John the Baptist said in Mark 1:5-8,

 

"And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; And preached, saying, "There comes one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost."

 

The Lord said to Zerubbabel in Zach. 4:6,

 

"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts."

 

I wanted you to be aware of the above scriptures. You need to meditate on them until they become instilled in your spirit because they are the most powerful force in the universe. Jesus is the Word and He was with God and was God from the very beginning and beyond.When Jesus speaks a word the power of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, is there to bring it to pass.

 

If we will fill our hearts with His words and speak them forth and not doubt in our hearts that what we are saying will come to pass, it shall happen. We, as the Church, were given this power on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down and filled all who were asembled in the upper room in Acts 2. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and declared to those who ask what they should do,

 

"Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call!"

 

The power of God is His Holy Spirit and what causes Him to take action is the Word of God. If we want to have that kind of power it is available to us today as He sees fit to manifest it through us. Paul said in 1 Cor. 12:4-11,

 

"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 faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing 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""

 

Over the years the Church has fallen away from receiving the Baptism of The Holy Spirit because of unbelief and have formed a doctrine to justify their beliefs. However, in the last one hundred years the Lord has poured out His Spirit in our nation beginning with Azuza Street and we have seen a demonstration of His power to heal.

 

And yet, there are still many churches that hold on to the doctrine that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit passed away when the last Apostle died. A lot of Christians really have trouble with speaking in tongues no matter what the scriptures say. The carnal mind will give you fits over speaking in tongues because it doesn't know what is being said.

 

Paul had a lot to say about speaking in tongues in 1 Cor. 12 & 14. In 1 Cor. 12:27-30, he says,

 

"Now you are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God has set som" in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?" 

 

It is so hard to change after so many years of being taught against the truth. To do what the Word of God says about any subject requires you to make a decision to know the truth and to depend upon the Holy Spirit to reveal it to you. You will be surprised to find out that He will do just that. He will cause people to cross your path with the truth and open doors for you that will lead you to the truth. However, you must be willing to change.

 

My father once told me that he had changed from the Baptist Church to the Church of Christ and that would just be to much for him to make another change. I told him that was his choice, but I wanted to be on the cutting edge of what the Lord is doing.

 

Religion will do that to you. If Satan cannot change you, he will try to stop you from going any further with the Lord and becoming a part of the remnant where there are spiritual battles to put Satan under our feet.

 

Paul said in Ephesians 4:11-12,

 

"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ!"

 

This is what is commonly referred to as the Five Fold Ministry. The office of the Prophet is being opened and prophets are stepping forward and declaring what they are seeing and hearing from the Lord. All who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit can prophesy, but not all are called to be in the office of a prophet.

 

A prophet is both speaks both of wisdom and what the Lord has shown them in the spiritual realm. Peter said in 2 Peter 1:19-21,

 

"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

 

Paul gave us instructions on how to receive a prophesy in 1 Cor. 14:21,

 

"Let the prophets speak two or three and let the other judge."

 

The Holy Spirit will bare witness with what He says to those who have allowed themselves to be trained to hear and recognize the voice of the Lord. No prophecy from the Lord will ever contradict the scriptures. There are so many scriptures in the Old Testament that are being fulfilled today and the Holy Spirit will bear witness that the prophecies are being fulfilled. Not only that but He will tell the prophets what is about to come to pass.

 

The Lord said in Amos 3:7-8,

 

Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared, who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken, who can but prophesy?

 

The word of God is the most powerful force in the universe. Heb. 4:12 says.

 

"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."

 

There is, as always, a lot of talk about Satan and his evil spirits, but how did Jesus defeat him. When Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit it was so He could defeat the devil. Well, just how did Jesus do this? He just quoted the Word of God! He answered the devils' temptations by saying, "IT IS WRITTEN!"

 

That is why the great Apostle Paul said in Rom. 12:1-3,

 

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith."

 

God has given every man a measure of His kind of faith! Each one of us is responsible as to what we do with that measure of faith! Jesus said in Matt. 17:19-20, (NIV)

 

"Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Many have said to me, "Well, I just don't have as much faith as you have!" That is just the devil planting that seed in your mind. Paul said that the Lord did not leave us without giving us what we need in any circumstance! He said that the Lord has given to us that mustard seed of faith.

 

We can exercise that measure of faith by believing for small things and watching the Lord provide it for us. This way, every time we see our faith produce for us, it causes us to believe the Lord for even greater things. David is a perfect example of doing this as recorded in 1 Sam. 17:34-36, (NIV)

 

"David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God."

 

By the time David had to face Goliath, he knew that the Lord was with him because he had defeated the lion and the bear! His faith in the Lord had grown by these experiences!

 

When we are faced with events that seem impossible for us, we must quote what the Word of God has to say about our circumstances. That Word is the same Word that made Jesus successful against the devil!