I want to continue in this chapter sharing with you what is going on in this country because we are the beacon of the world. Jesus said in Matt. 5:14,

 

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid."

 

We are in World War Three and this time it is a spiritual war! Heb. 12:21-18 says,

""But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."

The words 'once more' indicate the removing of what can be shaken;that is, created things;so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire."

 

The fire is kindled! There are areas of fire in every state in the USA! Jesus said in Luke 12:49-52,

 

"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three."

 

The fires of tribulation are burning brightly through out the world. There is a stirring going on in the second heaven where Satan is the prince of the air! He is so angry that he was so stupid to see that Jesus was crucified. Paul said in 1 Cor. 2:8, (NIV)

 

"None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."

 

If you are among the Christians that are just sitting around waiting for the Rapture, I have news for you! Jesus said in Matt. 24:3-8, (NIV)

"Tell us," they said, "When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Messiah,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

All these are the beginning of birth pains."

Among all this tribulation that is coming our way, we are about to see the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit that has ever occurred! Peter quoted Joel in Acts. 2:16-20,

"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: And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

I want to prophesy to you and tell you that what the Lord said He would do in Joel and in Acts is going to be far greater than what happened on the day of Pentecost and thereafter. As a matter of fact, it is already beginning to happen! Before this year is through, you will hear of actors, singers, comedians, and those who play sports and are well known, begin to declare what the Lord is doing for them and will begin to get involved in the spiritual battle that is taking place in America!

 

You will hear of great revivals springing up, seemingly, out of nowhere. You will even hear of News commentators, who have been opposing our president, admitting that they have been wrong. The fake news that we have been plagued with, is gradually going to change and once more, will tell us what is really happening without twisting it to suite the Left!

 

The power and the glory and the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ is going to rise up in churches throughout the land and those who have been in bondage to the doctrines of man are going to be released from the religious bondage that has held them back from worshiping the Lord in spirit and in truth.

 

You will be amazed at who the Lord will choose to use in the spreading of the Gospel of Good News that Our God reigns! Revival is going to break out among the young kids and they will be on fire for the Lord. You won't recognize the way that the Holy Spirit will direct them to worship the Lord! You will be heard saying, "Well, I don't know about that!" It will be different than what you are used to!

 

In the Jesus movement among the young people back in the '60's, 70's and the 80's, they were worshiping the Lord in all kinds of ways! Earl Paulk, who had a mega church in Atlanta, Ga., spearheaded dancing before the Lord. In many of the churches that you have attended, and may still do, if anyone were to get out in the isle and begin to dance before the Lord, they would be asked by the church leaders to not come back.

 

And yet, King David, who was said to be a man after the Lord's own heart, danced before the Lord out in the open where everyone could see him. His wife gave him holly heck for doing it. He said, Honey, I was doing that before my Lord to give Him the glory! I wasn't doing it for you!"

 

2 Sam. 6:14-16 says,

 

"And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.   So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.   And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart." 

 

2 Sam. 6:20-23 says,

 

"Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious the king of Israel was today, who uncovered himself in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!

 

   And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me before your father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play music before the LORD.   And I will yet be more vile than this, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants, which you have spoken of them, shall I be had in honor.   Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death."

 

I have been in churches that have their teenagers dance before the Lord in flowing dresses and it is a thing of beauty! We did that in our church and the people rejoiced before the Lord!

 

David said in Psalm 149:2-3,

 

"Let Israel rejoice in Him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.    Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel (a tambourine) and harp."

 

David also said in Psalms 150,

 

"1    Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

  ²    Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

  ³    Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery (psaltery was a stringed instrument similar to a harp) and harp.

  ⁴    Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

  ⁵    Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

  ⁶    Let every thing that has breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

 

Paul said in Eph. 5:19-20,

 

"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;   Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"

 

Let's take a look first at the word 'psalms'. Wikipedia says,

 

"Psalms is derived from the Greek translation, ψαλμοί, psalmoi, meaning "instrumental music" and, by extension, "the words accompanying the music".

 

Thayer's Greek Dictionary says,

 

"A set piece of music, that is, a sacred ode (accompanied with the voice, harp or other instrument); a psalm.

 

It is not a sin to have instrumental music as a part of your worship service. The Apostle Paul said to speak to yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. To all my Church of Christ friends may I say that, neither is there anything wrong by not using any instrument in your worship service! That is entirely up to the leaders of the Church.

 

Concerning Spiritual songs, Thayer's Greek Dictionary says,

 

"(Divinely) supernatural, regenerate , religious:"spiritual.

 

Paul said in 1 Cor. 14:15,

 

"I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

 

The gift of the Holy Spirit is the ability to speak directly from your spirit in another language, known or unknown. On the day of Pentecost, in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit came upon those gathered in the upper room, they begin to speak in tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

 

Paul also said in 1 Cor. 14:21-22,

 

" In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, says the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serves, not for them that believe not, but for them which believe."

I know a Jewish man, Dr. Sandy Kulkin, who was in a church service with a good friend of mine, Jay Silva, and Jay was teaching on speaking in tongues. Sandy was there with his girlfriend who had asked him to come with her and he told me he thought it was nonsense and got up and walked out of the service. The pastor of the church stopped him in the foyer and ask him if he could pray for him. Sandy said sure and during the prayer, the pastor begin to speak in a tongue and when he was through, Sandy ask him if he was Jewish.

The pastor said. "No, why do you ask that?" Sandy said that during the prayer the pastor begin to speak in perfect Hebrew. The pastor did not know any Hebrew and, as a result, Sandy accepted the Lord and now has a worldwide ministry as a Jew believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is just one example of why speaking in tongues is for the unbeliever. I have heard of many stories like this where people have got saved by someone speaking to them in tongues. I know that this is hard for someone to believe that has been in church all their life and have never seen this happen in their church! I, too, was like that until the Lord baptized me in His Spirit and then the Bible opened up to me and I understood passages of scripture that I had read many times.

Paul also said in 1 Cor. 14:4,

"He that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself;

In other words, speaking in tongues in your private worship to the Lord, builds you up spiritually.

If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit is the one who baptized you into the body of Christ. In 1 Cor. 12:13, (NIV) Paul said,

"For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body"whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free" and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

The Holy Spirit lives within you and all you have to do to speak in tongues is to ask the Lord to baptize (immures) you in His Spirit with the evidence of being able to speak in another language, just like He did on the day of Pentecost, and by faith it will happen! You will probably be like me and open your mouth and nothing will come out! Just allow a sound to come out and don't try to control it but allow it to flow up and down as you would if you were talking to someone. It will at first probably sound like jiberish, but just continue to allow it to come out and it will change. Above all, continue to thank the Lord that He has baptized you in His Spirit because He said, "Ask and you shall receive!"

Believe me, your carnal mind that has been taught that speaking in tongues is of the devil, will argue with you. My question to those who say this is of the devil, is this, "Why then, when you go to a bar or are in a large crowd, doesn't someone speak in another tongue?" You would think that if this is of the devil that you would be hearing it all the time.

The point I want to make to you, in all of this, is that what is about to be poured out in abundance by the Lord will make you stop and declare, "I want that!"

Paul said in 1 Cor. 1:28-31, (NIV)

"God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things"and the things that are not'to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God'that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord!