because I didn’t know at the time what (Who) it was I thought that it was the deodorant that I had recently began to use. I hadn’t had a deodorant before that carried such a strong scent and didn’t want to walk around smelling like that. It seemed pretty strong!
I added deodorant to my Costco shopping list and I thought that that would be that. But “that wasn’t that” and I still experienced the Fragrance. Then, as now, about two or three times a day He reminds me of His presence with a gentle spray of a sweet and for me unidentifiable and undeniable scent. It is as if I am surrounded with It as It falls upon me afresh. I know it is His way of reminding me of His promise of when he said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”
I wish that I could say to you that the Fragrance of the Holy Spirit is like this or like that, but I just don’t have a frame of reference that I can point to. I am comfortable saying that if you know yourself to be called of The Most High and are earnestly willing and obedient, it may be that His Enabling Power has come close to you and is even as “The Spirit Upon“ for Kingdom Service (such as The Spiritual Gifts) whenever and wherever needed.
Just last week, I enjoyed this lovely Fragrance while in Sunday’s service. It was delightful and plentiful as it filled the Sanctuary. So much so that I asked one of the Saints that was sitting near me if she could smell it. She looked at me as if to say, “what planet did you just drop in from?”
I now sense the Fragrance often when just walking by people or just walking down the street when no one is in sight. Even when a car goes by. The other day I went to the Food Lion to get a loaf of Rye bread for sandwiches. As I headed to the checkout stand I sense the Fragrance as I walked by a nice lady. I walked down a little ways, and decided to go back to for a quick encounter of the Holy Ghost sort.
I told her that I was aware of a new phenomenon and asked her if she had heard of the “Fragrance of the Holy Ghost”. She gave the kind of response that spoke “well maybe or maybe not”. “Tell me more.”
I was pretty sure that she was in the Church and that she was filled with the Holy Spirit (Word of Knowledge) and she nodded yes when I verified this with her. I shared a little bit about my experience with the Fragrance and even shared a theory.
I told her that I was thinking that perhaps the Fragrance is upon the Angels, gathered on them as they come and go into the presence of God to minister to the Saints or those who shall be heirs of salvation.
We saluted each other with a “Praise the Lord” and I noticed a cheerful look on her face as I headed for the checkout.
The following is from The Book of Enoch:
And there I saw Trees of Judgment, especially vessels of the fragrance of incense and myrrh, and the trees were not alike.
And above it, above these, above the mountains of the east, and not far away, I saw another place, valleys of water, like that which does not fail.
And I saw a beautiful tree, and its fragrance was like that of the mastic.
And by the banks of these valleys I saw fragrant cinnamon. And beyond those valleys I came towards the east.
And I saw another mountain on which there were trees, and there flowed out water, and there flowed out from it, as it were, a nectar whose name is styrax and galbanum.
And beyond this mountain I saw another mountain, and on it there were aloe trees, and those trees were full of a fruit, which is like an almond, and is hard.
And when they take this fruit it is better than any fragrance.
And after these fragrances, to the north, as I looked over the mountains, I saw seven mountains full of fine nard, and fragrant trees of cinnamon and pepper.
And from there, I went over the summits of those mountains, far away to the east, and I went over the Red Sea, and I was far from it, and I went over the Angel Zotiel.
And I came to the Garden of Righteousness, and I saw beyond those trees many large trees growing there, sweet smelling, large, very beautiful and glorious, the Trees of Wisdom, from which they eat and know great wisdom.
And it is like the carob tree, and its fruit is like bunches of grapes on a vine, very beautiful, and the smell of this tree spreads and penetrates afar.
And I said: “This tree is beautiful! How beautiful and pleasing is its appearance!”
The following scriptural passage is beneficial:
And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight:
And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:
And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. (Exodus 30:34-36)
DON’T BELIEVE THE LIE!
When time is no more, how will you fare? Are you thinking reincarnation? Perhaps soul sleep? Just pure nothingness?
There is only One Truth and He is Jesus Christ!
See the below scriptural passage and the links below to some disturbing current events. Don’t believe the lie.
And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.
Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? (Luke 12:55-57)
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. (Revelation 8:7-9)
russia-launches-floating-nuclear-reactor-in-arctic-despite-warnings
ouh! ouh! ouh!
THE KING OF GLORY
And after this there will be another week;* the eighth, that of righteousness, and a sword will be given to it so that the Righteous Judgment may be executed on those who do wrong, and the sinners will be handed over into the hands of the righteous.
And, at its end, they will acquire Houses because of their righteousness, and a House will be built for the Great King in Glory, forever. (The Book of Enoch)
* 1000 years
Get Out Now!
Last week about this time I was right in the middle of a Healing and Deliverance class in Durban, South Africa. Instruction was being given regarding casting out devils and commanding bodies to be healed and made whole in the name of Jesus Christ.
Healing and Deliverance Ministry should be available in every Christian Church inclusive of the work being done outside of the local Assembly.
The instructor Val Wolff posted some pictures and so I am inserting them below. That’s me in the blue shirt.
My Healing/Deliverance Testimony Interview with Val Wolff
Last weekend I was in Durban South Africa (I love SA) for a Healing and Deliverance conference at the Christ Healing Centre with Eugene and Val Wolff. I deem this to have been pivotal as I move toward that which the Lord has called me to.
He has Baptized me anew with fire as I sat at my desk, sanctified me with specific instructions regarding habits and conduct, Anointed my hand with Oil at the hand of His Apostle and now imparted to me the Ministry of Deliverance and Healing through His Great South African Evangelist Val Wolff.
At His (the Lord’s) direction and Counsel, as He has said “Follow Me” and assured me of His presence in my life by His very Fragrance. I am now on the threshold of the uncompromising ministry by the Word (both Logos and Rhema) and Fire of the Holy Spirit pertaining to Deliverance and Healing.
Fulfillment of my “Blue Hands“ dreams are at hand.
As you watch the below video below, please be sure to peruse the many others on their YouTube channel (start using keywords “Val Wolff 2019 Healing School”) and go on over to their website (https://www.healingministry.co.za/). They are launching in earnest their international ministry which is very much needed by the Church and the world today. So be sure to sow into their Ministry!
Church, Let’s Do This
OK, so the logs weren’t exactly what was probably expected regarding my visit to South Africa. So I flew from Raleigh to New York Kennedy Intl and from there across the Atlantic (15 Hours) to Johannesburg. The final leg of my trip was a two hour flight to the destination city, Durban.
Let me just say that I love Durban. It is a great city with lots to do. It offers Africa’s beautiful beaches, Africa’s larges convention center and my favorite, the Zulu people. I never saw people so friendly. Here is a link that you that will give you more info regarding Durban and the Zulu people but what follows is my most important reason for visiting South Africa this time around.
I talk a lot about Speaking in Tongues, The Spiritual Gifts and The Great Commission and my reason for going too South Africa was to further the cause of God’s command to us to heal and deliver those oppressed of the devil.
Go check out this video (and others on their YouTube channel) by Eugene and Val Wolff whose Ministry, Christ Healing Centre, hosted a healing and deliverance training that I attended. I believe that their Ministry is doing the kind of work that every single Church aught to be doing. They do the Mark 16 work of destroying the work of the devil.
I believe that the Lord has called Mr. and Mrs. Wolff to a new level, an international level, of Ministry and hope that you will comment exhortation to them and yes, ask them to bring their anointed gifts here to the US and to your country as well.
South Africa Here I Come
I am counting down to my departure time for South Africa. I leave on Wednesday. There is much that I hope to accomplish on the African Continent but attending a Healing and Deliverance conference in Durban seems like the best possible start.
Stay with me, I intend to log regular updates.
THE GREAT COMMISSION
THE GREAT COMMISSION
The Great Commission is recorded in all four Gospels and in chapter one of the book of Acts. After the crucifixion of Christ and His Resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples with instructions that they were to continue to carry out the work that He started. The referenced passages of scripture are as follows:
And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28: 18-20)
And as they thus spoke, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
And he said unto them, why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.
And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
And he took it and did eat before them.
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
And said unto them, thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
And ye are witnesses of these things.
And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. (Luke 24: 36-49)
The above passage from the book of Luke gives greater detail about the preparing of Jesus’ followers for things to come. It is lengthy, but it adds needed context to this meeting and dialogue between a Risen Savior and the disciples, some of whom still had doubt.
In John 20, we see the disciples are assembled in a locked room when Jesus appeared to them apparently by walking through a wall. Interestingly, He showed them the scars on His hands.
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. (John 20:21–23)
Basically, to remit is to forgive and to retain is to not forgive. It appears that Jesus provided this group a precursor of that which was to come in the way of the Holy Ghost. They were the first to receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost.
Further instructions were given to the disciples in Acts chapter one verses 4–9:
And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses
unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Above, in the passage from John chapter 20 we see the disciples receiving the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost after having been breathed on by the Lord and in the Acts, chapter one passage there is the reference to the Holy Ghost that would come upon them. This was actualized at Pentecost (see Acts 2:4) and shows a two-fold working of the Holy Ghost—that which is necessary for fulfilling upcoming Great Commission assignments.
In Mark chapter 16, verses 15-20, probably the most cited occasion of the Lord tasking the disciples with The Great Commission, He gives specific details of what they were to do:
And he said unto them, go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
It should be said that The Great Commission is Jesus’ way of completing the work that he came forth to do in the earth. He went about preaching that The Kingdom of Heaven was at hand meaning substantially that the way of Kingdom life is accessible. He healed the sick and cast devils out of folks. He worked miracles.
The following bible verses illustrates in no uncertain terms that the Lord Jesus Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the devil in 1 John, chapter 3. He disarmed the devil (principalities and powers) in Colossians chapter 2 and in Ephesians chapter 3 it is made clear that the work has been delegated to the Church:
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2: 9-15)
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. (Ephesians 3: 8-12)
Biblical, Right?
What is right?
Here is the way that one dictionary defines “right”:
morally good, justified, or acceptable.
synonyms:
just, fair, equitable, good, upright, righteous, virtuous, proper, moral, morally justified, ethical, honorable, honest, principled; lawful, legal
But, from a Biblical perspective, what is right? I.e., what is the right way to treat my neighbors, should I not regard those around me who deviate from traditional moral norms? Are some people superior to others? Are some sins justifiable in favor of a greater good? Who is really in ownership of one’s body? The merchant undercharged me — I get to keep the difference, right? It is okay for immoral and dishonest individuals to represent me before others and before God, right? I am a good person — I help the needy and contribute to the poor — I will go to heaven if there is one, right?
I once heard a man say, “you don’t know what you know”. Sounds silly, right? Well, it is not so silly. You have heard me speak about the inner man, you know, our spirit man or human spirit.
One of the three primary attributes of our inner man is conscience. The other two are communion and intuition. These on-board attributes of the spirit man all have additional attributes within themselves that represent things that we know but do not know that we know. For example, if we go into a country and kill off 43 million of the inhabitants and destroy their food source, we may not know that it is wrong, but we know that it is wrong because our conscience tells us that it is wrong.
The same above reference but unnamed dictionary defines conscience as:
an inner feeling or voice viewed as acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one’s behavior.
Watchman Nee says this about the conscience in his book The Spiritual Man:
“The conscience is the discerning organ which distinguishes right and wrong; not, however, through the influence of knowledge stored in the mind but rather by a spontaneous direct judgment. Often reasoning will justify things which our conscience judges. The work of the conscience is independent and direct; it does not bend to outside opinions.”
This scriptural passage makes my point:
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His (God’s) seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. (1 John 3:9-11 King James Version)
The Book of proverbs cites the word right or righteous ninety-one times in the KJV. Check them out here.
Serpents and Drinking Deadly Things
After Jesus Christ sacrificed His Body on the Cross He Visited the disciples in his resurrected body and gave them the following instructions:
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16: 15-18 KJV).
The preceding scriptural passage constitutes what is known as The Great Commission. It is a commandment (not a suggestion) for The Body Of Christ (The Church) — as to what He expects Her to do.
There is some serious confusion regarding part of verse 18 (in bold above). Many seem to just leave it out or fly past when teaching the Great Commission from the Book of Mark. The Great Commission is rendered to some extent in all four Gospels.
It is my desire to learn and share all that I can in favor of accomplishing the mandate of The Great Commission. For this reason, I think it beneficial to take a look with you at possible and likely meanings of the original text specifically pertaining to the words/phrases they shall take up, serpents, drink and deadly thing. Do keep in mind that oftentimes in the Bible distinguishing between the metaphor and literal is important. So is it when doing this study.
One of the meanings from the Greek for “they shall take up” is “to take and apply to any use”. It is from the word airō. The word serpent (which literally means serpent) is from the Greek word ophis and likely refers metaphorically to wisdom. In Matthew 10:16 the Lord refers to serpents as being wise. So, taking up serpents is “laying hold of wisdom”. Not withstanding the likely metaphorical meaning of taking up a serpent and not being harmed, we see in Acts 28: 3-6 how that Paul was bitten by a deadly serpent with no harmful affect.
Lastly, drinking any deadly thing without being harmed. The word translated drink is pinō in Strong’s Concordance. It is defined: figuratively, to receive into the soul what serves to refresh strengthen, nourish it unto life eternal. Basically, deadly is deadly as defined by Strong’s. The Greek word is thanasimos. It is likely that the message here is that if a Saint were to inadvertently ingest some poison that they would be protected from danger by Holy Spirit.
Utterance, The Seventh Spirit of God
And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. (Revelation 4:5)
In the Book of Revelation we find three mentions of “The seven Spirits of God”. We are able to glean from these three occasions that these Seven Spirits are (1) found before the Throne of God (Rev 1:4) and are called “Eyes of God” (Rev 5:6). Thirdly, Revelation 3:1 speaks of a relationship between the Three Spirits of God and seven stars.
Moreover, in chapter 11 of the Book of Isaiah, we find out the name of six of the Spirits of God. The name of the seventh one isn’t made clear. Here are verses 1-4:
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
The Spirit of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Might Knowledge and Fear of the Lord are six. Some surmise that the Spirit of the Lord is the seventh. Does that not sound redundant? For me, sorting the answer out seemed totally feasible through prayer and listening.
