Real Evidence of the Baptism of The Holy Ghost
What a privilege it is to be able to access the Word of God, to read and understand the heart-thoughts of our Creator. This is an astounding privilege, considering the majority of humanity from time immemorial have been able to observe Him only in nature. Billions have never had the precious opportunity to read or hear His thoughts, yet billions today who possess their own Bibles have no desire to know even the written Word.
Hundreds of millions of others privileged to own and read the Bible and attend church do not know the reality of the creative Word, or how its Promises may be appropriated. Sadly, they love the Lord with all their heart, study their Bibles and attend fellowship yet abdicate their right to the Kingdom through lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).
God's Word is not their Absolute, clever teachers have compromised their destiny with man-made interpretations against the Word. Like Israel, they forget God is His Own Interpreter, they don't even believe His prophets, no matter how thoroughly vindicated. "Let God's Word be true, and every man a liar" (Romans 3:4).
We need to examine whether we own 'the' Faith once delivered to the saints, or a substitute "so close as would almost deceive the very Elect if that were possible?" Notice how Jude ties in with Malachi and Paul when he says, 'the' faith was delivered once. It cannot be otherwise because Christ is not divided, God has only one unchanging understanding to impart (Malachi 3:6; Galatians 1:6-12; Ephesians 4:5; Hebrews 13:8; Jude 3). Paul was so sure of his inspiration, he declared any man, even himself, who dared change what he had already prophesied in the Name of the Lord was accursed (Deuteronomy 18:20-22; Galatians 1:6-12).
We can know whether we are genuine Christians if our understanding compares with His Word.
The original faith delivered to the apostolic fathers is the only faith, any secondary revelation is not of God. Let's not cast away our opportunity for Eternal Life. "Receive a man's preaching with an open mind then search the Scriptures, whether it is Life . . . or DEATH" (Acts 17:11; I Thessalonians 5:21).
We can only be a Christian by being born into the Family of God. Until we are born again we are not in the Family of God and will never understand or 'see' what the Bible means (John 3:3). Until we are born again God is not our Father, and Jesus is not our Brother; in reality, we're just church members and not Christians at all.
How can we be sure we are born again? With our eternal destiny in the balance we must not be deceived by our own sincerity or our learning. No matter how dedicated we may be, if we've believed unto some psychology, and not eternal Life, we are deceived. And Christians cannot be deceived on the revealed Word of God (Matthew 24:24; John 10:1-5).
There's not a denomination, and hardly a religion which doesn't promise peace of mind based on absolute confidence in their tenets of belief. Each one of them claims to be God's spokesman with a 'direct line' to heaven. Some of their people are so positive one feels inadequate in their company. They have creeds which shake your conscience, their testimonies of what God has done in their ranks make you wonder if you speak to Him 'long distance!' But those who imagine emotion and worldly abundance are indicative of God's approval have a 'crossed line.' Job would not fall for the psychology of their flowery bed of ease.
He's is a good God, and we're all here on free moral agency so He will give us the desire of our hearts; the Bible promises all of these things to the wicked (Psalms 73:12). If we are truly born again, our peace transcends feelings and material blessing and our rest is sure, being founded on the Absolute of Bible faith - understanding God's promised Words for our day - and seeing them coming to pass in our life despite natural circumstances.
There is no denomination that doesn't make the same claim. Yet they each preach a different interpretation of the Word. But faith is the only interpretation of God's Word and there is only one faith. So either they are all deceived, or at best one group has the Truth with Eternal security, and the rest have error and plausible psychology.
Jesus promised Spiritual peace and rest so there has to be an infallible evidence of the genuine baptism with the Holy Ghost, or new birth, which cannot be impersonated. Many church-goers certain of their Christianity, are actually deceived, spiritually sick and even lost, because they lack discernment by the Spirit (I Corinthians 11:29-30).
We need to have a clear understanding what the new birth is; how we receive It, and the definite evidence, then "examine ourselves, whether we are in the faith? Knowing ourselves that Jesus Christ is in us unless we are reprobates" (II Corinthians 13:5).
Today we're going to contrast what the church says, with what the Bible teaches concerning the true Evidence of the Baptism with the Holy Ghost.
Several zealous groups prove to their satisfaction that the evidence of the new birth is observing the seventh day as a Sabbath.
The word Sabbath means 'rest', and according to the Bible it is not a 'day' but a 'place' (Isaiah 28:8-13; Matthew 11:25-30; Hebrews 4:1-11). Under Moses' Law Israel received a natural rest in a natural land where the whole Nation could observe the seventh day as a perpetual memorial of the rest of God.
