The Kingdom of God!

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Chapter 18

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Last week I was talking to you about receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Many Christian friends of mine tell me that they receive the Holy Spirit when they were baptized and I agree with them. Paul said in 1 Cor. 12:13,

 

"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

 

One of the best ways I can describe the difference between having the Spirit living within you and receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit is this. If you will take a glass and fill it completely with water and sit it on the table, then let the glass represent you and the water the Holy Spirit. My question to you is, "Who is in control?" You would have to say that the glass representing you is the one in control of the water representing the Holy Spirit. This is a shadow of the Inner Court of the Tabernacle of Moses where it is man and God working together.

 

If you take the glass of water and place it in a tub of water, what is now in control? The water! It is no longer you who are in control of your life, it's the Holy Spirit! Of course, the water is both within the glass and without the glass! The Holy Spirit, represented by the water, is now in control of your life! He will lead you and guide you in the paths of righteousness if you continue to obey Him. The beautiful thing about our Father is that He knows beforehand what we are going to do and He is very patient with us and is very merciful! Why! Because Heb. 12:2 says,

 

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith!"

 

He is the one who gave us the measure of faith (Eph. 2:8) and this verse says that He will finish our faith!

 

This is the shadow of the Most Holy Place in the temple of Moses where it is all God!

 

You may say to me, "Well, what is the benefits of being baptized in the Holy Spirit?" To answer this, allow me to quote what Jesus said to His disciples before He left them. Acts 1:4-5,

 

"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, you have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."

 

He had told them that they were to go into all the world and preach the gospel. So, why did he tell them to wait until they were baptized in the Holy Ghost? Well, He went on to say in Acts 1:8,

 

"You shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." 

 

Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem until they received the baptism of the Holy Ghost and they would receive power. (Authority) The very fact that the Spirit of the Lord lives within us is an indication of power! John said in 1John 4:3-4,

 

"Every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that  of antichrist whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world."

 

Wow! That is the power that the Holy Spirit gives us because He lives within us and as we allow Him to be in control of our lives, that power to speak with authority will come forth from us and defeat the devil. Jesus said in John 7:37-38,

 

"He that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."

 

Can you imagine what those who were gathered together in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, were thinking? The Lord had instructed them to wait in Jerusalem until they received the promises of the Holy Spirit! Then they heard the sound of a tornado type wind descending and filling the room they were and they saw 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 noise was so loud that those who were in Jerusalem, from every nation for the Day of Pentecost, began to run to see what was going on! The disciples came down to the streets and the crowd heard them speaking in their own language and were bewildered at what was happening. Notice what happened when the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples! They begin to speak in other languages. Everyone there heard them speak in their own language! As a result, there were some three thousand soul saved that day!

 

When Paul came to Ephesus, he found some converts of John the Baptist there and asked them if they had received the Holy Ghost since they believe? Then in Acts 19:4-6, (NIV)

 

Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus"" On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied!

 

Notice here that when the Holy Spirit came on them, they spoke in tongues and prophesied! Not only did they speak in tongues but they begin to declare the voice of the Lord! Again, when Peter was called to go to the house of Cornelius, a non-Jew, Acts 10:43-47, (NIV)

 

"All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, "Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."

 

Notice several things here! First, as soon as Peter told them that anyone who believes in Jesus will receive the forgiveness of their sins, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues and praise the Lord! Also, note that they had not yet been baptized in water when the Holy Spirit came upon them. Paul said in Rom. 10:8-10,

 

"The word is nigh you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." 

 

This is a perfect example of someone being saved before they were baptized! The point that I want to make here is that when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, they began to speak in tongues and prophesy! This is what Jesus meant in John 7:37-39 when He said,

 

"If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture has 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.)" 

 

Paul prayed in Eph. 1:18-23, (NIV)

 

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."

 

This power has been available to the Church since the Day of Pentecost but so many churches stopped teaching on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and stopped talking about the power of speaking in tongues and laying hands on people to receive healing and stopped teaching people about the power of God available to those who believe! In most of those churches you never see the Lord move. Paul said in 2 Tim. 3:5

 

"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."

And verse 7,

 

""Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

 

To those of you who have been saved, I want to ask you a great question! Are you a seeker of truth! Most of you will answer, "Yes, I go to church and we have Bible classes on Sunday and on Wednesday and I never miss! OK! "Do you believe that the Bible contains the word of God?" I have just laid out for you what happened in the Bible when people received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit!