Additionally, by reflecting on the referenced attributes of the Lord God the absence of one of His attributes — one that one could argue is the most important — seems to be missing.
Reading further into verse 4 above we see “he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked“. “The breath of his lips” refers to speech or utterance. Speaking or Utterance is an essential Attribute or Spirit of God. Nothing gets done in the entire universe unless God Speaks.
Ten Reasons Why You Must Speak in Tongues
1. Speaking in Tongues is a command.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16: 17-18).
2. Speaking in Tongues is necessary for Spiritual strength.
These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (Jude 19-21).
3. Speaking in Tongues is the precursor for the power needed to effectively accomplish the Great Commandment.
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8).
4. Speaking in Tongues is the initial sign of having been Filled With or Baptized In the Holy Spirit.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4)
5. Speaking in Tongues is the gateway or bridge over into operating (co-laboring) with the Holy Spirit in the Supernatural Gifts of the Spirit.
And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (Mark 16:20).
6. Speaking in Tongues is speaking directly to the Lord.
For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. (1 Corinthians 14:2)
7. Revelation is revealed to the spirit when one speaks in the Spirit. In the following scriptural passage Paul is asking the Saints of Ephesus to pray in the Spirit for him that he might receive Utterance (tongues) relating to the revelation of the mystery of the Gospel.
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:18-20).
8. Saints often are able to share words of edification, exhortation and comfort to someone whose language they don’t speak nor does that person speak the Saint’s language — doing so by the Holy Spirit in Tongues.
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. (Acts 2:5-6).
9. Praying in Tongues is essential when we don’t know what to pray for. This is likely the single most important reason to pray in the Spirit.
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26).
10. Praying in the Spirit is an essential weapon of spiritual warfare. The following scriptural passage calls the Sword of the Spirit the Rhema Word of God which carries all the Power and Might of the Godhead. This Power flows from Heaven and through our mouths when we Pray in Tongues.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; (Ephesians 6: 17-18).
Speaking in Tongues
“Tongues have been to me the making of my ministry. It is that peculiar communication with God that reveals to my soul the truth I utter to you day by day in the ministry.” (John G. Lake).
The Five Most Important Dreams, Ever!
https://www.edreamsandvisions.com/?p=2404
“I’m BATMAN”
You remember those words, right? A typical scenario for the utterance of the same is when a bad guy gets cornered by the hero and frustratingly requests of him as to who he is. “Who are you” the bad guy asks? The response that he gets is “I’m Batman.”
So, Batman knows who he is. My question for you, though, is who are you? As you know, my current work is all about spiritual growth. Growing in the Spirit. Spiritual/spiritual maturity.
The concepts and processes are multi-faceted. The gamut goes from the newly regenerated spirit to the Holy Ghost (Fruit) Filled and Holy Ghost Baptized human spirit.
Given the question that prompts the title of this post, let me say that the reason for the post is to ask you “who are you“. More specifically who does the condition of your spirit portray you to be to others?
You have heard it said that “the spirit is the real you”. You (we) are spirit. We have a soul, and we live in a body. Personality is an attribute of the spirit.
The condition of the (your) spirit can cause you to present as a herd of elephants or as a gentle breeze, a cute little puppy, or a protective police officer.
As we conduct our day-to-day business, we contribute to a world of quiet spirits, fervent spirits, oppressed spirits, contrite spirits, uplifted spirits, broken spirits, fresh spirits, stale spirits, light spirits, afflicted spirits, gentle spirits, haughty spirits, and these are only a sprinkling of the manifold assortment of spiritual conditions that present themselves all the time. What to do?
My initial intent here was to name 25 spiritual conditions and give just a little background about each of them. What I found, though, is that there are hundreds out there and just talking about the characteristics of the conditions would fall short of looking into why they were manifest in the first place and what are some of the potential evolutionary consequences.
As an example of an evolutionary consequence is, let us say that a person has a prideful or haughty spirit. That does not seem so bad, huh? Well look at this.
I am finding that in presenting this cute little blog, I am opening a complex issue, for few of us know who we are. The dilemma obviously is to identify who it is that is at work in our hearts and to get him on the right track. Each condition is a track, so we must establish which are the right ones.
This is way easier said than done but I think it to be a delightful journey. For the believer, the likely first step is to renew your mind. Renewing your mind by the Word of God will cause you to identify your condition (the condition of your spirit) providing instructions that will cause you to have an afflicted spirit and a lowly spirit and such as these that are acceptable to God.
“It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud” (Prov.16.19) “He who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor” (Prov. 29.23). “And also, with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble” (Is. 57.15).
So let me ask you again. Who are you?
Answered Prayer
Answered prayer is one of the basic privileges or rights of a Christian. A Christian is given by God the right of having his prayers heard. If one has been a Christian for three to five years and has not had one prayer answered, his Christian life must be quite questionable. For a child of God not to have his prayers answered is wrong. A Christian’s prayers ought to be answered.
“Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be made full” (John 16:24). He who prays often and has his prayers answered often will be a happy Christian. This is a fundamental experience that every believer must have. One may be careless in other spiritual matters, but in this matter of answered prayer a Christian cannot afford to deceive himself. It is either yes or no. He must seek to have prayers answered. (Watchman Nee)
DON’T MESS THIS UP
I will get right to the point with this one. I screen shot the inserted image from Google Earth on about 8 a.m. this past Sunday morning. Some of you will find this to be as fascinating as I did and some of you won’t. This is the actual satellite image. I will tell you what I see and what I think and I will also give some scripture and background to support my thoughts.
Remember, this was live when I viewed it and that the weather is fluid (always moving). In the middle of the image there is a Man’s head. See His eyes, ear, nose mouth and chin. I will come back to some of those in a moment.
At the top of the image next to Iceland are two angels. This reminds me of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis chapter 18 and how that the Lord traveled with two angels when He met with Abraham and judged Sodom and Gomorrah.
Across the image from the snout of what I have discovered to be an antelope (or of the antelope species) are two fishes. These are the same as those which are sometimes referred to as Pisces. They are actually representative of The Church and the Jewish Nation (The Elect of Messiah or The King of Kings) — yes, Jesus Christ.
They are depicted as being tethered together in astrology which as you know is a corruption of God’s true intent to show the Gospel in The Stars. There is at least one other person in that group but I don’t know who that is (or they are).
Additionally, looking again at the Man in the center of the image and to the right side of His mouth (to your left as you view it) there is a man like image extending out from it.
My first thought was to suggest that the major image depicts The Father God. I step away from that conclusion, though, as He would probably have white hair.
I believe the Primary Person in the image is the Lord Himself. Again, Jesus Christ. That Which is proceeding from His Mouth, I believe to be Utterance (The Holy Spirit).
Now, to the elephant in the room. What’s up with the snouted creature that appears to be resting its head upon the head of the Lord?
There are apparently four essential considerations regarding this. One is the actual animal itself. It is an antelope — I will not speculate at this time as to which one. Secondarily, is that which is derived from the antelope; namely, the Shofar, which is made from the horns of the antelope. Please note that the Shofar is not exclusively taken from the antelope, but the ram as well as others.
The Shofar is a very important instrument in Judaism and Hebrew customs, past and present of which I am apologetically not well informed. See this though.
I believe that the reason the creature is resting upon the Head of the Lord is an indication from the Lord that there is something on His mind and that He is getting the Word out.
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. (Matthew 24:36)
Fourthly, as a Christian, this scriptural passage says it all for me:
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 KJV)
The Wind and The Sun
Sending you over to one of my other Sites for this exciting post. Click here.
FIRE IN THE HOLY
Strong’s Concordance defines FIRE as “supernatural fire (accompanying theophany)”. Theophany is defined on Dictionary.com as “manifestation or appearance of God or a god to a person”.
Last night’s dream went like this. A group returning from an outing included a young boy who was about eight years old. The report about the child was that he had been unruly during the trip.
When a senior lady of the organization pulled the young man aside to discuss his behavior with him, he pulled out a cigarette lighter and began to flick it to light it. Somehow this action dramatically scared the lady, and she ran off hysterically.
A second counselor of the organization had no success in getting the kid under control. Upon seeing this and as the boy continued to try and ignite the lighter, one of the male counselors of the organization shouted, “call the cops”. The counselor reconsidered though. The dream was over.
This dream comes on the heels of a revival meeting that I attended last night at a local church. The denomination was not apparent but there was a Baptist flavor present. As I believe it to be custom at revival meetings, the speaker was a visiting one. His scriptural reference was 2 Corinthians 12 — Paul’s thorn in the flesh.
Ministers of Churches such as this one is prone to flow into a method of preaching that is referred to as “hooping”. This service was no exception. Preaching of this type is soulical arousing the emotions of the folks. The “feel good” is short lived. Lots of flicking takes place but no Fire happens.
Given the title of this post, let me just say that I have come to know that there are two ways to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These are expository or expositional and Spiritual. Expository preaching in done in the strength of man and his knowledge of the Bible. The logos word (letter) is present but the Rhema Word (Spirit) is not. Lots of flicking but no fire.
Spiritual preaching in done in the Strength of or by the Anointing of Jesus Christ through and co-laboring with the believer. Essentially It is God speaking, being tempered by an earthen vessel.
The Eternal Fire Himself is manifest empowering them that hear.
WHAT IS SPEAKING IN TONGUES?
There is much controversy in the Church regarding Speaking in Tongues. What I will do here is explain Speaking in Tongues in as short a version as I can.
Speaking in Tongues is flowing in the Power of the Holy Spirit. This Power is being poured out incessantly from Heaven by the Lord.
Another way to put it is, Speaking in Tongues is God Speaking through believers.
Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. (Acts 2:33)
The purpose for such outpouring is to strengthen the believer and empower the Church.
A person must repent (turn from) a life of sin and recognized Jesus Christ as the Resurrected Son of God, ask Him to be and accept Him as his Savior and be water baptized to move into this Supernatural activity. (See Romans 10:9)
When a person receives Jesus Christ as his Savior the Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit) moves into his heart bringing with him his foundational attributes. These are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. (See Galatians chapter 5).
After having received salvation as outlined above a person becomes a candidate for the baptism in (some say with) the Holy Spirit with the evidence of Speaking in Tongues.
Now comes that Baptism. This happens at the Hands of Jesus Christ Himself as verbalized by John the Baptist:
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. (Matthew 3:11).
Baptism with the Spirit at the Hands of Jesus Christ will bring about the Speaking in Tongues by the believer.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4).
Speaking in Tongues is a segue or the threshold to the Spiritual Gifts. The Spiritual Gifts is The Lord performing Supernatural feats co-laboring with the believers (the Church).
In the Old Testament the Spirit of the Lord would come upon men as God worked miracles through them. That same phenomenon is at work today riding on the heels of Speaking in Tongues.
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8).
UTTERANCE, Speaking in Tongues and Spiritual Gifts
A Talking Ass and a Bucket of Water
As you know, my work emanates from my mandate from God to propagate Utterance as the life force of Speaking in Tongues and the manifestation of the Gifts of the Spirit.
Utterance for our purposes to this end most nearly means the incessant pouring forth from Heaven of the Voice, Mind, Spirit, Creative Power, Resurrection Power, Revelation, Wisdom, Sanctification, Anointing and More, from God.
The same is that promise often spoken of and sought after by those of us who love God and who are earnestly seeking to have his essence present in our lives. The apostle Peter says this by the Spirit just as well an anyone in Acts 2:38-40.
You all know the story of the prophet Balaam, right? Balaam was very busy in the the book of Numbers. He was also mentioned in several other books of the Bible. He sold out to a fellow by the name of Balak, the king of Moab. Balak wished that Balaam would prophesy a curse upon Israel for which he would be paid money.
Each time Balaam attempted to curse Israel, the Lord would change his words to blessing rather than cursing Israel. Balak was not pleased. We find that God also was not please with Balaam as Balaam attempted to circumvent God’s command not to deal with the Moabites. Balaam was eventually slain by Israel.
There was an occasion that while Balaam rode his ass (donkey) toward Moab that the donkey saw an angel with his sword drawn sent by God to thwart the trip. The donkey refused to go further and fell to the ground injuring Balaam.
Balaam smote the donkey and the donkey asked him why he had done such as she had always been reliable. Additionally, the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes so that he too could see the angel.
Now I said all of that to get to the following verse of scripture that was spoken by Balaam while he was in a trance. I believe it to be a prophecy relating to what is currently my favorite subject, namely Utterance:
He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. (Numbers 24:7)
Here, Balaam is speaking of none other than the Holy Spirit that is being poured out (shed forth) by Jesus Christ Himself. I find that the Bible is laden with this prophecy.
Here is what Peter said on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) as he it expounded upon Joel Chapter 2: But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Look closely at this passage and tell me what you see. Pray first:
A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. (Song of Solomon 4: 12-16)
Try and picture Christ standing at the Right Hand of the Father pouring out (shedding forth) His Spirit from a large urn (buckets). The same being the referenced Power mentioned in paragraph #2 above.
Raise your hands toward Heaven because that is where your help is coming from!
Dealing With and Being Dealt With by God
I know that the subject line piqued your interest and possibly occurs to you as being sacrilegious. Please indulge me in this though and see the Light in it.
Practically the best context for the given subject is within the vein of prayer. After all I believe that it is that many of us only consider God when we need something; when finances are low or someone is sick. We need something and we know that He has it and ours is to petition that He gives it to us.
Here is what I am going to do. I am going to show you a couple of stories from the bible in which the characters were trying to accomplish something–something that required movement or the approval of God. This should be interesting! I will talk a little bit about positioning oneself for establishing a dialogue with the Omnipotent, Omnibenevolent, Omnipresent and Omniscient Sovereign Potentate?
I will give brief summaries of these stories because I want you to go and read them for yourselves. Story number one has to do with Abraham. It is found in chapters 18 and 19 of Genesis. What happens here is Abraham is visited by three men (the Lord and two angels).
The Lord was handling two very important matters. Matter number one was to advise Abraham that he and Sarah were about to have a child. Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90. And even as God was prophesying the birth of Isaac (and the Jewish Nation) they both found this amusing.
More to the point of this post though, as they departed from Abraham the Lord wondered out loud as to whether they should make him privy to their next order of business which was to investigate for judgement goings on down in Sodom. For the cry of the folks of Sodom had come before His Throne and a grievous cry it was.
Knowing the pending destruction of Sodom, Abraham requested of the Lord if He would spare Sodom if there were righteous folks there– fifty perhaps. The Lord agreed to his proposition. The dealing or negotiating had started. Abraham apparently thinking this thing through suggested that perhaps forty-five righteous people was a more likely number. The Lord agreed to that number.
To make a long story short and to emphasize the humility and reverence in which Abraham petitioned the Lord his case they finally agreed that if the Lord found ten righteous persons in Sodom that He would spare her. We see here dealings between the Lord and his servant.
Sodom did not fare well though!
Gideon a character in the book of Judges probably pushed all of God’s buttons, if that were possible. In an initial meeting with God in chapter six he acknowledged His miraculous works in previous generation of the Jews and required of Him as to why He had apparently forsaken them.
The Lord advised Gideon that He was about to deliver the Jews through him. He assured Gideon that He would be with him. The dealing began in earnest. God set the tone for the coming events by supernaturally consuming a meal that Gideon had prepared for Him by fire out of a rock.
Gideon who was later in the story referred to as Jerubbaal because he had thrown down an altar of Baal (an idol) still was not convinced that the Lord surely had his back. He required more evidence from the Lord that He would be with him as he completed his task of defeating the Midianites and the Amalekites. He wanted a sign.
Gideon proposed to the Lord that he would place a fleece of wool on the earthen floor over night and if the next morning the fleece alone was wet and not the floor that he would know that the Lord was with him. And so it was that the next morning the fleece was wet to the point of yielding a full bowl of water and the floor was dry.
Just to be doubly sure, Gideon requested the Lord that if he left the fleece of wool once again on the floor if God would indulge him by having the floor be wet with the fleece being dry the following morning. The Lord obliged him.
There are a few stories in the bible where we see dialogue (dealings) between the Lord and a servant (believer). God, not being a respecter of person, will also deal with you and me.
Here are a few pointers to consider when approaching the Lord to deal:
- What do I have to deal with? Am I clear that He has everything and I have nothing?
- Do I Know Him or what do I know about Him?
- How am I qualified to even be in His presence?
- Will God be merciful to hear my case?
- Will I have to petition the Lord in stages or are transactions cut and dried?
- How long will it take to make a deal?
- What does it mean to be “dealt with by God”?
Many years ago, I requested of the Lord that He would bring me into a more dynamic life and relationship with Him. Shortly thereafter the Lord responded to me by way of a dream in which He showed me some steps that I was to take and that much study was involved. He said “I will teach you.”
I have just finished my first print book and this results from that which the Holy Spirit has taught and is teaching me. The is ongoing and dialogue/dealings and sanctification/breaking in my life at the Right Hand of the Lord.
Here is what I have found. God is a person. He is in fact High and Mighty but He is not arrogant. I believe that God greatly desires to be in fellowship with His friends–us. He is however Holy and so the unclean and sinful are unable to enter into His presence. He has made a way for those whom He loves to supersede sin. Here is how.
THE LIGHT MAN
There once was (and still is) a man. An ordinary man. This man had a glimmer of light in his heart – in the center of his being. Faint it was, hardly noticed by anyone except his parents. It stayed that way for years and years but was obtaining a solid position in there – kind of like a tree as it stretches out its root system to be able to stand even to reach the clouds.
One day this nice gentleman was made aware of an outside source of light. One that was exterior to him but that is very much like the light which he had. This Light is the greatest of all light. It is the Light of the world. It is the Source of all life in the universe.
He somehow knew that that light was beckoning him to let It come into him. It wanted to join him and grow in him. This most powerful Light would be largely subservient to the light of our friend whom we mentioned first in this little story. It would be a Helper. The Great Light is a source of Eternal information and Jethro; let’s call our friend Jethro, can access this information and increasingly so as he builds his relationship with the Light.
Once electing to cohabitate with the Light – join his light with that Light – change was swift and exponential. The light that was in him was no longer just a flicker. It had grown, filling his abdominal cavity to an explosive ability. His cranial cavity became alive and radiant with activity because of the Light. He began to know things, to see and hear more clearly. His sense of right and wrong became keener. Key components of the two referenced systems are now more aware of each other and working together. Compassion and love are intrinsic in his personality.
His thoracic cavity is also infiltrated by the Light giving him increased ability to spew out words of encouragement here and there and upon those whom he chooses or when he is petitioned to do so. His message is one of love. That Light shown throughout his whole body. His movement is more graceful and displays positive intent.
The Light is no longer contained inside his body. It emanates from his body and becomes somewhat like a force field of love and all that is positive. Those meeting him senses this Power (that’s what it is, power) not fully, if at all, understanding what it is.
But, that’s not all. Remember that I said that that Light is external to that of Jethro. Well the Great Light while it works within Jethro, It (He) also has a life and agenda all His own. That Light is always everywhere Jethro goes; even if the atmosphere appears to be dark. In fact, there are times when the Light will choose, for example, to intervene in the ordinary course of nature to bring about some change. An example of this might be to open blind eyes or to cause a cripple person to walk.
The Light (you probably noticed the upper-case L) now that He has opened a line of communication (communion even) with Jethro is able to conduct such work in the natural realm using a natural person.
What Are You Waiting For?
“And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
When Ananias communicated to Paul his commission from Jesus it was clear that time was of the essence. Let the Church agree that the same Spirit of urgency should apply to us now.
See Acts chapter 22.
Me, Myself and I
The heart, according to the Biblical concept, is the conscience of man’s spirit plus the mind in man’s soul. The spirit communes with God and is the organ for knowing His will, whereas the heart is the steward of the spirit, working towards the expression of all which is in the spirit. Whatever is in the spirit is expressed through the heart. The heart is therefore the link or the place of exchange for the workings of the spirit and of the soul. It is like the operating center of a telephone system where all the lines will converge and be connected. All that enters the spirit enters from the heart. Hence the heart is the connecting point of all communications. The spirit reaches the soul via the heart; and through the heart the soul conveys to the spirit what it has gathered from outside. The heart is where our personality is located. It is our real self. Since it is the link between the spirit and the soul, the heart may be considered as the real “I”. Watchman Nee, Spiritual Knowledge.
A Higher Plane
A few days ago I heard a preacher proclaim his hope and belief that believers are approaching a time of a higher level of Spiritual existence. While many believers are anticipating another (final perhaps) revival or awakening before the rapture; the speaker called it a higher plane. The essence of what I am currently writing about, Utterance and Spiritual Gifts, concern the path to Spiritual growth. I capitalize the S in the word Spiritual to distinguish the Divine Spirit from the human spirit.
I greatly pondered the idea of a “higher plane” to an extent that was somewhat grandiose. My thinking was that somehow the Lord would graduate us to a level of independence where we could operate with great, great power from Heaven without having to wait for the “Spirit upon”, that supernatural Power of the Holy Spirit that comes upon the believer as God determines.
This morning though, I am back down to earth as I read “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13 KJV).
The key to Spiritual growth is the sanctification that results from dying to self and being resurrected with Christ. “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Romans 8:11 KJV).
PREACH THE WORD
“How absurd that many so-called spokesmen of God do not even expect to speak God’s word nor anticipate His revealing Himself while they preach on the Bible. Their whole interest is to display the doctrine they formulate. They are primarily if not entirely interested in their own doctrine, in their own good thoughts. As long as their doctrine or thoughts are released, they feel content. But let us not forget that the word of God is the coming forth of God. If He does not come out, people hear only your words. When He comes forth, men begin to obtain revelation. Without God, whatever is said merely passes from one person to another, from one mouth to another, and from one brain to another” (Watchman Nee, THE MINISTRY OF GOD’S WORD).
FLESH AND BLOOD
Speaking in Tongues is waging warfare against the devil. “For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Given this scripture, one could make the argument that The Lord’s priority in the earth is to rid it of the works of the devil. I am cognizant of Luke 4:18, Luke, 19:10 and His much teaching about the Kingdom of God as well; but still!
In the following scriptural passage, The Lord plainly, makes it clear that we will do battle with an invisible foe who is not to be mistaken for a flesh and blood person. He makes it clear that the warfare will be completed by the Power and Might of God. He tells us what the attire is to be, advises as to our most important defensive weapon and equips us with the most lethal offensive weapon in the Universe. Assuredly, He has our backs.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole Armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole Armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephesians 6:10-16).
“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints: And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:17-20). “The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.” The word, “word” here is translated from the Greek word Rhema. The Sword of the Spirit is Supernatural UTTERANCE (a Manifestation of the Holy Spirit). The word “mouth” here is translated from the Greek word “stoma” which means the edge of a sword. Believers should be sure to equip themselves with this most effective offensive weapon; “Praying always and with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” This is Praying in Tongues. This is violently (aggressively) laying hold to the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 11:12).
I assure you that the devil hates it when saints pray in tongues.
I BEG YOU BROTHERS
Praying in Tongues Renews Your Mind. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).
“If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:21-24).
For as he thinketh in his heart (or mind), so is he (Proverbs 23:7).
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8).
Simply stated, renewing you mind is changing your “Mindset” from the natural disposition of that of the fallen man to that of the Supernaturally, Holy Spirit-taught individual. It could be said that Paul is pleading with believers to yield to the Holy Spirit, turn away from the world and be renewed in the spirit of the mind in the similitude of God.
The spirit of man just like the Spirit of God does not work on its own accord but processes instructions or information that it is charged with from the soul, be it worldly or Godly. Serving up the Word of God to the human spirit produces the “mind which is also in Christ Jesus.” Praying in Tongues (as it is the language of the spirit) additionally aids in the renewal of the mind. “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come” (John 16:13).
AQUARIUS 2018
“When Christ was about to leave the world He said to His followers, “It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you….
He will guide you into all truth…. He will show you things to come…. He shall glorify me: for He shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you” (John I6).
That promise included all the divine life-power issuing from the mediation of Christ for the illumination, regeneration, and salvation of men — all the renewing, cleansing, comforting, and energizing grace for the gathering of the elect and the bringing of believers to eternal life and glory.
The Holy Ghost was in the world from the beginning, but here was the promise of a new and enlarged grant and endowment, to lift, nourish, and distinguish Christian believers.
The same was gloriously fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when “suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and filled all the house where they were sitting; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
And when the Jews mocked and derided, the sacred explanation was that Jesus, being raised up again from the dead and exalted to the right hand of God, and having so received of the Father, was now the Giver and Shedder-forth of this marvelous power.
He is thus presented to our contemplation as the glorified Pourer-forth from heaven of the blessed waters of life and salvation; in other words, the true Aquarius, of whom the picture in the sign was the prophecy and foreshowing (THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS).
Astrology as is widely known in the world today is a corruption of the truth about the signs (constellations) seen in the sky as the earth revolves counterclockwise on a line around the sun called the ecliptic.
Starting with Virgo (the real first sign of the zodiac) that represents a virgin about to give birth and ending with Leo the Lion of the Tribe of Juda.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is what God revealed to us in the Bible here and here.
Again, Again, Again
Revival Now!
THE INNER MAN
The inner man is the spirit of man. It is said that “man is a spirit, he has a soul and he lives in a body.” “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;” (Ephesians 3:16).
Man is a tripartite creation. Man is spirit, soul and body. “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The two above scriptural passages show that spirit and soul are distinct one from the other.
The foundation of our relationship with God, the spirit is called the element (member) of God-consciousness. God dwells in the spirit, self dwells in the soul and senses dwell in the body.
Hierarchically, “the order which God presents to us is unmistakable: “your spirit and soul and body” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). It is not “soul and spirit and body,” nor is it “body and soul and spirit. The spirit is the pre-eminent part (member), hence it is mentioned first; the body is the lowest and therefore is last mentioned; the soul stands between, so is mentioned between” (Nee).
Spirit, Soul and Body are presented in reverse order here since our topic is Speaking in Tongues (UTTERANCE) which is a function of the spirit and the Holy Spirit (so we deal with the spirit last).
1. The body is sometimes referred to as the Outermost Man. It is the sheath of the soul. It is the corporeal aspect of man. It is through the corporal body that man contacts the material world. It is that part of us that gives us world-consciousness.
2. The soul; “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7).
• The soul of man consists of his mind, will, intellect, emotions and self-consciousness. The soul is sometimes referred to as the outer man. It is the sheath of the spirit. It is the organ of our personality.
• The soul is the meeting-point of spirit and body. The soul makes it possible for the spirit and the body to communicate and to cooperate.
• Man’s prime factor is the soul.
• We are told to present our bodies unto God and to renew our minds. This renewal of the mind comes through our spirit from the Holy Spirit as we read the Bible, hear the Word and Pray. Instructions, guidelines, Light and Revelation are deposited into our spirits whereby we are transformed as our minds (souls) are renewed by the perfect will of God. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).
3. Spirit, Soul and Body; “Of these three elements the spirit is the noblest for it joins with God. The body is the lowest for it contacts with matter. The soul lying between them joins the two together and also takes their character to be its own. The soul makes it possible for the spirit and the body to communicate and to cooperate. The work of the soul is to keep these two in their proper order so that they may not lose their right relationship—namely, that the lowest, the body, may be subjected to the spirit, and that the highest, the spirit, may govern the body through the soul. Man’s prime factor is definitely the soul. It looks to the spirit to give what the latter has received from the Holy Spirit in order that the soul, after it has been perfected, may transmit what it has obtained to the body; then the body too may share in the perfection of the Holy Spirit and so become a spiritual body” (The Spiritual Man).
The three primary attributes of the human spirit are:
• Conscience; the conscience is the discerning organ which distinguishes right and wrong. “And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst” (John 8:9).
• Intuition; is the sensing organ of the human spirit. The intuition of the spirit differs from that of the soul and body. Believers must heed the voice of conscience and the teaching of intuition. “And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives” (Acts 27:10).