God promised Abraham's natural seed natural rest in a natural place - the Promised Land. The same God promised Abraham's Spiritual Seed a Spiritual Rest in a Spiritual Place - in Christ Jesus. Brother, the Bible says, the Seal of God is receiving the Holy Spirit, or new birth, It is not keeping a day (Acts 2:38; 19:2-6; Galatians 4:9-11; Ephesians 4:30; 1:13-14).
The Sabbath was a sign or token between God and the Twelve Tribes of Israel only. It had nothing to do with the Gentiles who overspread the earth, and because of time zones the Sabbath can only be observed in one 'place' - the Promised Land. Any Hebrew living outside the Promised Land today, is living outside the Will and Word of God, and outside the Covenant he believes he has.
In Deuteronomy 28, Moses had prophesied Israel would turn away from God and be spewed out of the Land. The ten northern Tribes were carried away by Shalmaneser of Assyria and the "times of the Gentiles" commenced after God raised up king Nebuchadnezzar to expel the southern Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin from the Land. Their return since World War II is a sure indicator that the Gentile dispensation is almost over: God is ready to take His Church Home for the Wedding Supper and reveal Himself to Israel for a brief space. The "times of the Gentiles" end soon after Israel catch their 'parousia' with Armageddon, then the Kingdom is restored to Israel in the Millennium (Acts 1:6). God does not deal with the Law-keepers outside the Promised Land. Since their borders were restored and the State of Israel reconstituted, God is calling Israel back to her 'place' to fulfill her destiny and be "born in one day."
God deals with Israel as a nation, not as individuals. As a nation Israel is identified with the Land. She was not to be reckoned among the Gentiles and as a nation she cannot observe the Sabbath day outside her own borders. "You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of the gates which the Lord your God gives you: but at the place which the Lord your God shall choose to place His Name, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came out of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 16:5-6). God only meets man under the shed blood of an innocent lamb, and under the Old Covenant He chose Jerusalem as the "place" where He would meet Israel under the Blood. Under the Law every adult male was obliged to assemble three times in the year, for the Feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, in the place He chose to put His Name - under the blood of the lamb: Jerusalem. So outside the Land, Israel cannot come under the blood of His Covenant with God for "there they crucified Him".
Since Calvary and Pentecost the Law was magnified. Christians recognize the Lamb was Christ; the "Place" God chose to put His Name is under the Blood of the Lord Jesus. We meet Him not in any natural country; for our Sabbath is twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week - a Spiritual rest in a Spiritual "Place" - the mystic Body of Christ. Not by observing a day, but by One Spirit we are baptized into that "Place" (I Corinthians 12:13-14).
Revelation 1:10, "I was in the Spirit in the Lord's day and heard behind me a great Voice, as of a trumpet." Sunday is not "the Lord's day," for John was caught up in the Spirit where he witnessed a series of visions over a period of two years. Throughout the Book of Revelation, John represents the end-time Bride who will not see death. In the flesh, John was on the Isle of Patmos, but in the Spirit he was caught up into the Day of the Lord, also known as Jacob's Trouble. This is the dispensation following the close of the Gentile days of grace, during the Great Tribulation when God returns to Israel after the translation of the Bride. Being caught up in the Spirit into this yet future time, John was able to turn around, and look behind him, as it were, at the history of the Church from its foundation in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.
Sunday is neither "the Lord's day" or a Sabbath. There is no commandment to treat Sunday as a Sabbath, although Christians customarily meet on a Sunday in honor of the Resurrection because it is the eighth day which is the first day again, and speaks of Eternity.
Those who attempt to reintroduce a Sabbath day deny the Resurrection and the Coming of the Holy Ghost with the Seal of God, or new birth, which is the Sabbath of Rest for the children of God. Sabbatarians blindly testify they are under neither the blood of bulls and goats nor the Blood of Christ.
Other denominations claim, 'the evidence of the new birth is water baptism.' Some sprinkle or pour water on the head of babes and infants "in the Name of the Father, and in the Name of the Son, and in the Name of the Holy Ghost." The priest then makes the sign of a cross on their forehead whilst 'godparents' and parents promise to raise them according to denominational traditions. This is neither Scriptural nor is it baptism (immersion).
