The Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the “Signs Following” (Mk. 16: 17 – 18) was also central to the Methodist Revival with John Wesley and through out the world as they sent their preachers and evangelist to other countries. When the evangelist, George Whitfield who was a friend of John & Charles Wesley, in the USA, heard reports about what was happening in Great Britain in Wesley’s ministry, he wrote him a letter about the “strange happenings” that he had heard about. Wesley wrote him a letter in which he confirmed the news. He wrote, “People fell down unredeemed and rose up redeemed. People fell down under the power of the Holy Ghost and stood up speaking in new tongues. People fell down sick and in pain and rose up healed. People fell down demon possessed and rose up in their right minds praising God.” And, he said that they had physicians there to confirm the work of God. He invited George Whitfield to come and preach at one of his meetings in England and when he returned home to carry on his evangelistic ministry the same “strange happenings” began in his meetings.
A couple of years ago, one of my friends who lived in Owen Sound and who was born in Scotland but was brought to Canada went back to his birth place and went to the Presbyterian Church and asked the pastor if he could look through the Church records so he could find out something about his ancestors. He found recorded in the Session (elders) Records going back over 50 years some mention of his ancestors. He discovered that the Elders Records contained the records of people who were saved & Baptized with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues & reports of healing & deliverance.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was also a part of the USA history in most of the churches up to and after the Civil War. I have a picture from a history Book about the Civil War showing a typical revival meeting with people being slain in the Spirit and speaking in tongues and and miracles were all part of most of the Church Ministries with some exceptions, of course. Asuza Street was not an exception. At the time when Asuza Street was happening, the Holy Spirit was being poured out in countries all around the world.
And, Canada was no exception. In an Hamilton Newspaper there were front page reports about revival where hundreds of people were being saved & Baptized with the Holy Spirit. Many of them went for many weeks. This was happening all across Canada where newspapers were reporting about the amazing revivals.
In fact, Canada’s first Prime Minister, John A. MacDonald, who was an absolute drunk, attended a revival meeting, conducted by a Methodist Evangelist, in Kingston, ON, where he was saved & baptized with the Holy Spirit and stopped drinking. It was said of him by some of the Members of Parliament that they liked him better when he was a drunk. Most of the history of the outpourings of the Holy Spirit with Signs, Wonders & Miracles have been ignored and as one Canadian Baptist Historian said those meetings were ignored as if they had never happened because the so-called historians were in churches that did not believe that God would or could do those things today. And, by the way, in several cities & towns, in Canada, our meetings were on the front pages of the local newspapers. One time in North Battleford, SK, the owner of the local newspaper daughter was healed of cancer and Baptized with the Holy Spirit and he put reports of our meetings which encouraged many people to come.
During the 1960’s the Holy Spirit was being poured out into many of the Denominations in the USA but the work of the Holy Spirit was trying to be suppressed by most of the churches who began to remove pastors from their churches in what was called the Charismatic Movement of the Holy Spirit. However, the Presbyterian Church in the USA, set up a committee to examine what was happening in their churches. They consulted the best of their Professors about this: New & Old Testament, Counsellors, Theologians, Historians & anybody whom they thought would make a good Biblical examination of this apparent move of God. In 1969, they issued their report in which their conclusion was that “This is of God. Do not attempt to stop it.” They gave instructions at the end of the report to Baptized with the Holy Spirit & Gifted Believers about how to get along with those who were not Baptized with the Holy Spirit. And, they also gave instructions to those who were not Baptized with the Holy Spirit about how to get along with those who were. It defused any problems about the “Charismatic Movement of the Holy Spirit”. The first time that I went to preach in a Presbyterian Church in Florida, I asked the Pastor if he had any problems with the Presbytery which is the district. He said that a committee was sent to investigate his ministry. He welcomed them and they all sat down in his board room and said, “Of course, you know what the position of our church (denomination) is?” They didn’t know. So, he gave them each a copy of the report & they thanked him and went home. He has never had a problem with the Presbyterian denomination. It was in a Presbyterian Church in the USA when the Holy Spirit first moved in my ministry with the “signs following”, “Gifts of the Holy Spirit”, signs, wonders & miracles. I received no negative feedback, only encouragement to keep doing the work of ministry.
GORDON WILLIAMS PASTOR/EVANGELIST
http://gordwilliams.com/
FRUITS OR GIFTS?
Whenever people try to choose between the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5: 22 – 23) and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 12: 6 – 8; 1 Cor. 12: 8 – 10) they are absolutely wrong. The Fruit of the Spirit develops the character of Jesus in us so that we can do the ministry of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit using the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. To think that a Christian can be satisfied with only the “Fruit of the Spirit” is a completely false understanding. That is what James is trying to get people to understand when he wrote, “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (Jas. 2: 17). We cannot have one without the others.