• Communion; worshiping God. “The organs of the soul are incompetent to worship God. God is not apprehended by our thoughts, feelings or intentions, for He can only be known directly in our spirits. Our worship of God and God’s communications with us are directly in the spirit. They take place in “the inner man,” not in the soul or outward man.”
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen” (2 Corinthians 13:14).
The human spirit is said to be regenerated when one receives salvation. The Holy Spirit resides within this regenerated human spirit. “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;” (Ephesians 3:16).
The spirit is subject to many conditions i.e. fervent, contrite, joyful, poor, afflicted, broken, quiet and broken are a few examples. Beyond being aware that we have a spirit, being conscious of our spirit and its condition is essential for spiritual growth. Tempering our spirits (renewing our minds) are can be intentionally accomplished.
The inner man (human spirit) is often referred to in the secular world as the subconscious mind as it is not understood secularly. The supposed functions of the same are those of the inner man.
The spirit of man is akin to the Spirit of God in that he does not speak of himself but that which he hears, he speaks (John 16:13). He conducts that which he (the inner man) discerns to be his instructions from the soul. It is extremely important that what the spirit receives from the mind (soul) is tempered by the Word of God as indicated in Romans chapter 12 verse 2 (renewing the mind). Hearing and reading the word (Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God; Romans 10:17) are also pertinent to edifying the human spirit.
UTTERANCE flows through our spirit.
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
Spiritual Gifts ride the heels of UTTERANCE (Speaking in Tongues) when it comes to controversial Church Doctrine. Speaking in Tongues and operating in the Spiritual Gifts are Supernatural actions. Just as being Born Again at the time of Salvation is a Miracle, so too are Speaking in Tongues and the Spiritual Gifts.
Chapter 12 of First Corinthians is where Paul presents us information regarding The Spiritual Gifts. Calling these Spiritual Manifestations gifts is a little ambiguous as they can’t for example, be put into a box or one’s pocket and taken home. The Lord maintains control of them as He works together with the believer. The manifestation of Speaking in Tongues and of the Spiritual Gifts is administered by God co-laboring with the believer.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).
The operation of the Holy Spirit is two-fold. Salvation, referred to as the Baptism of Christ happens first. His dwelling in men is for sanctification. In dwelling in us, the Holy Spirit supplies Christ to us to be our life and to enable us to bear the Fruit of Holiness. Baptism with the Spirit or being filled with the Spirit is a secondary working. Speaking in Tongues as the Spirit gives the UTTERANCE is the initial evidence of being Filled with the Holy Spirit. This is synonymous with having The Spirit Upon. It is the gateway to Supernatural Miracle Prayer and for co-laboring with God in the Spiritual Gifts. His coming upon (being poured out upon) men is for power, for doing miracles and for witnessing.
Speaking in Tongues is frowned upon in most pulpits and a demonstration of the operation of The Spiritual Gifts is not commonly found in local Churches.
There are nine Spiritual Gifts; nine ways in which the Holy Spirit manifests Himself Supernaturally when co-laboring with Believers. The Gifts are placed within three categories. Three of them are classified as Revelation Gifts (they reveal something), Three are the Power Gifts (they do something) and three are the Inspiration Gifts (they say something).
The Word of Wisdom is the 1st of the Revelation Gifts. One should distinguish The Word of Wisdom from natural wisdom. They are two different things and one has nothing to do with the other. The Word of Wisdom is a Supernatural Manifestation of the Holy Spirit. It is a Wisdom that comes down from Heaven. It is a Divine Wisdom. Limited purposes, directives and plans of God are revealed as Words of Wisdom. Old Testament Prophets Uttered Prophetically Words of Wisdom When the Holy Ghost would Come Upon them. God revealed fragments of his plan for mankind and the earth to the likes of Enoch, Noah, Joseph, Moses and Jesus Christ as well as the Minor and Major Prophets. The Word of Wisdom reveals a short-term or long-term plan of God.
“And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee” (Genesis 3:13-16). This is an excerpt from an early reprimand by God in the Garden of Eden. This prophetic
UTTERANCE is a word of wisdom.
“Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). This prophecy of the coming Savior is an example of The Word of Wisdom.
(2) The Word of Knowledge is the second of the Revelation Gifts. The Word of Knowledge has nothing to do with human knowledge or intellect. It is the Supernatural communication of the Holy Spirit of a fact in existence where there is no natural way for it to be known to the believer. It occurs directly from the Omniscience of God.
In 2nd Kings Chapter 5 we find an example of this gift. The prophet Elisha had the occasion to cure Naaman, an army commander from Syria, of leprosy. Naaman was very grateful and offered Elisha gifts which Elisha refused. Elisha’s servant Gehazi who was standing buy at the time, ran after Naaman to retrieve the gifts privily. He later denied receiving them. The prophet, however, knew by the Word of Knowledge of this evil deed and so the servant was cursed with that leprosy, he and his seed forever.
The (3rd) Revelation Gift is Discerning of Spirits. This operation of the Holy Spirit is to open a window to the invisible world for the believer to look through. Supernaturally and miraculously the believer is availed of transactions of another dimension. A revelation regarding Discerning of Spirits could appear as a vision, a trance or in a dream. The Lord could communicate the presence or devices of a spirit (or spirits) in other ways. Here is one example in 2nd Kings:
“And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, a host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (2 Kings 15-17).
Yet another example of the Gift of Discerning of Spirits is found in the book of Acts as thus: “And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, these men are the servants of the Most High God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour” (Acts 16: 16-18). Clearly, Paul discerned the invisible person behind the damsel.
The Gifts of The Word of Knowledge and or Faith are likely present with the gift of The Discerning of Spirits.
The 1st of the Power Gifts of the Spirit is the gift of Faith. The Gift of Faith is to be distinguished from “The Measure of Faith” (Romans 12:3) and Saving Faith of Romans 10:17 (So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God).
The Gift of Faith transcends the Mark 11:22-26 faith to remove mountains. The Gift of Faith is sometimes referred to as Special Faith. Like all the Gifts of the Spirit, the Gift of Faith is a Supernatural Manifestation of the Holy Spirit. It is an operation of the Holy Spirit. It is administered by The Holy Spirit. The believer need only co-labor with God to the extent of being yielded and willing.
The fulfillment of UTTERANCES, of blessing and curses, alterations, creations, destructions, removals, and even the raising of the dead are manifested by this Gift. There is no limitation where the Gift of Faith is present.
The 2nd of the Power Gifts of The Spirit is The Working of Miracles. The Supernatural manifestation of the power of God that intervenes in the ordinary course of nature is the Working of a Miracle. The manifestation of any of the Spiritual gifts is a miracle in a general though not specific sense.
There are many examples of miracles cited in the Bible. In the Old Testament, in the book of Exodus; in Egypt, there was the waters being made into blood, frogs produced, locusts and there was darkness so thick that it could be felt. There was the dividing of the Red Sea by Moses’s rod and water given from the rock at Rephidim. There was the Mana from Heaven. Additionally, in the Old Testament there was Balaam’s ass speaking, the Sun and The Moon standing still, the widow’s son being raised, the iron swimming and many other exciting exhibits of God’s wonders.
Our Lord also work many miracles during his brief sojourn on the earth. He healed the sick, the blind, the deaf and dumb and those many infirmities and diseased conditions. He raised Lazarus from the dead. He cast out devils, stilled storms, fed four thousand folks with two loaves and five fishes. He walked on water.
In the Book of Acts, we see Ananias and Sapphira struck dead for lying to the Holy Spirit. Peter raises Tabitha (Dorcas). Peter is also delivered out of prison by an angel. Paul’s conversion was truly a miracle; as when every time a person is saved. Paul restores Eutychus to life and shakes off a deadly viper from this hand with no ill effect in chapters 20 and 28 respectively. These are a few of the miracles that were documented in the book of Acts.
The 3rd Power Gift is The Gifts of Healings. It is thought by theologians that the fact that both words (Gifts and Healings) are plural indicates diversity in their application. As an example, one minister will have success when praying for deaf people and, yet another is likely to see the cripple walk.
While the healings that are brought about by the Doctors and hospitals are either directly or indirectly blessings from God, they are not the Supernatural Gifts being discussed here.
There were approximately twelve occurrences of individual healings recorded in the old testament. Notable from that list are Hanna receiving healing from barrenness in response to personal prayers and Eli the Priest’s declaration (1 Samuel 1:9-20) and Hezekiah’s 15-year life extension by the prophet Izaiah after Hezekiah prayed to God (2 Kings 20: 1-7).
There were numerous healings at the hand of Jesus Christ recorded in the Gospels.
In the Acts of the Apostles there was the healing by Peter of the lame man at the gate Beautiful (Acts 3: 1-11) and Eneas of a palsy, recorded in chapter 9 as well as other miracles in which he worked. Paul healed a cripple in Lystra (Acts 14: 8-10). “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them” (Acts 19: 11-12).
The first of the Gifts of Inspiration is The Gift of Prophecy. Strong’s Concordance describes prophecy as “a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; esp. by foretelling future events.”
“But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort” (1 Corinthians 14: 3) Prophecy is Inspired UTTERANCE and should be distinguished from Revelation. Revelation by The Word or Wisdom may sometimes function together with Prophecy.
Smith Wigglesworth said this: “We see also that he that prophesieth speaketh unto man to edification and exhortation and comfort. How important it is then that we should have this gift in manifestation in the church in order that the saints might be built up and made strong and filled with the comfort of God. But with this as all other gifts we should see that it is operated by the Spirit’s power and brought forth in the unction of the Spirit; so that everyone who shall hear prophecy, as it is brought forth by the Spirit of God, shall know that it is GOD who is bringing forth that which for the edification of those who hear. It is the Spirit of God who takes of the deep things of God and reveals them, and unctionizes the prophet to give forth, that which is a revelation of the the things of God.
Utterance in prophecy has a real lifting power and gives real light on the truth to those who hear. Prophecy is never a mind reflection; it is something far deeper than this. By means of prophecy we receive that which is the mind of the Lord; and as we receive these blessed, fresh utterances through the Spirit of the Lord the whole assembly is lifted into the realm of the spiritual. Our hearts and minds and whole bodies receive a quickening through the Spirit-given word. As the Spirit brings forth prophecy we find there is healing and salvation and power in every line. For this reason, it is one of the gifts that we ought to covet.”
The final two Inspiration Gifts are Divers Kinds of Tongues and the Interpretation of Tongues. Here is an example of what they might look like when manifested in a Church near you:
A minister tells the story about how he was interrupted early during one of his sermons by a young lady who was obviously overpowered by the Holy Ghost. He says that she came up on the platform with him, which he yielded as he recognized that God was present.
He said that she chanted some language that he did not know and made gestures sometimes made by religious priest of another religion. He said that near the back of the Church he observed a young East Indian man, whom he knew, begin to walk down the aisle toward the platform. The young man looked at the girl with intense amazement. It turns out that she had spoken the young man’s language.
She tells him that salvation comes from God: that to save men, Jesus Christ, who was God, became a man; that one man cannot save another; one man has no power to same another from his sins. But Jesus was God and He had power to impart His Spirit to men.
Here, the young lady was obedient to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and spoke with Divers Kinds of Tongues (other Tongues). The Elder in the pulpit was sensitive to the Holy Spirit and yielded to His Manifestation. The young gentleman, while somewhat dumbfounded, was able to give the Interpretation of Tongues. The Protocol for Speaking Tongues in the Church was known and had been well taught in this Church as should be the case in every Church.
The Inspiration Gifts are for Ministry. They are for the Exhortation, Edification and Comfort of the Church.
GOD’S WORK
“And God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day” (Genesis 1: 14-19).
The above scriptural passage describes the solar system in which the earth that we live on is located and is fundamentally anchored by the sun. Everything else in the system revolves around the sun except the referenced stars. The sun is a star and there are no other stars in our solar system.
“Our sun is one of at least 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, a spiral galaxy about 100,000 light years across. The Milky Way is part of the Local Group, a neighborhood of about 10 million light years across, consisting of more than 30 galaxies that are gravitationally bound to each other. Scientists calculate that there are at least 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe, each one brimming with stars. On a large scale, they form a bubbly structure, in which vast sheets and filaments of galaxies surround gargantuan voids” (NASA).
“Edwin Hubble discovered that the Universe is expanding and that at one point in time (14 billion years ago) the Universe was all collected in just one point of space” (NASA).
God resides in the Highest Heaven which is constantly expanding. Simultaneously He is managing all that He has previously created including our day to day lives. “Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!” (Job 22:12).
He is working through His Body (The Church) to redeem that which is, “The Earth and the fullness there of” (Psalms 24:1). All unrighteousness and those party to it will be expelled from the surface of the earth. The earth will be made new (restored), and the righteous will reside hereon forever. “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). “But unto the Son he saith, Thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom” (Hebrews 1:8).
“From the Old Testament time to the New, God always is found speaking. He spoke in the Old Testament days by the prophets; He spoke through the Lord Jesus; and He continues to speak through the New Testament church. We learn from the Bible that God has a prime work to perform on earth, which is, to utter His own Word. If the word of God is taken away, then almost nothing is left of God’s work. No Word, no work. When the Word is eliminated, the work is reduced to near zero. We must therefore recognize the place of God’s Word in His work. Once the word is removed the work of God ceases immediately. God operates through His word; He treats His Word as His work.
This morning I heard a preacher say on the television that the “prayer language” (Tongues) is not for everyone (every believer). The bible does not say that. The Lord does say in Mark Chapter 16 that one of the signs that would follow them that believe is that they would “speak with New Tongues”. God gives the UTTERANCE when we speak in Tongues.
There were two Ministers having a conversation on the radio yesterday and one of them commented on how he was so excited about a recent event in his life that he would Speak in Tongues if they did that in his church’s denomination. Here is what the Lord told me this morning as I Prayed in Tongues. He said that “Utterance is life to His Body the Church just as blood is to the natural human body.”