 

So, my question for you now is the same question Paul asked those in Ephesus in Acts 19:2, "Have you received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit since you believed?" Paul obviously thought that this was something important for them to have! If you are attending a church where they don't teach you about this, then you have never seen the power of God manifest in any of their services. I am talking about the signs and wonders Jesus talked about in Mark 16:17-18,

 

"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 know how hard it is to step out in faith and except the truth about this when your church has taught you all your life that these things have passed away and are no longer available to the Church! You know that if you would believe this and begin to share it with your friends at church, you would be considered a heretic and possibly be cast out of your church. That happened to me but I have never regretted my decision to accept the truth and to walk by faith!

 

May I encourage you to meditate on these scriptures and ask the Lord to reveal the truth to you. I can tell you the truth about many things the Lord has shown me, however, these truths will have to be revealed to you by the Spirit that lives within you! Truth remains powerless until He reveals it to you! Jesus said in John 14:25-26,

 

"These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."

 

There has been much happening in our nation about the recent election. Twenty states have joined Texas in its lawsuit that seeks to halt presidential electors in four battleground states from casting their votes for President-elect Joe Biden.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filled the lawsuit  before the Supreme Court on Tuesday against Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania; all states Biden won. It argues that electors from those states should not cast their votes because the states unconstitutionally changed their voting processes to allow for mail-in voting.

 

The attorney generals of seventeen states that President Trump won filed an amicus brief on Wednesday. Those states are: Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia.

 

Late Friday afternoon, the Supreme Court turned down the lawsuit Texas and the other states presented to them with only two judges thinking that they should have taking a closer look at what was going on in these swing states. However, there are other lawsuits that are being filed from those states as the nation demands a lawful examination to these charges.

 

A Jericho March was put on by Christians of all faiths and also non-Christians around the Supreme Court of the United States and around the Supreme Courts of the swing states where the fraud occurred.

 

I shared with you in a recent Eagle's View, a prophecy that said there would be an unveiling of the unlawful acts of many in high places and that the evidence would be so strong that the media would have to cover it! If you have been following what the media is saying about what is happening you will have to have discernment to know what is true and what is false! May I suggest that you get online and listen to Victory Channel"s Flesh Point and America Stands programs. There are many more news channels you can listen to such as NewsMax, One America News (OAN) and The Epoch Times.

 

I wrote in the Eagle's View earlier this year, "There are many in the leadership of the Democratic Party who are in bed with the Chinese! Nearly all of that party follows along like sheep and agree with their leadership. Some of them have been or are being finance by China."

 

This week the news broke that Eric Swalwell was involved with a Chinese operative and she helped him get elected. This is just the tip of the iceberg. It will be revealed that there are others in high places who are in bed with the Chinees! Yes, and even the so-called president elect of the Unite States' family!

 

I also wrote earlier this year that prophets, all over the world, are declaring that it is the will of our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ that Donald Trump will serve another term as President of the USA and he will appoint a conservative woman to the Supreme Court. A conservative woman was appointed to the Supreme Court. On Oct. 26, 2020, Amy Coney Barrett was approved to be on the court!

 

I wrote in the Eagle's View Part 13,

 

"In the next 70 days there is going to be a turnaround in the number of votes for Joe Biden in favor of Donald Trump which will give him 4 more years in office. The lying, cheating forces of the Left are going to be exposed. They even said that they would do anything to win the election. They had all this planned before the election. Just look at the lying and cheating they did as they tried to put Trump out of office. Do you think they were going to chance losing the election when they knew that this was their last chance to get Trump out of office?"

 

When Trump announced that he was nominating a Supreme Court judge, Chuck Schumer said that he would be sorry for doing this. I know that it is easy to be discouraged when the news media, including Fox News, proclaimed Biden as the winner of the election.

 

May I quote to you what Isaiah 35:3-5, says,

 

"Say to them that are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you."

 

In Josh. 1:9 the Lord told Josuah,

 

"Be Bold and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee where ever you go."

These are trying times and I encourage you to strengthen your faith and declare that the will of our Father will be done in our nation as it is done in heaven! James said in JA. 1:4-5,

 

" Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."

 

The Lord is telling us today to have patience! David wrote in Psalm 27:11-15,

 

"Teach me your way, LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations.

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD".

 

Satan never changes his ways! Rev. 12:10 says,

 

"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night."

 

The Lord told John in Rev. 12:11, talking about the Church,

 

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."

 

Paul said in Rom. 8:24,

 

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."

 

David also said in Psalm 37:34,

 

"Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, you shalt see it.""

 

And the Lord said in Isaiah 40:31,

 

"They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

 

Teach us oh Lord to have patience and to wait upon you and your timing!"