For instance, people who say that it is not necessary to speak in tongues (Acts 2: 4) , have no self-control over their tongues (i.e. their mouths and their human tongues) and what they say (Jas. 3: 1 – 12). The Gift of Tongues (languages) gives the Holy Spirit some control over what we say when we are witnessing (Acts 1: 8) and delivers messages from God to His people when used with the Gift of Interpretation of Tongues (languages). The ignorance of the Fruit of the Spirit is unbelievable. For instance, the Fruit of the Spirit which is translated as “meekness” or “gentleness” in Greek the word is “prautes” is describes a person who is 1. submissive to the will of God, 2. teachable in all things, 3. considerate of people’s needs, 4. it describes a person who gets angry at the right time and never at the wrong time and then takes the appropriate action to change the situation. It describes the cheetah which, when it has been fully trained for hunting acts on command of its master. The best example of that was when Jesus entered the Temple and said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers.” He then drove out all of the people who were selling the animals and the money-changers and upset their tables and prevented anybody to carry anything into the temple. Jesus was demonstrating that we are supposed to get angry at sin and then take the appropriate action to change the situation.
Paul never acted in sin. He acted under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and he had the authority to curse his enemies and get angry with those who opposed the Gospel and challenge them with the Scriptural Truth. We are told that Paul “argued” with those who opposed the Gospel (Acts 17: 2, 17; 18: 4; 19: 9) or another word is to “contend” (Jude 1: 3). It is interesting that there are some ignorant people who would accuse Paul of sinning, when he is used by God as an example of a person who demonstrated “meekness/gentleness” in his ministry. His so-called critics, interestingly, do not have their names or their wrong judgements recorded in the New Testament.
We are supposed to get angry at sin and take the appropriate action to correct the sinful actions. This is the reason why we are told by no one other than Paul, “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Eph. 4: 27). He wrote to Timothy, “By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith, among them Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme” (1 Tim. 1: 19 – 20). In other words, using his authority, Paul revoked the salvation of these two men. That is the ultimate result of Paul exercising his authority in Jesus Christ. The Old Testament refers to “the anger of the Lord” (Ex. 4: 14 and 101 other places). We are supposed to get angry with sin and offer salvation, healing, deliverance. We are supposed to get angry with sin and use the “Signs Following” to deal with sin. We are supposed to get angry with sin and use the 15 Gifts of the Holy Spirit to change the situation of sin. But many people try to use the Bible to excuse themselves from coming under the authority of Jesus Christ and telling us that the ministry works that we read about in the Scriptures are either not for them or for the church of Jesus Christ today. They are rebellious people who do not like the work of the Holy Spirit and are living in denial. Their end will be as Jesus describe the penalty for acting like goats instead of faithful sheep (Matt. 25: 31 – 46). We are told by Jesus, “Do not judge by appearances; but judge with right judgment” (Jn. 7: 24).
Sin is supposed to make us angry and then with the Holy Spirit’s guidance we are supposed to take the appropriate action to correct the situation. To even suggest that Paul was sinning when he dealt with people who were in sin is completely false. But, it does tell us something about those who would attempt to disregard his teaching. It tells us that they, themselves, are in rebellion against the Gospel of Jesus Christ and have proven that they are out of God’s will. For you see Peter referred to Paul and commended his teaching. He wrote, “So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures” (2 Pet. 3: 14 – 16).
THE SOLUTION
Turn Your Cares Into Prayers & Pray in the Spirit
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; Philippians 4:6
My friend, God doesn’t want you to be fearful, fretful or anxious. Instead, He wants you to “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”.
So when you have a care or worry, straightaway, turn that care or worry into prayer. That is supplication. And when you are troubled by a care or worry that you don’t know how to pray for, pray in the Spirit or tongues. And in the midst of that prayer, thank God that He is already your healing, provision, prosperity, good success and victory. That, my friend, is thanksgiving.
“Pastor, if I am worried about something, how long should I pray?”
Keep on praying. Pray in the Spirit until the worry lifts or dissipates, “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. (Philippians 4:7)
This was what one of our church members did when he found himself anxiously trying to access some important data in his USB flash drive. After a whole day at it with no results, he finally stopped himself from being anxious and instead, turned his worry into prayer, asking the Lord to settle it for him. As he prayed in tongues, he was also thankfully repeating in his heart that having the Holy Spirit — the Helper — with him was to his advantage. (John 16:7)
Later that evening, using his wife’s computer, he succeeded in accessing the data in his flash drive after a few attempts. He quickly backed up the data. It was only when subsequent attempts to use the flash drive on his wife’s computer failed did it suddenly dawn on him that God had “resurrected” his flash drive that one time, just for him to recover his data!