There is no part of the human body that functions properly without blood and the Church (The Body of Christ) does not and will not function properly until UTTERANCE (Speaking in Tongues) becomes accepted doctrine.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God, and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Ephesians 4:4-6). That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another (1 Corinthians 12:25). Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). We are to be unified and co-laboring with Him as He works through us.
UTTERANCE is Outpoured from the Throne of God continuously (Acts 2:33). We are to be a continuation or (conduits of) this same power that is maintaining the earth and expanding the Universe, not to mention the Giver of Salvation.
We, (The Church) are God’s Mouthpiece on the Earth. UTTERANCE is the means. Obedience is the mandate.
DIVERS KINDS OF TONGUES
“To another Divers Kinds of Tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues” is an excerpt from 1 Corinthians chapter 12. The original Greek text did not include the word “divers”. The translators added it. “Kinds of Tongues” is how it read with the distinct connotation of diversity (different nations). Diverse Kinds of Tongues is one of the Spiritual Gifts. It is a ministry gift and is prophecy when coupled with The Interpretation of Tongues.
Tongues the Spiritual Gift (Diverse Kinds of Tongues) is distinguished from Tongues the sign. Tongues the sign is for communing with God and not for presentation in public. Tongues the sign is also for the edifying or building up one’s self spiritually. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself (1 Corinthians 14:4). “For he that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not unto men, but unto God: for no man understands him; howbeit in the spirit he speaks mysteries” (1 Corinthians: 14:2). Speaking in Unknown Tongues is the only manifestation of the Spirit that has the direct aspect of worship; said to be “not unto man, but unto God.”
“To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another Divers Kinds of Tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:” (1 Corinthians 12:28).
The tongues that were spoken at Pentecost were Divers Kinds of Tongues. The Pentecost outpouring of Tongues were dual purposed; they also were the initial indications that the Pentecost believers were filled with the Holy Spirit.
We know, too, that they were referred to as Other Tongues as well. A demonstration of believers speaking a language that they didn’t know that was understood by others that were standing by as occasioned in Acts chapter 2. “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?”
Divers Kinds of Tongues is a Supernatural Spiritual Gift manifested by God through a yielded believer. He (God) confirms as much by offering the accompanying gift of The Interpretation of Tongues.
Tongues with interpretation is prophecy and is given for the exhortation, edification and comfort of the Church.
INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES
“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).
Paying very careful attention to the following phrases from the above scripture is essential; “diversities of gifts”, “differences of Administrations”, “diversities of Operations” and “the Manifestation of the Spirit.”
Simply stated, the Supernatural Manifestations of the Holy Ghost are varied and don’t always look the same. The nine Gifts of the Spirit are all examples of God doing Ministry in conjunction with a Believer.
If there is the Interpretation of Tongues, the Speaking of Divers Kinds of Tongues need to have occurred. The Manifestation of God moving upon the speaker or speakers would be in evidence. Interpretation of Tongues, as do the other Spiritual Gifts, flow from Heaven.
Here is a case in point. The other day I observed two believers discussing a testimony. They belonged to the same Church and had participated together in a prayer meeting. One of the men laid his hand upon the stomach of the other man and prayed in tongues as he was led by the Spirit. Normally this would be a questionable demonstration of Speaking in Tongues, as there was no accompanying interpretation. Both men are English speaking.
A few days later, at a subsequent meeting, the man receiving the prayer in the unknown language thanked the other man for prophesying into his life. The man who prayed was dumbfounded. All he knew is that he had prayed for his friend in An Unknown Tongue. He had been led by the Holy Spirit to do so.
The prayer was heard by the man being prayed for in English. He had heard some very specific words regarding his life, his calling and some family matters. The two of them rejoiced and thanked and praised the Lord for this blessing. This occasion of the manifestation of Tongues is like that of the Acts chapter two Pentecost event. There was the speaking in Tongues and the hearing in one’s own language.
Fundamentally, there was Tongues and there was the Interpretation of Tongues. In both cases it is evident that the manifestation was of the Holy Spirit.
One note regarding the example that we used; in a case where the two subjects are acquainted, there is little need to question the nature of the spirit at work as they were both Spirit Filled Believers.
In the example given, the “administrations” concept leaves room for the speaker to have outpoured the Tongues and given the interpretation, or the recipient of the outpouring could have interpreted, or a stander-by could have interpreted.
From a “diversities” standpoint the same prophetic end could have been accomplished by the Word of Wisdom, the Word of Knowledge or Prophecy. The manifestation of the Spirit would be causal in either case.
“For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; “To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another Divers Kinds of Tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will” (1 Corinthians 12:8-10).
The previous paragraph gives the complete list of the Spiritual Gifts. The Interpretation of Tongues is last on the list. Speaking in Tongues with the Interpretation of Tongues equals Prophecy. It is ministry for edification, exhortation and comfort to the Church.
When there is a demonstration of Speaking in Tongues, there should be the Interpretation of Tongues. It is expected that such Interpretation would accompany the Outpouring by the speaker. The example that we presented shows that the operation must be discerned and sometimes waited for.
The Interpretation of Tongues should be expected when Diverse Kinds of Tongues are presented. Early on in his discussion on Spiritual Gifts in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul says this: “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” John sums this up by saying: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
This admonition is given by the Holy Spirit for good reason; “If any man speaks in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God” (1 Corinthians 14:27-28).
OTHER TONGUES
Other Tongues are Utterances given by the Holy Spirit through a Spirit filled individual in a language or tongue that is not known to the speaker. The first mention of man speaking in Tongues in the bible is found in the Book of Acts Chapter 2 verse 4. It reads, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” “Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language” (verse 6).
To put this into better context, verses 1-3 are most helpful; thus “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”
The afore mention is the very first incidence of so called “speaking in tongues” found in the bible. This phenomenon didn’t just happen. Further down in Acts chapter two we find Peter explaining what had just happened. He said in verses 16-18, “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” Peter was quoting from Joel chapter two. The promise of Spiritual endowment was made good.
Other Tongues means another language; a language that is spoken by some other group of people. The Holy Spirit gives the Utterance. He in effect puts the words on the tongue of the cooperating Saint as a supernatural sign to a close-by unbeliever in the unbeliever’s language. He works through the spirit of that believer. “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not” (1 Corinthians 14:22).
Other Tongues is literally God speaking through a yielded believer. The likely (but not exclusive) setting for Utterance in Other Tongues is in the open Assembly. As Interpretation of Tongues should always accompany a display of Tongues in the open assembly, the Holy Spirit will always orchestrate the same by another using the initial speaker, a standing-by Saint or perhaps in some other way making it known to whom the message of edification and exhortation and comfort was meant.
THE MANDATE
It is recorded in all four Gospels that after the crucifixion of Christ, and His Resurrection that He appeared to the Disciples with instructions that they were to follow in continuing to carry out the work that He had started.
Chapter 28 of Matthew, verses 18-20 reads “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
Chapter 24 of Luke, verses 36-49 gives greater detail regarding the preparing of His followers for things to come; “And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.
And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of a honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them. And he said unto them, these are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”
The previous passage is lengthy but add needed context to this meeting and dialogue between a Risen Savior the disciples some of whom still had doubt.
In the book of John, chapter 20 we see that the disciples are assembled in a locked room when Jesus appeared to them apparently by walking through the wall. Interestingly, He showed them, too, the scars on His hands. “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained” (vs. 21-23). Basically, to remit is to forgive and to retain is to not forgive. It appears that He provided this group a precursor of that which was to come in the way of the Holy Ghost.
Further instructions were given to them in Acts chapter 1, verses 6-8 where they were told to wait in Jerusalem where He said “ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
In the book of Mark, chapter 16 and verses 17 and 18 it is recorded that the Lord said this to the Disciples: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
“They shall speak with new Tongues.”
THE HOLY SPIRIT, INDWELLING, FALLING UPON AND OUTPOURING
A source of much confusion in the Church is the question of whether a believer is baptized with the Holy Spirit at the time of Salvation, or not. Salvation happens when one makes the decision to repent of his sins and confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. A separate chapter regarding Salvation is included in this book.
At the time of Salvation, the Holy Spirit regenerates the previously dead spirit of the believer. The human spirit, separated from (dead to) God because of the fall in the Garden of Eden, is now quicken (made alive again) by the Holy Spirit Who has come to live within it. This is sometimes referred to as the New Birth or having been Born Again.
John 14:17 says this: “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.”
The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit comes with great power and benefit. Having the Holy Spirit living within is having a direct connection to the infinite wisdom and infinite power of God.
Theologians teach that seven attributes of the spirit are “The Spirit of God, Wisdom and Understanding, The Spirit of Counsel and Might, The Spirit of Knowledge and of The Fear of the Lord” (Isiah 11:2).
The Book of Revelation makes mention of the Seven Spirits of God in several passages. The Seven Spirits of God are all inclusive within the Holy Spirit. He is that same Holy Spirit that resides within the believer. Look again at the referenced attributes in the previous paragraph. They are an on-board resource for the Born-Again Believer.
When the Holy Spirit comes to live within a believer, He brings with Him the nine fruit of the Spirit from the book of Galatians, chapter five. They are “love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.”
The Lord tells us in John chapter 16 that the Holy Spirit of Truth will guide us to all truth. He says that the Holy Spirit will take that which is His and show it to us. The Apostle Paul writes in the eight chapter of Romans that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God.
The Holy Spirit leads and teaches the believer. The indwelling presence of The Holy Spirit sharpens the intuition or discerning abilities of the believer. Conscience or the propensity to “do the right thing” is strengthened. Ezekiel chapter 36 speaks prophetically of the New Birth and the renewing of the Spirit Within. It speaks of the “sprinkling of clean water and cleaning the believer of all filthiness and from all idols.” The Lord goes on to say: “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
The Holy Spirit within the believer makes the believer intrinsically like God. Second Peter says that the believer is a partaker of “the divine nature.” The believer is become innately like God once again; “In His Image and after His Likeness.”
The indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost is the Baptism by Jesus Christ. It is for fruit bearing. Jesus referred to it in John chapter four as “a well springing up to everlasting life.”
Given that the blessings mentioned above are are only an overview of those that are imparted to the believer, it is not difficult to understand how the companion working of the Holy Spirit is overlooked.
God expects and has made provisions for a two-fold development in His Spirit Filled Children. Firstly, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Remission of sin, The New Birth, Receipt of the Spirit of Christ and The Fruit of the Spirit are accomplished.
The work of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit happens within the believer. The believer has received the Holy Spirit but has not yet been Baptized with the Holy Spirit. The two are different.
Baptism with the Holy Spirit began at Pentecost and fulfilled this Promise by Jesus to the Disciples: “But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you” (Acts 1:8).
Acts 2:4 is the first New Testament example of the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit when the 120 believers that were assembled in that upper room spoke with Other Tongues as the Spirit gave the UTTERANCE.
Baptism with The Holy Spirit begins with a decision. The decision to receive the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and to submit to Him should ideally accompany Salvation.
Speaking in Tongues requires that the believer be yielded to the Holy Spirit. It is the gateway for the further Outpouring of the Spirit and for the manifestations (exhibitions or expressions) of the gifts of the Spirit and UTTERANCES for ministry.
In preparation for The Revival and The Rapture of the Bride, every local assembly of the Church must unify and come into compliance with the instructions of the Lord i.e., “The Great Commission.”
After Jesus Christ had risen from the Grave and before ascending back to Heaven, He gave these final instructions to the disciples: “And he said unto them, go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:15-18).
These instructions will be performed by an anointed outpouring of UTTERANCE.
Preface
It has been 2000 years since Jesus Christ ascended to His Throne at The Right Hand of the Father. His purpose for becoming incarnate in the world was to make right wrongs committed by the devil. “He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
The devil deceived man, causing him to disobey God resulting in the relinquishing of man’s dominion of the earth. Man died (spiritually) and was separated from God.
God, having given said dominion to man now was at a disadvantage (of sorts) in terms of ruling the earth as the devil had become “the prince of this world” (John 12:31). God had to conduct all His business in the earth through man who was now severely handicapped because of the fall.
For about 4000 years God accomplished this through men such as Enoch, Noah, Abraham (to whom He made The Promise) and Moses (The Law). Too, the old testament prophets were vital mouthpieces of God.
Jesus Christ, during the time that He walked the earth was limited in what He could accomplish. He was restricted (primarily not wholly) to working within the geological location where He was present. He taught and displayed an example of how those that would follow Him should conduct themselves.
Before His ascension, The Lord promised His followers that He would send another Comforter. He stated that that Comforter would “abide with them forever” (John 14:16). He further stated that the Comforter would “dwell with them and be in them” (John 14:17). He was speaking of the Holy Spirit.
This indwelling presence in the Saints by the Holy Spirit is a step toward returning believers to a spiritual state much like that of the first man (Adam).
The stage is set now for believers to become fully immersed in the Spirit of God carrying out his instructions from Mark 16:15 i.e. “And he said unto them, go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
“These signs” when demonstrated by the Church at lodge will signal Revival. Revival will happen when the Saints of the Church have become spiritually mature. Spiritually maturity begins when believers have received the Holy Spirit and are baptized in the same. They are become co-laborers with the Spirit of Jesus Christ and conduits of the Anointing of Heaven in this world.
UTTERANCE (Speaking in Tongues) is an essential step toward spiritual maturity.
THE INNER MAN
THE INNER MAN
The inner man is the spirit of man. It is said that “man is a spirit, he has a soul and he lives in a body”. “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;” (Ephesians 3: 16).
Man is a tripartite creation. Man is spirit, soul and body. “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The two above scriptural passages show that spirit and soul are distinct one from the other.
The foundation of our relationship with God, the spirit is called the element (member) of God-consciousness. God dwells in the spirit, self dwells in the soul and senses dwell in the body.
Hierarchically, “the order which God presents to us is unmistakable: “your spirit and soul and body” (1 Thess. 5.23). It is not “soul and spirit and body,” nor is it “body and soul and spirit. The spirit is the pre-eminent part (member), hence it is mentioned first; the body is the lowest and therefore is last mentioned; the soul stands between, so is mentioned between” (Watchman Nee).
Spirit, Soul and Body are presented in reverse order here since our topic is Speaking in Tongues (UTTERANCE) which is a function of the spirit and the Holy Spirit (so we deal with the spirit last).
1. The body is sometimes referred to as the Outermost Man. It is the sheath of the soul. It is the corporeal aspect of man. It is through the corporal body that man contacts the material world. It is that part of us that gives us world-consciousness.
2. The soul; “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7).
• The soul of man consists of his mind, will, intellect, emotions and self-consciousness. The soul is sometimes referred to as the outer man. It is the sheath of the spirit. It is the organ of our personality.
• The soul is the meeting-point of spirit and body. The soul makes it possible for the spirit and the body to communicate and to cooperate.
• Man’s prime factor is the soul.
• We are told to present our bodies unto God and to renew our minds. This renewal of the mind comes through our spirit from the Holy Spirit as we read the Bible, hear the Word and Pray. Instructions, guidelines, Light and Revelation are deposited into our spirits whereby we are transformed as our minds (souls) are renewed by the perfect will of God. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (12:1-2).
3. Spirit, Soul and Body; “Of these three elements the spirit is the noblest for it joins with God. The body is the lowest for it contacts with matter. The soul lying between them joins the two together and also takes their character to be its own. The soul makes it possible for the spirit and the body to communicate and to cooperate. The work of the soul is to keep these two in their proper order so that they may not lose their right relationship—namely, that the lowest, the body, may be subjected to the spirit, and that the highest, the spirit, may govern the body through the soul. Man’s prime factor is definitely the soul. It looks to the spirit to give what the latter has received from the Holy Spirit in order that the soul, after it has been perfected, may transmit what it has obtained to the body; then the body too may share in the perfection of the Holy Spirit and so become a spiritual body” (The Spiritual Man).
The three primary attributes of the human spirit are:
• Conscience; the conscience is the discerning organ which distinguishes right and wrong. “And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst” (John 8:9).
• Intuition; is the sensing organ of the human spirit. The intuition of the spirit differs from that of the soul and body. Believers must heed the voice of conscience and the teaching of intuition. “And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives” (Acts 27:10).
• Communion; worshiping God. “The organs of the soul are incompetent to worship God. God is not apprehended by our thoughts, feelings or intentions, for He can only be known directly in our spirits. Our worship of God and God’s communications with us are directly in the spirit. They take place in “the inner man,” not in the soul or outward man.”
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen” (11 Corinthians 13:14).
The human spirit is said to be regenerated when one receives salvation. The Holy Spirit resides within this regenerated human spirit. “That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;” (Ephesians 3: 16).
The spirit is subject to many conditions i.e. fervent, contrite, joyful, poor, afflicted, broken, quiet and broken are a few examples. Beyond being aware that we have a spirit, being conscious of our spirit and its condition is essential for spiritual growth.
The inner man or so called (human spirit) is often referred to in the secular world as the subconscious mind as it is not understood there. The supposed functions of the same are those of the inner man.
The spirit of man is akin to the Spirit of God in that he does not speak of himself but that which he hears, he speaks (John 16:13). He conducts that which he (the inner man) discerns to be his instructions from the soul. It is extremely important that what the spirit receives from the mind (soul) is flavored by the Word of God as indicated in Romans chapter 12 verse 2 (renewing the mind). Hearing and reading the word (Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God; Romans 10:17) is also pertinent to edifying the human spirit.
UTTERANCE flows through our spirit.
Speaking In Tongues
Speaking in Tongues, also referred to as praying in tongues and talking in tongues, is likely the most misunderstood and controversial subject in Christendom today.
The concept was likely design by God at the time of (well there really was no time as They were outside the time dimension; before the creation of time) what is commonly referred to in the Bible as “since the/from the foundation of the world”.
What does that mean? At some point before the creation of Adam and Eve, The Godhead re-focused Their attention on the earth that was now quite literally “a giant ball of water” suspended in the darkness of space. It was reasonably in a fallen state likely due to bad stewardship by its’ most recent inhabitants either partially or wholly due to chaos brought about by the devil.
They (God) had apparently determined that it was time (there is that word again, so let’s just go with it so we can get back on subject) to repurpose the earth.
A careful study of the book of Genesis reveals that “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”. So that is period and full-stop.
Further, studying out the word “was” in the Hebrew we see that what the writer is saying is that “the earth became without form and void” in the second verse inserted here: “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
Do you see that? The deep and the face of the waters. Like I said, a ball of water.
Okay, time to go to work. And God Uttered “let there be light” (And God said, Let there be light: and there was light).
The bible doesn’t say that God “thought” let there be light. He Uttered those words. Nothing happens in the Kingdom of God unless it is first Uttered by Him.
Be mindful also that it was the Spirit of God that moved upon the face of the waters. We will surely see that the Utterances of God moves with His Spirit.
For you bible scholars, it might also be that Utterance is the seventh attribute of the Holy Spirit.
Grubbing
Now here is a term that I didn’t find in my recent cursory examination of the Urban Dictionary. Not to worry though because the term was used in my “old school” days to refer to someone who was having a meal. He or she would be said to be “grubbing”.
So what does that have to do with the price of tea in China? Well as you know, I have recently published an eBook entitled UTTERANCE in which my intent is to do my part to help bring about what I feel will be the last worldwide revival of the Saints of God so as to be able to present to the Bridegroom His Bride Who will be without spot or wrinkle.
Grubbing; for our purposes here today is what came to my mind as I went back again to look at the so called “Great Commission” in Mark Chapter 16: 15-18. What I found was that in verse 14 it says that when He appeared to the eleven (remaining disciples) He found them “as they sat at meat” (eating) ” and upbraided (severely scolded) them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.”
The Greatest Event to happen in the Earth since the Creation had happened and they (the eleven) who had just spent three and a half years with the Principal discounted word that He was Resurrected (as He told them He would be) and were sitting around grubbing.
It was at this meeting, after the Resurrection and just prior to His ascension that the Lord gave what we have come to know as the Great Commission.
So, what should we do. Should we grub or should we carry out (to the letter) our instructions from the Lord? I don’t think that we have another 2000 years to decide.
AN INEXHAUSTIBLE SPRING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
48.1 And in that place I saw an inexhaustible spring of righteousness and many springs of wisdom surrounded it, and all the thirsty drank from them and were filled with wisdom, and their dwelling was with the Righteous and the Holy and the Chosen.
48.2 And at that hour that Son of Man was named, in the presence of the Lord of Spirits, and his name brought to the Head of Days.
48.3 Even before the Sun and the constellations were created, before the Stars of Heaven were made, his name was named in front of the Lord of Spirits.
48.4 He will be a staff to the righteous and the Holy, so that they may lean on him and not fall, and he will be the Light of the Nations, and he will be the hope of those who grieve in their hearts.
48.5 All those who dwell upon the dry ground will fall down and worship in front of him, and they will bless, and praise, and celebrate with psalms, the name of the Lord of Spirits.
The Book of Enoch.
It goes on. Who is he talking about?
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD AND GOD!
The New Phone Book is Here
Well it is not exactly the new phone book but is instead something far better.
Oh and yes about the new phone book!
UTTERANCE, Protocol for Speaking in Tongues
My new book is ready for you.
You may go check it out and purchase it here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/695523
IS THIS THE MAN
Knock-Knock, ACQUIRED SAVANT SYNDROME
So, “Acquired Savant Syndrome”.
You have heard of that right? Example: person gets clunked on the head. Has a headache for a couple of days and suddenly determines that he now has a new talent. She can play the piano like Wagner or is now a math genius or suddenly understands and speak a new language that they never learned or spoke before.
Calendar calculating is a fun one. Give them the date (out of the past) and they tell you what day of the week it was. This could be fun; try giving them a date of the future and see what happens.
Child prodigies with extreme musical talent or other talent. There is no scientific (or otherwise) explanation for this phenomenon. It is presented to us, and we are to just go with it in the anticipation that one day someone will provide a logical explanation.
The answer here is more sinister than you would imagine. You see we reside in a world where there are unseen realms and dimensions in which unseen persons reside. The unseen persons from those other realms and dimensions may enter our world at will and yes may even enter earthly bodies and even take control either partially or fully depending upon the vulnerability present at the time.
Disembodied spirits are present on the earth and carry with them all sorts of agendas.
Walking Throughout The Whole Earth
This morning I lifted my eyes and my voice toward God’s Throne as I usually do.
I started out praying the Lord’s Prayer. I usually yield my vessel after this to God so that He might say a word or two into the earth realm for Kingdom purposes. God had plenty to say today.
As God spoke and did His work, he took me along with him in the Spirit as He walked throughout the earth.
As I spoke in tongues as the Spirit gave the Utterance, we went from place to place. In many countries, I heard God speak and I saw Salvation happen where those previously beguiled were now enlighten. Where storms were present, I saw the power of His word calming the storms and comforting the people.
He was not wasting His time but was moving fast from situation to situation and speaking Rhema words that healed little children, brought deliverance to the tormented, stayed wars and worked many other works as was His good pleasure.
It is important to remember from this is that without my help these works could have gone undone.
I say these works could have gone undone because had I not been available for God to work through, He could have used YOU. Yes, He could have used you if you are Spirit filled and not adverse to co-laboring with the All Mighty (Most High) in the completion of what is certainly His end time work.
Let us Praise Him forevermore.
Praying In Tongues
Causing rivers of living water to flow
John 7:38-39 reads “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.)”
Further study (John 4:14) reveals this: “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Be mindful that the reference to water (living water) is symbolic of the Holy Spirit.
Studying on we see in Job 32:19 “Behold, my belly is as wine which hath no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles” and Proverbs 10:11 “The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked”.
Acts 1:8 reads “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
The study of the word power reveals “δύναμις dýnamis, doo’-nam-is; from G1410; force (literally or figuratively); specially, miraculous power (usually by implication, a miracle itself):—ability, abundance, meaning, might(-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle(-s), power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work.”
Being filled with the word of God in general i.e. knowing a lot of scripture as to have it to draw from in the time of need is in itself a mighty powerful thing but is an explosive proposition when you are filled to a point of bursting like unvented wine in new bottles as is sometimes the feeling when the Utterances of the Holy Spirit find you as a yielded conduit for miraculous “dynamis” power to be spoken into the earth.
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: (acts 2:17).
The time is now.
Ophiuchus
Ophiuchus is a large constellation. It is sometimes referred to as the 13th zodiac sign. Serpentarius is another name for this sign. This sign (constellation) has long been known but more recently brought to light.
Including this sign into the so called zodiac (mazzaroth) as we know it throws all the other so called birth sign dates out of kilter. This means that you may be a sign other than what you thought. This does not matter in the grand scheme of things.
I digress here, though, because the bible strictly forbids fooling around with astrology.
Plasms 19 tells us that the zodiac depicts the gospel in the sky. This story was known by all populations throughout all the world in the former days. The devil has corrupted the story and blinded the folks with the ridiculous so called astrology because he does not want the truth to be revealed. Too bad devil. Revelation is at hand.
It is clear to me that Ophiuchus represents The Lord Jesus Christ and His victory over the serpent (Satan) as he lays hands on him to lock him up once and for all.
Praying In Tongues And The Whole Armor Of God
The sixth chapter of Ephesians instructs us in this fashion “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”.
We are admonished to girt our loins about with truth, have on the breastplate of righteousness and our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, we are told to take on the shield of faith with which we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicket. We are to take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God: praying always and with all supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
With regard to this most powerful passage of scripture, have we not been taught that the “sword of the Spirit” reference was to the Bible? The word “word” in the bible is thought to have one of two meanings. One use is logos which fundamentally means written and the other is Rhema which connotes life or anointing upon the work. There is some controversy and further depth regarding this matter which I shall deflect to another time.
What I wish to demonstrate here is that the sword of the spirit/word of God that is referred to here is actually the process of praying in tongues (praying in the Spirit). This scripture also says that all supplication (fervent/aggressive prayer) and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
Praying in Tongues (praying in the Spirit) is an essential element of waging spiritual warfare. It is our most effective weapon.
More about speaking/praying in Tongues.
Where Is America In End Time Prophecy
How Will I Know And Why Is It Funny?
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.
10 Things That You May Not Know About God
The information that I am sharing here is not fiction but I will caution you that Jesus Christ is Lord and God and that all matters in life should be reconciled to Him and to the bible (KJV)). What I am sharing here is from The Book of the Secrets of Enoch (sometimes referred to as 2nd Enoch) and from the Holy Bible.
1.He made the first full disclosure about Himself to a man, the man Enoch from the Book of Genesis, yes the one that walked with Him and was not for He took him. Here is what He said to him in 2 Enoch (The Book) “Hear, Enoch and take in these my words, for not to My Angels have I told my secret, and I have not told them their rise, nor my endless realm, nor have they understood my creating, which I tell you to-day.”
2. This is how things were for Him before He began creating; He told Enoch “For before all things were visible I alone used to go about in the invisible things, like the sun from east to west, and from west to east”. He talks further about how He began to find peace in creating the visible from the invisible.
3. He resides (His Throne is) in the tenth (highest) heaven. We are commonly taught that God resides in the third heaven, but the bible does not say that. The bible refers to the third heaven, but never says that it is the highest heaven or that God resides there. “On the tenth heaven is God, in the Hebrew tongue he is called Aravat.”
4. His Throne is surrounded by an innumerable heavenly host. More from Enoch; “And I cannot tell the quantity of his many instructions, and various voices, the Lord’s throne is very great and not made with hands, nor the quantity of those standing round him, troops of Cherubim and seraphim, nor their incessant singing, nor his immutable beauty, and who shall tell of the ineffable greatness of his glory.”
5. He sometime seeks counsel from others; “And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.” Here is what he said to Isaiah; “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”
6.He surrounds Himself with continuous music. Revisit number 4 above.
7. He is enclosed within a sweet fragrance. Enoch says of Him; “He anointed me, and dressed me, and the appearance of that ointment is more than the great light, and his ointment is like sweet dew, and its smell mild, shining like the sun’s ray, and I looked at myself, and I was like transfigured as one of his glorious ones.