In Acts 2:38-39 Peter said, "Repent and be baptized everyone of you whomsoever the Lord our God shall call in the Name (not Titles) of the LORD JESUS CHRIST for the remission of sins and you shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost," or new birth. By faith Peter knew that the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is Lord Jesus Christ. So did Jesus (Luke 24:47), Paul (Acts 9:5,17; 22:8,16) and ALL the saints until the time of the First Nicea Council where the Roman Catholic church was organized.
If everyone must have this revelation and repent of their sins, how can we baptize infants? Should babies repent for their parents? Have you ever met a baby with a clear revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ? Peter said, "There is no salvation in water baptism: salvation comes through faith." Children that die before the age of accountability are 'saved' - with or without water baptism (I Peter 3:21).
It was not necessary for the 'church' to baptize those thousands of Mexican and Indian babies before they murdered the 'little pagans.' Have you ever read the history of Spanish 'Christianity' in the New World? Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubborn pursuit of dogma against the revealed Word of God as iniquity (I Samuel 15:23). Most people go down under the water a dry sinner and rise up a wet sinner. We're born again by one Spirit, not one water. Regeneration is by faith, it's a revelation. One could be baptized a thousand times, and in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but without faith they would still be lost.
Another group preaching regenerational water baptism baptize in the Name of 'Jesus' only, and that is wrong also. 'Jesus' is a common name like Tom or Bill and there are almost as many Jesus'. But there is only one LORD JESUS CHRIST, and that is the Name of Jesus, It is the Name of Christ, It is the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Acts 4:12).
Peter knew there was no salvation in water baptism. Immersion symbolizes the Spiritual cleansing of our sinful Soul of sin by the death of our old nature in the same way in which the Flood cleansed the Earth of sin in the days of Noah. Peter taught it is the revelation of the Word - "the answer of a good conscience towards God," or faith alone that Spiritually washes away all past sin (or unbelief) from men's souls (Romans 6:1-11; I Peter 1:22-25; 3:21).
How can a baby have the prerequisite for water baptism - a clear understanding of the Word - faith? Where do we find the idea of 'godparents' before the Roman Catholic church? Not in God's Word. Parents or their priests and ministers, particularly those without faith for themselves, are in no position to speak in behalf of another, even if it were possible.
Please take note, that without a revelation of the godhead and baptism in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ as He commanded, we can never understand His Word (John 3:3; Acts 2:38-39; 4:12; I Corinthians, 12:4). We must obey God before proceeding, or we'll never understand what He's trying to reveal to us in these sermons, and become just one more critic, and an hypocrite who has rejected the Holy Spirit. God's prescription for receiving the baptism with the Holy Ghost was given by Peter on the day of Pentecost. It has not changed, and the Church Peter pastored observe it to this day.
The Roman Catholic church has never had a true revelation of godhead, neither have they ever baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ as Jesus and Peter commanded.
Some denominations say, 'You've got to belong to our church or you won't make it'. If that's their idea, they don't have the Holy Spirit to preach you into the Body of Christ.
The Life must come through the Body. You can only receive the Holy Spirit through your eyes or your ears: He enters in Word Form by faith. If you know you're not born again, and you're not fellowshiping with genuine saints, your soul cannot be quickened. Run for your life to the living Body Word - "where the fresh carcass is, there the eagles will gather."
There's more to Christ than joining church. That's a good start but you can't 'join' Christ, you have to be born into Him. We all want to be loved and appreciate the right hand of friendship, but it's the Word that counts. Don't be deceived by that atmosphere of 'love' among the congregation. Christian Scientists will out-smother you with the gifts of the Spirit any day of the week - and deny the deity of Christ. If they can't receive the Word they're bastards, and their Father isn't God. Jesus said so (Matthew 24:24; John 10:1-5; Hebrews 10:8). "Study to show yourself approved of God - a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word, discerning what part of the Word God is fulfilling now" (II Timothy 2:15).
Many church folk overflow with the "Fruit of the Spirit," and that's good, but give them the Word-test. If they can't receive the Word for their hour you know they haven't received the Spirit, because the Word is the Spirit in another Form. The only way God can enter you or I is in Word Form, by Faith (or understanding). No matter how abundant the fruits of the Spirit, if a person can't receive the Spirit when He's presented you know He wasn't in the Word to begin with. They might be sincere but they are deceived.
"If any man have not the Spirit of God he is none of His" (Romans 8:9). Jesus never said, "By the fruits of the Spirit you shall know them. . ." He said, "By their fruits you shall know whether they have been born again" and their fruits is the Word of the season. Let them try to prove their fruits by the Doctrine of Luther or the Baptist: no matter how sincere they are, you know they're impersonating the Message for another season. Their fruits or teaching is for a previous season or harvest. Our fruits declare the Life of the Spirit in our soul and should reflect what God is doing now - (Psalms 1:3; Matthew 7:15-20; John 15).
The evidence of the new birth is faith - not the fruits, or even the Gifts of the Spirit. Without faith, a clear understanding of the Will and Word of God for our day, we cannot do His service (Hebrews 11:5-6).
Most denominations gauge spirituality by works and regard material success, as the evidence of Divine approbation. Some actually preach a 'prosperity gospel.' Paul, in prison without his only coat, would hardly pass their test for the Spirit.
Churches have become so rich from bequests, etc., over the centuries, their wealth has become a snare. The Church's commission is to 'preach the Gospel, baptize in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and watch God confirm It with signs following.' Today there is barely a church which knows the present Truth. Few believe in scriptural water baptism. Some don't believe Divine healing, let alone have a revelation Who the Lord Jesus is. They're so busy doing God a service He never asked them to perform, they can't spare the time to "wait upon the Lord" for Spiritual enlightenment.
God never instructed His Church to organize into denominations. He never told ministers to prepare themselves in Bible school or seminary. He gave no command to build hospitals - "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" - speak the Word! It was not the Holy Spirit or Baptizer which authorized the church to build schools, orphanages, and retirement villages. Worthy causes for individual Christians so led, but not God's Will for His ministers or His Church.
Like the hiss of the Serpent, it sounds so reasonable. But it's out of the Will of God and is DEATH (II Thessalonians 2:10-12). 'Works' programs are not the evidence of God's Presence, otherwise Rotary International, the Boy Scouts and Buddhists would hold a monopoly on the baptism with the Holy Ghost. The Evidence is righteousness, which is imputed by faith, not works. If the people and their ministers had faith, they would be "about their Father's Business," not worldly activities unauthorized by God. 'Works' is faith expressed.
Some groups don't believe the baptism with the Holy Ghost is available for today, decrying it as a nonexistent 'second blessing.' Others teach quite falsely one is 'born again when they believe' and subsequently 'baptized with the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.'
Were we to 'count our blessings,' the baptism with the Holy Ghost could not possibly be the 'second,' but would have to be the 'third' blessing:
JUSTIFICATION by grace through faith,
SANCTIFICATION through the Blood, and
BAPTISM with the HOLY SPIRIT which is the new birth.
Without the baptism of the Holy Ghost we are empty, "as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal" (I Corinthians 13:1). "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body..." (I Corinthians 12:13). Though we believe with all of our heart, without the baptism of the Holy Spirit we can be as lost as lost can be. With the Holy Spirit it is impossible to be deceived on the Word revealed for our Age - the revelation of which is the Holy Spirit, or new birth.
'Eternal security' is generally misplaced because it is misunderstood. Eternal security is the new birth, not simply justification, or even justification with sanctification, although that is a wonderful experience of the Holy Ghost. Nobody was ever born again when they believed - the Devil believes, and he's not born again. The new birth comes by understanding or faith which follows after believing (Acts 19 :2; Ephesians 1:13).
Many people justified by faith will ultimately be lost. Justification by faith is not the evidence of the new birth today as it was in Luther's day. It is the "firstwork." All eight souls in Noah's ark were justified by faith as evidenced by the fact they were saved by water, but three were subsequently lost. Look at Israel who followed Moses! They were all justified by faith yet only two of the adults who left Egypt with Moses were "saved," the remainder were eternally lost. Take "righteous" Lot and his family: they were all justified by faith and "saved" from Sodom's fate, but his wife was later lost and Lot and his two daughters ended in disgrace.
Many godly folk who are justified and sanctified will be lost. Take the example of those who followed Moses, or Judas Iscariot. Judas was a minister chosen by Jesus - justified by faith and baptized (John 4:1-2). Judas was sanctified, Jesus said so (John 17:12). Judas' ministry of the Supernatural was no less than the other 81 original apostles Jesus sent forth (Matthew 10:1; Acts 1:17). But Judas failed to go to Pentecost for the new birth, and I'm persuaded this is where too many believers fall short today. We are justified or sanctified, or both, but stop there without being born again! We must die to ourselves and go all the way to Pentecost.
The new birth (which is the baptism of the Holy Ghost), is a revelation. The difference between the wise and foolish virgin is the presence of the Holy Spirit. Both were justified by grace by faith, sanctified and holy, but only the wise had the Oil of the Holy Spirit. They were all "saved" but only the wise were born again with the evidence of the revelation for their hour. Only the wise virgin will be in the glorious Millennium; the foolish will have to appeal their case, as it were, before Christ and his wise virgin Bride at the White Throne Judgment.
How come the foolish are holy and saved but not born again? It's because they were slothful in searching Scripture to discover their day and its Message. Very probably their minister never sought to own the "present Truth" so they never had opportunity of being born again, or receiving the Spirit. If they had the opportunity and rejected It, they are lost (Hosea 4:6; Mark 16:16; John 3:18).
'Say Brother, if you don't speak with tongues you don't have It.' Some actually teach that speaking with other tongues is the 'initial evidence' of the baptism with the Holy Ghost. So if the pope of Rome has the 'initial evidence,' that makes him their brother! Those in the Charismatic movement all speak with other tongues and the Charismatic movement arose from Vatican II! What is the spirit which speaks with tongues yet can't agree with the Word? It's certainly not the Holy Spirit Who is not the author of confusion, and Who guides into all Truth (Amos 3:3; John 16:13-15; I Corinthians 1:10; 14:33). Tongues is no evidence of the new birth.
What Scripture says that speaking with tongues means you have the Holy Spirit? It's not one found in your Bible: Jesus and Paul taught otherwise. Devils also speak with other tongues, and how're you going to tell the difference? One thing certain is that any tongues message just quoting the Bible did not come from the Holy Ghost because He said "don't use vain repetitions as the heathens do." When God speaks, It is a specific Message to edify, forewarn and build up the Body in faith.
According to the Bible, the evidence of the Holy Spirit or new birth is a life manifesting a clear understanding of the Word revealed for your age (John 14:26; 16:13-14).
The evidence of the Holy Ghost is not speaking, It is faith: hearing what the Spirit is saying in your day.
"Faith comes by hearing," read what Paul says in Romans 10! The genuine evidence of the new birth is a clear understanding of the Word for your day, not the Word for the days of Luther, Wesley, Smith, Spurgeon or the Pentecostals. That's Church history which is already fulfilled and written, we have to be the epistles of the Word God is writing now.
Revelations 1-3 is a prophecy of the Gentile dispensation, or the Seven Church Ages, and the antitype of the seven Sabbaths of the Hebrew's Pentecostal Feast found in Leviticus 23:9-21. Self-righteous types who imagine themselves to be wise virgin and "saved" and regard the foolish virgin as lost should note verse 22 which speaks of a "remnant" of the harvest. The foolish virgin are indeed "saved," indicating these self-proclaimed 'wise' are neither virgins to the Word, nor "wise," because the elect cannot be deceived on the Word as these are. In every age, the rest, Sabbath, or new birth was apprehended by faith - "Hearing, or understanding the Message of the major apostle or 'angel' to that dispensation."
The Bible never said, "Repent and be baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues." The Bible says, "About three thousand souls that gladly received the Apostles' doctrine, were added unto them" (Acts 2:38-42). Again in Acts 4:4 and 13, "Many of them which heard the Word believed . . . and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."
According to Jesus, the true evidence one has been baptized in the Holy Spirit is that "He guides them into all the revealed Word and shows them things He will bring to pass in their age so they have peace and rest" (John 16:13).
The New Birth, which is the baptism with the Holy Ghost, is a revelation. A life manifesting a clear understanding of the Word for the hour is the only evidence for the new birth. We cannot be written epistles of the Anglican hour - it's over; likewise the Methodist hour, the Presbyterian, Baptist or Pentecostal times, have all been written in the lives of the saints who made up parts of the Body awaiting the resurrection from the dead.
How can God make us written epistles of the present Truth, if we don't believe the Word He is fulfilling now? Or don't have faith to understand It? Without faith, how can "the mind of Christ be in you or in me"? His mind is His thoughts and that is His Word. A life lived by the Word is the Word - God's thoughts - expressed in us. If our lives are not written epistles of what Jesus is doing now, we are not in the Body. This should be obvious. (I am not speaking of elderly saints who might be baptized into the part of the Body which was made up in the Laodicean Church Age, commonly known as Pentecost).