Beloved, I believe that we would all worry a lot less and enjoy our lives a lot more if only we realized this truth: Our Abba Father is so strong that there is nothing He cannot do, and He is so loving that there is nothing He will not do for us!
Thought For The Day
Our Abba Father is so strong that there is nothing He cannot do, and He is so loving that there is nothing He will not do for us!
Make Your Temple A House Of Prayer
Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves’.” Mark 11:17
It would be great if every time we prayed, the answers came quickly. Thank God for immediate results, but what do we do when the results are not immediate? The promises of God are there for us, but when they have yet to manifest in our circumstances, what should we do in the meantime?
Jesus showed us what to do. After He had cursed the fig tree, the tree did not wither immediately. (Mark 11:14) What did He do then? He went to the temple in Jerusalem and cleansed it, saying that it should be a house of prayer and not a den of thieves. (Mark 11:15–17) After cleansing the temple, when the disciples saw the same fig tree the next day, it had dried up from its roots! (Mark 11:20–21)
Today, you are the temple of God. (1 Corinthians 3:16) And your temple should be a “house of prayer” or it becomes a “den of thieves”. These thieves, or powers of darkness, will steal and rob from your temple, which is your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19) They will steal and rob you of your strength, health, youthfulness, wisdom, hopes and dreams.
So make your temple a house of prayer by praying in tongues frequently. (Ephesians 6:18) When you pray in the Spirit, you are praying perfect prayers. This is because the Spirit Himself makes intercession for you when He prays through you in tongues. (Romans 8:26)
“Pastor, how long must I pray?”
Well, how often in a day does the enemy attack you with fears, anxieties and worries? How often does that disease in your body remind you that it is there? How healthy and whole do you want to be?
Beloved, as you make your temple a house of prayer, the powers of darkness that have been stealing or robbing from you will be driven out of your life completely. You will see the manifestation of what you have spoken over your circumstances and you will see the withering of what you have cursed!
Thought For The Day
Make your body, God’s temple, a house of prayer by praying in the Spirit frequently.
THE FLESH PROFITS NOTHING!
John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
Many christian pray and pray and don't get their prayers answered because they don't have the favor of God as they live, walk and pray in the flesh and not in the spirit!
God's wills the best for each of his children but He cannot give it to them as long as they walk in the flesh and not in the spirit!
Many so called Christians don't understand the importance of tongues and why God doesn't answer many times their prayers of the flesh for the following reasons:
1) Whatever is not of faith is sin! And tongues is of faith!
2) Tongues is God Himself praying for and about the problem!
3) In the flesh you don't have a clue as to what is the real problem and what is the real solution because you are only flesh?
4) But in the Spirit, ie tongues, God knows everything! He prays for you about everything and He answers Himself. He cannot say no to Himself?
5) When you pray in tongues you open the door way to the manifestations of all the gifts of the Spirit including miracles, healing, knowledge, wisdom, discernment, which help to come up with a speedy solution to the problem
6) one of the greatest problem with Christians besides not reading their bible daily is they don't pray in tongues!
Now what did apostle Paul say about tongues?
1 CORINTHIANS 12:
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.
1 CORINTHIANS 14:
1 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.
5 I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.
15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
18 I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all;
39 Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.
40 Let all things be done decently and in order.
AN IMPORTANT GUIDELINE TO ANSWERED PRAYER IS:
1) Are you Baptized with the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues?
2) Do you fellowship with or have friends who are also Baptized in the Spirit?
3) Do you pray with these friends the prayer of agreement concerning anything and everything:
Matthew 18:19 "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
If you have forgiven anybody and everybody for anything and everything then your prayers of agreement are unhindered and powerful
4) Ask God for wisdom according to James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
5) Do you pray in tongues daily according to Jude 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
HOW THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS US :
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. - Romans 8:26
The Holy Spirit is not inside you to point out your faults or nag at you when you do wrong. God’s Word tells us that He is inside us to help us in our weaknesses. In areas where we are without strength, He is there to help us. When we don’t know what to pray, “the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered”.
Now, don’t read the verse and say, “Well, I don’t know what I should pray for, and since the Holy Spirit makes intercession for me, I will leave the praying to Him.”
If the Holy Spirit, without our participation, makes intercession for us, then every Christian would be living victorious lives automatically! But we know that there are many Christians who don’t seem to be walking in the fullness of God’s blessings. So obviously, Romans 8:26 is not saying that. What is it saying then?