8. He looks a little like this: so Enoch says that “His face looks like iron made to glow in fire, and brought out, emitting sparks, and it burns”. And then he said that “His face is ineffable, marvelous and very awful, and very, very terrible”, which basically means very awesome, yet indescribable. He then goes on to say “And who am I to tell of the Lord’s unspeakable being, and of his very wonderful face.” That should give you some idea.
9 .He sounds like this says John in The Revelation “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,”. Elijah heard “a still small voice”.
10. He has written the script for our lives; “And Pravuil told me: All the things that I have told you, we have written. Sit and write all the souls of mankind, however many of them are born, and the places prepared for them to eternity; for all souls are prepared to eternity, before the formation of the world.”
11. He laughs:
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,
Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.(Psalms 2:1-4)
5 Must Know Things About Tongues In The church
While I haven’t been to a great number of Churches, I have visited a reasonably diverse cross section of them. In the great majority of churches the concept of Tongues (praying/speaking in Tongues) is not understood and those speaking in Tongues in the assembly are looked upon as odd. In some churches the Preachers will utter a few syllables here and there that are meant to be conveyed as Tongues. This is mostly done without the scripturally required interpretation. Likewise praise leaders in some churches do the same thing in an attempt to appear “holy or spiritual”. I wish they wouldn’t do that.
MOST churches are void of Tongues which limits the work of the Holy Spirit. There is not likely to be Power in a church where the work of the Holy Spirit is restricted (where the members aren’t filled with the Holy Spirit) and Tongues will not be present if the Holy Spirit is only present as abiding (present with the believers but not living in them). Essentially God’s hands are tied because He needs bodies to work through to speak and do works in the earth.
Speaking in Tongues is actually a sign (required attribute) of the BELIEVER. “And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;”
Why Tongues
Before Christ came to earth, God did work in the earth by men generally one at a time, such as with Enoch, Noah, Moses, Abraham and so on. We know that the bible talks about how the Spirit of God came upon men for supernatural work.
2000 years ago God came to the earth Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus, being a man and legal in the earth (remember dominion had been given to man at creation who had squandered it over to the devil) and with access to the power of Heaven was able to go about the earth working miracles.
He taught about the Kingdom of Heaven/God, paid the sacrificial ransom for our redemption with his own life and went back to Heaven making available to us His Holy Spirit. He/The Father lives (makes their abode) in/with us and works severally through us “as He will” when/where we are yielded; that is to say, “filled with the Spirit”. All of the resources of Heaven are made available on earth through us by His Spirit.
There are quite a few more items that should be addressed concerning Tongues in the Church. I will present the more of them in a subsequent work and place a link to them at the end of this post. All Bible quotes are from the KJV and are enclosed in quotations, so do some legwork. Here are five:
1 They Came Together And They Belong Together (Acts 2: 1-4)
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
The Holy Spirit and Tongues are like wet and water. You cannot have one without the other.
2 Gibberish
Sounds essentially like gibberish. “Other Tongues” which is when the person that the Holy Spirit is speaking through is speaking a language that is known to someone present other than the speaker is the exception. “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not:” “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.”
3 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Praying in the Spirit is likely the very best way to build faith. If faith cometh by hearing the word of God, what better source than Gods own words as He speaks through you? Don’t worry about the interpretation because your own spirit understands the language of God, The Holy Spirit. “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.”
4 Speaking in Tongues is the Gateway to Operating in the Gifts of the Spirit
We have already seen how that when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost He was accompanied by Tongues and that He gave the utterance. When a Christian is filled with the Spirit today, it is said that the infilling is evidenced by their speaking in Tongues.
Dynamically speaking when one speaks in Tongues it is his spirit that now is in communion with the Holy Spirit that speaks through the body (mouth). It has been scientifically demonstrated that this process bypasses the brain. The individual doesn’t know what was said.
God is speaking words into the earth realm in order to effect who knows what. But we know that it is all good for the Kingdom.
My point, though, is that where God can find a yielded individual who allows his use for Tongues, the same individual can also use by God to conduct His “gifts of the Spirit” business.
The term “gift of the Spirit” is a misnomer of sorts as the action is conducted by God (the Holy Spirit) through the believer on God’s terms (as the Spirit will) and timetable.
5 The Church Assembly example from the bible (1 Corinthians 14)
Probably the best and simplest way to properly administer Tongues in the Church is to require that an interpretation accompany every utterance of Tongues in the open church assembly. “But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.” Your prayer closet is a good place for this.
“If any man speaks in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.” There should be no exception to this rule. As a note, interpretation of Tongues equals prophecy.
The Pastor or Prophet in the Church should judge the previously stated. “Let the Prophets speak two or three and let the others judge.”
His Name Is Not Jesus
Ok, I actually said that to lure you in.
Can it be that the reason the Church isn’t demonstrating the level of power and authority in the earth that the Lord indicated that we would is because we don’t follow instructions?
Jesus said “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
So what exactly is his name?
In the book of Acts and in the Epistles, the Saints Prayed and Prophesied in the name of JESUS CHRIST wherever a miracle or answered prayer occurred. Go look.
Using just the name Jesus may be akin to receiving a check where the maker only signed his/her first name.
This Black Man On The Street invites your feedback.
Alzheimer’s, What Really Causes It
Several years ago my mother passed away of Alzheimer’s after suffering with the disease for more than ten years. The doctors have many theories as to what causes Alzheimer’s but aside from recognizing the general characteristics or symptoms of the disease, with the most common being memory loss. They know little about what the cause is and there is no medical cure at this time.
I am going to share a dream with you that my brother told me shortly after Mom died, after which I will present a little about what we presently know about Alzheimer’s which apparently isn’t much, as it is winning and we are not.
I will talk a little bit about how we as humans work and what the three main systems are that make up who we are. The most revealing aspect of this article will be included there. Three new characters will also appear prior to the close of this article and I will close it with the interpretation of the dream.
The dream
My brother shared with me shortly after our Mother’s death that he dreamt that he had gone looking for her out of concern because he had not seen her for a while. He says that while he waited for her outside a gate he thought that he saw her in the distance but there was a herd of elk in front of her intentionally obstructing his view of her as she attempted to get out. He says that finally she was able to get around the elk and through the gate.
Once exiting the gate, he says that she turned to her right and entered onto and climbed some stairs. Now I will come back to this dream and the likely meaning of it after I develop my theory about what causes Alzheimer’s.
Where did the name, Alzheimer’s come from
Sometimes called Alzheimer disease or Alzheimer’s the origin of the term dates back to 1906 when Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German physician presented a case history before a medical meeting about a 51-year-old female who suffered from a rare brain disorder.
What is Alzheimer’s
Wikipedia says that Alzheimer’s accounts for 60% to 70% of cases of dementia. It is a Neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gets worse over time. The disease and its cause is poorly understood with professionals hypothesizing such factors as genetics, head injuries, depression, hypertension, plaques and tangles in the brain and several other possible causes that run the gambit. The diagnosis processes include such things as medical imaging and blood tests.
A most interesting observation of note
One extremely interesting observation is that individuals who maintain active lifestyles and engage in activities that demands exercising of the brain have a lower incidence of Alzheimer. It appears that this is across the board and points to a need for strenuous medical mandates for maturing people to become active participants in brain challenging activities such as playing board games, playing musical instruments and learning a second language. Diet and regular social interactions are also mentioned in the Wikipedia piece.
Alzheimer’s Process
The process or stages of Alzheimer’s include pre-dementia, early, moderate and advanced memory loss. The patient goes from occasionally forgetting things to progressing to becoming completely dependent on caregivers and being unable to perform any task. They become bedridden and unable to feed themselves. They lose bodily functions and eventually die.
The three of us and a look at how we work
The bible tells us that we (humans) are tripartite individuals. You will find this in the book of Genesis chapter two, initially where we are told that “the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul”. You see, the dust is what we now see as our bodies, the breath given is what we (many of us) now know to be our human spirits and the joining of the two caused us to become individuals commonly referred to as souls or perhaps, persons. So, while we see ourselves as individuals, the truth is that we are actually three-in-one creations (sounds familiar, huh); spirit, soul and body. The body, while generally directed by the mind (the mind is an attribute of the soul) seems to have a mind all its own and one that is bent on its own destruction; see Romans 8:13. Our soul is that place in us where volition (our will) resides. Other attributes of the soul are thought to be the mind, the intellect and others.
Contemporary secular society (and dictionary.com) portrays the soul and the spirit as being pretty much the same and refers to it (them) as the immaterial part of man. It gives several options as definitions. I found definitions for spirit and soul in more than one dictionary to be disturbing in terms of its content.
I reiterate, as per the bible, we are tripartite beings. We are spirit, we have a soul and we live in a body. Here is another scripture; 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The concept of the spirit of man is disturbingly neglected in the secular world and probably to a great extent even in the church. Contemporary professionals (psychologist and psychiatrist etc.) commonly referred to the spirit of man as The Subconscious Mind.
More about The Subconscious Mind – so who is this guy and how does he work
The term The Subconscious Mind was coined about 150 years ago when the psychologists, psychiatrists and the like needed a name for this system that obviously transcended or undergirded the easily contacted conscious mind. Napoleon Hill in his book, THINK AND GROW RICH says this about The Subconscious Mind; “The subconscious mind consists of a field of consciousness, in which every impulse of thought that reaches the objective mind through any of the five senses, is classified and recorded, and from which thoughts may be recalled or withdrawn as a letter may be taken from a filing cabinet”.
He goes on to say that “plans, thoughts or purposes may be voluntarily planted into the subconscious mind and that the subconscious mind works day and night and sometimes draws upon the forces of Infinite Intelligence for power with which it transmutes one’s desires into their physical equivalent and always through the most practical media available”.
As I previously mentioned, the subconscious mind as we have been taught is a name that the mind and behavior professionals gave a human system that they didn’t fully understand but whose presence is obvious. They have determined that this system is a vast reservoir of all memory and that it stores everything that one is exposed to from all stimuli and by all the senses. It is like a great motor working day and night, sorting information. It is constantly building and creating based on the information that it has received causing ones’ thoughts, verbal commands and imagination to become manifest. It essentially evaluates all the information that it receives, whether it be by default because we didn’t bother to check (evaluate) the information at the gate (the mind) or by auto-suggestion which is basically self-programing.
Brian Tracey says this about The Subconscious Mind: “Your conscious mind commands and your subconscious mind obeys. Your subconscious mind is an unquestioning servant that works day and night to make your behavior fits a pattern consistent with your emotionalized thoughts, hopes, and desires. Your subconscious mind grows either flowers or weeds in the garden of your life, whichever you plant by the mental equivalents you create. Your subconscious mind has what is called a homeostatic impulse. It keeps your body temperature at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, just as it keeps you breathing regularly and keeps your heart beating at a certain rate. Through your autonomic nervous system, it maintains a balance among the hundreds of chemicals in your billions of cells so that your entire physical machine functions in complete harmony most of the time. Your subconscious mind also practices homeostasis in your mental realm, by keeping you thinking and acting in a manner consistent with what you have done and said in the past. All your habits of thinking and acting are stored in your subconscious mind. It has memorized all your comfort zones and it works to keep you in them.”
Watch Nee (who is in my opinion is the greatest known authority on the spirit of man aside from the bible itself) says this in his book The Spiritual Man; “Spirit, Soul and Body The ordinary concept of the constitution of human beings is dualistic-soul and body. According to this concept soul is the invisible inner spiritual part, while body is the visible outer corporal part. Though there is some truth to this, it is nevertheless inaccurate. Such an opinion comes from fallen man, not from God; apart from God’s revelation, no concept is dependable. That the body is man’s outward sheath is undoubtedly correct, but the Bible never confuses spirit and soul as though they are the same. Not only are they different in terms; their very natures differ from each other. The Word of God does not divide man into the two parts of soul and body. It treats man, rather, as tripartite-spirit, soul and body. 1 Thessalonians 5.23 reads: “May the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This verse precisely shows that the whole man is divided into three parts. The Apostle Paul refers here to the complete sanctification of believers, “sanctify you wholly.” According to the Apostle, how is a person wholly sanctified? By his spirit and soul and body being kept. From this we can easily understand that the whole person comprises these three parts. This verse also makes a distinction between spirit and soul; otherwise, Paul would have said simply “your soul.” Since God has distinguished the human spirit from the human soul, we conclude that man is composed of not two, but three, parts: spirit, soul and body.”
Finally Regarding The So Called Subconscious Mind
Clearly what has been referred to as The Subconscious Mind is in actuality The Spirit of Man. Watchman Nee says many, many words about the spirit. I do feel lead to point out that he speaks about three important attributes of the spirit, namely intuition (spiritual sensing), conscience (preforms the task of correcting and reprimanding us) and communion. Communion speaks to the human spirit and the Spirit of God interacting with each other.
The Promised Three New Characters Revealed
As I close this article, I suppose that what I wish to impress upon those reading it is the importance of understanding that there are three components to our make up as humans and that we should recognize who they are and how we must manage them. The most important part (person) of our makeup is our human spirit and do understand that that is who he is and not the so called subconscious mind. He is that part of us who communes/interacts with God (The Holy Spirit actually our second character). The final character that is important to note in the presentation is the devil. The bible tell us that he comes but to steal, kill and destroy. I believe that he has targeted many folks to destroy and kill via Alzheimer disease.
What Causes Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s is a disconnect between the conscious mind (brain) and the spirit of man (the seat of his memory). This disconnect happens when the interaction between the mind and the spirit breaks down. Such a breakdown is likely to occur where one has limited day to day thought provoking activity. The spirit relies on the mind for ongoing assignments and absent these assignments the communication connection is damaged. The resulting passiveness of the mind gives the devil an excellent opportunity to further corrupt the relationship between the soul and spirit. Watchman Nee says this; “The mind suffers the onslaughts of the powers of darkness more than any other organ of the whole man. We should realize that satanic spirits are directing special attention to our minds and are attacking them unrelentingly-as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning”.
What’s The Answer
Exercising of the mind, just as one exercise his body appears to be one common sense action. Feeding to the mind a diet of positive and active mental food is yet another strategy. The bible tells us to think on things that are just, pure, lovely, honest, true, of good report, things of virtue and things that are praise worthy. Further, the bible tells us to judge every thought; this is an extremely important point. Daily biblically based recitals, I think, is an excellent idea. There is one bible verse that says that God has given us a sound mind.
Consciously resisting negative thoughts is recommended. Think of your mind as having an open door and that someone should be there at all times to only let in that which is good. All else should be turned away.
About that dream
The elk in the dream represents the devil and the obstructed state of mom represents the disconnect between where she was (behind the gate) and where she wanted to be (out of the gate). The eventual exiting out of the gate and up the stairs represents her passing away and ascending into heaven. Death is currently the only cure for Alzheimer’s.
Copyright © 2015 THOMAS HART CLEMENTS
THOMAS HART CLEMENTS
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3 Pointers As To Why Myles Munroe Died
It is my hope that some of you reading this are saying Myles WHO? Okay, I am glad you asked. Myles Munroe is an international renowned pastor and motivational speaker. I say this because a very large body of his work goes right on blessing and helping people 24/7 even though he is currently with the Lord. I in fact believe that God decided that bringing him on into Heaven would be a better use of His (God’s) resource that is Myles Munroe.
I can see it all now; Dr. Myles Munroe and eight other souls are on final approach to Grand Bahama International airport when in a heavenly kind of “sudden way“ angels appeared requesting that they all adorned the backpacks that they were being handed. As soon as they had attired themselves with the backpacks, they found themselves winged and moving swiftly toward heaven and the Father and the Lord. Upon glancing back to see what had happened to the perfectly good airplane that they were just riding in they saw that it had flown into a crane and that their natural bodies were still present in the earth to be retrieved at such a time as designated by the Lord. I suspect that the likelihood is that while they have loved ones left behind, they are adventuring in heaven checking out their mansions, visiting with loved ones who have gone on before them and saying hello to the likes of the Lord, Abraham, Joseph, David, Job, Paul, Peter, John and just all the other biblical greats.
My guess is that many of you wondered like I did, “what just happened”? Why would, how could God let such a man as Dr. Munroe die at such a young age? Why did he not protect him? Well like I said bringing attention to his earthly departure sheds light on his message, ministry and mission on the earth.
I believe that God through the life and death of Dr. Munroe intends to accomplish the following:
- To bring to the attention of the church what Jesus taught and instructed us to teach, namely, The Kingdom of God (interestingly The Kingdom of Heaven in the book of Matthew); “And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick” Luke 9:2. Somehow the church has been off point in teaching this message for 2000 years.
- To encourage folks like you and me to dig deeper into the real message and mandate of the Lord to understand and exercise the authority in the earth that the Lord has taken from the devil and delegated to us that which was stolen from Adam and Eve. We may now proceed to subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. “Thy kingdom com, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. I think that we should think of ourselves as existing on earth in a fashion that is parallel to the current situation that is in Heaven and as kings, priest and prophets binding and loosing to that end.
- And, thirdly, interestingly after studying out the kingdom message and pursuing an answer as to why we the church are not currently routinely displaying the mandate of the Lord where He says “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” I have discovered that we are likely praying all wrong. Jesus said If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. What I have discovered, though, is that the church typically closes prayers in the name of “Jesus” that is to say “Savior” but the New Testament example in the Book of Acts and in the Epistles for closing every prayer therein and where miracles were worked was to invoke his full name encompassing all the power of His Name, Christ, the Anointed one and Jesus the Savior; Jesus His authority on earth and Christ all the resources of Heaven. No prayers are offered or miracles done in just the name of Jesus. Think about this; if I give you a check and just sign my first name, isn’t there a good likelihood that you won’t be able to cash it? I think the same principle applies to just using part of Jesus’ name. Again now check out how it’s done in the Book of Acts and in the Epistles. I recommend the KJV when researching.
So understand that Jesus Christ is Lord and God and there in none other beside Him.
10 Things That You May Not Know About Darkness
1. Darkness is akin to a default situation. Where there is no light, there is only darkness. And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep; Genesis 1:2.
2. Darkness is to evil as Light is to good; Ephesians 5:8. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
3. Darkness has a place where it lives/an abode. “God ask Job if he knew where to find it. Job 38:19 Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,”
4. Darkness is mentioned 142 times in the bible.
5. There is absolutely no darkness in God; This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all; 1 John 1:5.
6. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come; Joel 2:31.
7. Darkness is a state of sin. 1 John 2:11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
8. Darkness is symbolic of the inability to see. Romans 2:19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
9. Darkness can be caused by man under the authority of God. Exodus 10:22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:
10. Darkness can be thick to the extent that it may be felt. Exodus 10:21And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.
Oh yea, and as a bonus, do know that the removal/dispersing of darkness by light is an hostile act. When light comes in and it does come in as a “mighty rushing wind”, darkness gets right out of the way.
Multi-Level Benefits
Did you know that witnessing to someone and leading them to Jesus Christ is akin to multi-level marketing. How so, you say? Well let’s say you lead someone to Christ and they lead ten other folks, well you will share in that harvest. Here is the one that I like; let’s say you lead someone to Jesus Christ and they become a great Preacher and end up having a million folks answer the altar call, well you can get a piece of that action too (Dan 12:3).
Thoughts-Imagination-Materialization
Supercharging Napoleon Hills’ Think And Grow Rich.
Napoleon Hills’ “think and grow rich” is one of the bestselling self-improvement books of all time and a copy of it should probably be on most everyone’s bookshelf in that he painstakingly presents the essential principles that are necessary for one to adapt in order to accomplish certain goals in life. The example goal that he used is the accumulating of one million dollars. So as not to get ahead of myself though, let me just drop this on you right now; Mr. Hill held back some extremely important details that if you having read his book already, will now embrace will effectively supercharge your effectiveness in accomplish financial gain and more importantly an overall quality of life. If you haven’t already read “Think”, go ahead and order your copy now. I recommend the hard copy.
I titled this post such as I did because “Think And Grow Rich” takes the principle right out of the bible. I can’t be certain about this (I am mostly certain though) but I believe that Mr. Hill purposely held back from referencing the substantial extent of biblical principles incorporated in the book so as to appeal to a wider spectrum of readers. While the principles are biblical they work for the unsaved as well as they do for the saved. My guess is that Mr. Hill knew this also and was familiar with this bible verse; “for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” Mat 5:45.
2ND Corinthians 10: 4-6 reads like this:
“for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but are mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ: and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”
In this scripture, Paul is basically illustrating how to un-do so called strong holds (generally thought of in Christendom as demonic oppression or worse perhaps); so he lays out the principle in reverse but it is clear that thoughts are the seed to the inevitable stronghold (manifestation) with imagination being right smack in the middle. I actually see Napoleons’ so call Six Sense in there too along with some familiar admonitions that Mr. Hill had for us regarding our thoughts.
The Subconscious Mind
The concept of The Subconscious Mind is largely if not totally a myth. The term was coined about 160 years ago or so and is thought to be a layer or layers of consciousness underneath the layers of critical-thought functions of the so-called conscious mind.
Now of course if the concept is a myth, then everything that you have been taught about it needs to be re-thought. While there is, nor can be any documented scientific support for this concept, there is a lot of valid documented historical information related to this subject; though putting a different spin on it and taking it in an entirely different direction.
I am going to present here an initial outline of what (who) is really at work here and if you follow along, you will be eternally empowered and rewarded.
Folks such as Napoleon Hill “Think and Grow Rich” Psychologists Gavin De Becker and Pierre Janet as well as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung also reference the subconscious mind. A contemporary, Brian Tracy teaches extensively on this topic.
Okay, here is the truth. What is often referred to as The Subconscious Mind is the spirit of man (man is spirit, soul and body) Gen 2:7, 1 Thessalonians 5:23. It (he) is the depository of everything that we have ever been exposed to and is the essence of who we are relative to how this information was voluntarily or involuntarily (degree to which it is “checked at the door”) allowed to influence our spirit; 2 Corinthians 10:5. Memory resides within the spirit and is provided when called up by the brain. The spirit works on its (his) own in an automatic fashion based on what he has been commanded to do either voluntarily or involuntarily. Interestingly voluntary control of the spirit results in involuntary control of the mind (will) by the spirit.
Our desire should be to be Spirit led in our actions. This would make for a purer and more profitable life. Just as the Spirit of God created (re-created) the world; Gen 1:2-3, it is our spirit who brings things into manifestation for us. Our thoughts and imagination have much weight in this regard.
I have plenty more to say about this but need to add these three substantial attributes (functions) of the spirit:
Communion, our direct interaction with God, conscience a built-in mechanism that warns us corrects and reprimands us to do the right thing and intuition the somehow knowing things (because they are revealed by the spirit) such as “don’t go that way”, or “be weary of that person”, or “take your umbrella”.
As Arnie would say;
“I’ll be back“.
6 Truths Regarding The Imagination
Dictionary.com says that imagination is the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses. For our purposes here it is basically just that except with great passion. God says of man: “And the LORD said, behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”
You know there is a scripture in the bible that goes; “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled” 2Co 10:4-6.
Okay, so here we go six things:
- God says we can do anything we imagine.
2 .Our imagination is as an image; a picture of something we want or somewhere we would like to go.
3. Our imagination in birthed in a thought and is the bridge from that thought to the manifestation (negatively “strong hold”) of the thing desired. The above scripture while describing the principle in reverse i.e. manifestations-imaginations-thoughts clearly give the concept a biblical foundation and shows that thoughts should be gate checked to keep the imagination “picture” and spirit man (also called the heart of man) in the desired state.
4. The Material manifestation of the desired thing or action is brought into reality by the human spirit (the so called subconscious mind) for he has received a clear and concise mandate from the imagination and has involuntarily accomplished the task.
5. The imagination is fashioned by the spirit of man (subconscious mind) and will reflect that which is the essence of his heart (spirit) be it evil or good.
6. Napoleon Hill says there are two kinds of imagination; synthetic, that draws from old concepts and ideas and creative. He refers to Infinite Intelligence and capitalizes it (Him). I think he is speaking again about that Sixth Sense Fellow, you know, The Holy Spirit. As I work on this series; He, the Holy Spirit is literally flooding me with thoughts and ideas. I am writing several a day.
9 Truths Regarding Napoleon Hill’s Sixth Sense
I believe that Napoleon Hill either knowingly or unknowingly (really, probably knowingly) use biblical principles when writing his “Think and Grow Rich”. The titling of the book and calling many of the principles by names that secular folks could relate to and embrace was probably a strategy to get these important truths into the hands of enthusiastic entrepreneurs.
I am kind of backing into this work as his “Sixth Sense” topic was the last principle that he presented. I choose to talk a little bit about this topic first by telling you Who (yes Who) he was referring to and relate the associated attributes. So here we go 9 items:
- The Six Sense that he speaks of is theHOLY SPIRIT in that;
- His so-called subconscious mind (there really is no such thing) is the SPIRIT OF MAN.
- The HOLY SPIRIT resides within the spirit of men who receive Him (who are baptized in the spirit) effectively giving them access to infinite intelligence (God i.e., THE HOLY SPIRIT). The Holy Spirit is one part of the triune God.
- He re-enforces the activity of the so-called subconscious mind (spirit of man) who in an involuntary fashion brings into manifestation those things thought of and imagined and delegated to him by the mind by decision.
- His infinite knowledge supplies the imagination with ideas as to what the target (not necessarily monetarily gain) looks like. I like “Think and Grow Spiritually Powerful” as the desired goal.
- It is Him that will warn of impending dangers and will show you opportunities (likely in a dream).
- He will likely show you some signs along the way that you are still on course and that He is still present with you.
- He will give instruction to your “guardian angel” when He wills for your instruction, guidance, and protection.
- You bring your desire, and He brings His power.
If you don’t have the book, get it. I will be presenting the biblical truth about most of the principles that Mr. Hill included in the book. You will love what I have to say and show about imagination and will be amazed at what God says about it.
THE SPIRIT OF MAN
The concept of The Subconscious Mind is largely if not totally a myth. The term was apparently coined about 160 years ago or so and is generally thought to be a layer/layers of consciousness underneath the layers of critical-thought functions of the so called conscious mind. Now of course if the concept is a myth, then everything that you have been taught about it needs to be re-thought. While there is, nor can be any documented scientific support for this concept, there is a lot of valid documented historical information related to this subject; though putting a different spin on it and taking it in an entirely different direction. I am going to present here an initial outline of the what (who) is really at work here and if you follow along, you will be eternally empowered and rewarded.
Folks such as Napoleon Hill “Think and Grow Rich”, Psychologists Gavin De Becker and Pierre Janet as well as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung also reference the subconscious mind. A contemporary Brian Tracy (http://www.briantracy.com/blog/general/understanding-your-subconscious-mind/) apparently teaches extensively on this topic.
Okay, here is the truth, what is often referred to as The Subconscious Mind is the spirit of man (man is spirit, soul and body) Gen 2:7, 1 Thessalonians 5:23. It (he) is the depository of everything that we have ever been exposed to and is the essence of who we are relative to how this information was voluntarily or involuntarily (degree to which it is “checked at the door”) allowed to influence our spirit; 2 Corinthians 10:5. Memory resides within the spirit and is provided when called up by the brain. The spirit basically works on its’ (his) own in an automatic fashion based on what he has been commanded to do either voluntarily or involuntarily. Interestingly voluntary control of the spirit results in involuntary control of the mind (will) by the spirit. Our desire should be to be spirit lead in our actions. This would make for a purer and more profitable life. Just as the Spirit of God created (re-created) the world Gen 1:2-3, it is our spirit who brings things into manifestation for us. Our thoughts and imagination have much weight in this regard.
I have plenty more to say about this but need to add these three substantial attributes (functions) of the spirit: communion, our direct interaction with God, conscience a built in mechanism that warns us corrects and reprimands us to do the right thing and intuition the somehow knowing things (because they are revealed by the spirit) such as “don’t go that way”, or “be weary of that person”, or “take your umbrella”.
As Arnie would say; “I’ll be back”.