In the first part of the verse, the word “helps” is sunantilambanomai in the original Greek text. It means “to take hold together against”. Now, “together” means that our participation is required. In other words, the Holy Spirit sunantilambanomai or takes hold together with us against the problem.
So if you just sit back and don’t take hold of the problem, the Holy Spirit has nothing to “take hold of” with you. If you don’t pray, He has nothing to pray. If you keep quiet, then even if He wants to pray through you, He can’t. But when you release your prayer in tongues, you are actually allowing Him to pray through you. And He will take hold together with you against the problem, and pray the perfect prayer through you because “He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God”. (Romans 8:27)
And you can be confident that when you ask anything according to the will of God, He hears you. And if you know that He hears you, whatever you ask, you know that you have the petitions that you have asked of Him! (1 John 5:14–15)
Thought For The Day:
When you pray in the Holy Spirit, He takes hold together with you against your problem.
Be Filled With the Holy Ghost
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 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; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God (Ephesians 5:18-21).
Having received the Holy Spirit after you’re born again, there’s a day-to-day or continual infilling of the Spirit that you must experience in order to live the higher life of glory to which you’ve been called. The latter part of our opening scripture lets us know what to do to be filled with the Spirit like this: you’ll have to speak to yourself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs! You’ll have to consciously talk, sing, and make melody of the Word, in your heart, to the Lord! You’ll have to give thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and submit yourself to others in holy reverence. Making this a conscious and consistent practice is how to be full of the Spirit all the time.
When you let the Holy Spirit work through you and you’re overflowing with His fullness, you won’t need to try to muster boldness to say or do things. You won’t need to try to stir up some power in the face of adversity. Whenever you open your mouth to speak, you’ll speak the wisdom of God; words that are divinely inspired, because you’re full of the Holy Ghost.
If you want the greater glory of God to be seen in your life; if you want to walk in dominion over the devil, sickness, disease, infirmities and death, then you must consciously and consistently practice being filled with the Spirit these remaining days of October. Make this a personal goal from today, and the challenges that may come your way will be walkovers for you, and nothing will be impossible unto you. You’ll be able to change hopeless situations and walk in God’s increased glory because you’re full of the Holy Ghost and power. Hallelujah!
Receiving the Holy Spirit Is for You
During the time of Jesus, Pentecost was an annual Jewish festival, also known as the "Feast of Weeks," or the "Day of Firstfruits," a celebration of the first buds of the harvest. (Num. 28:26.) Jewish men were required by law to go to Jerusalem three times each year to celebrate the major feasts and Pentecost was one of them. It took place seven weeks and a day after Passover.
On the day of Pentecost, over one hundred disciples of Jesus were gathered together in Jerusalem in an upper room. In this group were Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and His brothers, to name a few. Then something happened that had never happened before.
"Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:2,4).
When this sound occurred, the Bible says, "the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language" (v. 6).
Now, let's look at what happened here. Jesus had been crucified and raised from the dead. He appeared to the disciples and taught them for forty days and then He ascended into heaven. The disciples of Jesus were in the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost and the room had been filled on the inside with the sound of a mighty wind. The disciples all spoke in tongues - all the disciples, all of the brothers of Jesus, and even Mary, the mother of Jesus. As they were speaking in tongues, all of the travelers from different regions who spoke different languages each heard the disciples speaking in their own native language. Needless to say, everyone was greatly amazed. Shocked may be a closer word. Some started saying, "What does this mean?" (v. 12.) And just as today, others stood by mocking, calling them drunks. (v. 13.)
Then Peter stood up with the other eleven disciples and raised his voice and began to explain what had happened. He told them that it was the fulfillment of a prophecy that was spoken by the prophet, Joel. He told them about Jesus and how He was crucified. He told them that God raised Jesus from the dead.
When Peter concluded his sermon, he made a very important statement: "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized 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 to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:38,39).
Peter said that the gift of the Holy Spirit was not just for the one hundred twenty in the Upper Room, but that the gift of the Holy Spirit was for all those who were listening to him. Then he said that receiving the Holy Spirit was for their children and for all who are far away. In other words, receiving the Holy Spirit is for everyone who desires to receive Him. That includes you and me.
In Luke 11:13, Jesus said, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
Believe in Jesus, ask, and receive.
WALTER KAMBULOW
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Williams http://gordwilliams.com/
KAREN
WILLIAMS http://wp.me/P2M7AJ-64
Healing
prayer - reach out for a miracle - John
Mellor Ministries http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QODl95RS-LU
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