The evidence of the Holy Spirit is the Life of Christ on display. He is the I Am now, not the I Was in Sardis, Philadelphia or Laodicea. What He did in those days is not what He is doing in this day. We must walk in the Light as He is in It. If we are His children, we will hear His voice today, we won't be deceived by a stranger. How ever many "Gifts of the Spirit" we claim, no matter how big our "work" is, if we preach contrary to the Word for this hour, we are a deceiver, and not of God.
The gifts of the Spirit can all be impersonated as can the fruits of the Spirit, and the five-fold ministry (Matthew 7:15-29). But the Word must go together line upon line, Word upon Word, precept on precept without contradiction from Genesis to Revelation. And that cannot be impersonated.
If there's such a thing as an "initial evidence" of the baptism with the Holy Ghost, it is justification by grace through faith. It's a portion of the Word or Holy Ghost, the first step toward regeneration. In the early days of the Reformation, because the faith perished in the hearts of the martyred saints, God granted the new birth or baptism of the Holy Ghost to the Sardis Age saints on the basis of this revelation alone.
Didn't Peter say, "Repent and be baptized everyone of you, whosoever the Lord our God shall call, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit if you continue in the faith." If the early apostles and the Bible declare Acts, 2:38-39 the 'initial evidence,' we'd better follow this doctrine. Did you notice God Promised - "you shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost." In Luke 24:47 Jesus said, "repentance and remission of sins should be preached in My Name among all nations."
Luther's dispensation ended when God added another line, in the further revelation - sanctification. What gave the new birth to the Lutherans, Anglicans, Presbyterians and whatevermore was not sufficient in the Age of Philadelphia. God was building His Body by adding Word upon Word. The new birth (or baptism with the Holy Ghost) was granted to souls who were written epistles, manifesting the Portion of Word, (or Holy Spirit), He revealed to their Age.
God once visibly manifest His Presence with Israel by appearing to their high priest as the Shekinah or Pillar of Light, when he entered the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. The Temple worship continued in vain for forty years after Calvary, but God no longer appeared in the Most Holy. Those priests never told the people, "God's not there any more!" Perhaps they thought, "That was only for the days of Moses, or David." Sounds much like their children of today, "The Holy Spirit that speaks in tongues, heals the sick, raises the dead, and prophesies was for the days of the apostles!" As it was, the Holy Spirit's not in their religion, He's without the camp. They're in Laodicea - miserable, naked, blind, wretched and don't know it - two hundred and fifty years and three dispensations behind what Christ is doing now; their children carry on their traditions, oblivious the Light has moved (Revelation 3:14-22; 18:1-4). They refuse to walk in the Light Christ is manifesting now and no longer hold the faith God revealed to Luther and Wesley. Although the word church means the 'separated or called-out ones:' these are separated from nothing. Once the Methodists at least believed in holiness, now they are no more than the world with God's Name on it.
The Methodist, Baptist, Nazarine, Brethren, Pilgrim Holiness, and myriad other sects left over from the Philadelphian Age failed to recognize the dispensation change. Like the denominations before them, they persecuted any who dared leave the darkness of their denominational prisons to walk into the Light God was in. When Laodicea began in 1906, "Pentecostal" was used as a term of derision, as "Methodist" had been in the previous Age; but a glorious reproach to those who were the saints privileged to bear it.
The new birth in Laodicea came when the the revelation of the restoration of the Gifts was added to justification and sanctification. The Gospel of Wesley and the saints of his Age could not preach the godliest person into Christ in Laodicea as that part of the Body was fulfilled. The evidence of the new birth was a life lived by faith in the Word for Laodicea. Not the historical I Was, but the present I Am!
God added a further portion of Himself in this dispensation, the seventh and final Church Age, and the close of Christ's ministry of intercession. He was only a Mediator so long as the Bible was sealed. At the end of Laodicea, after all Seven Church Ages were fulfilled, God anointed His prophet to restore the Church to the Fullness of the Word. Today the evidence of the new birth is a perfect understanding of the Word with the Life of Christ on display.
'Do you mean to say Martin Luther was not born again?' Sure Luther was born again. This mighty saint of God was the "angel" or major apostle to the Sardis Church Age. What he preached was Life, the new birth or the baptism with the Holy Ghost to the saints of his Age. You must have the revelation of Justification, but by itself Justification will not place one in Christ today, so don't try to impersonate the Sardis Age.
'Did John Wesley have the Holy Ghost?' Sure, Wesley was a Spirit-filled man of God, and the "angel" or Messenger to the Philadelphian Age. It was his revelation of Scriptural Holiness added to Justification that built the Body of Christ in the Philadelphian dispensation.
'What about Branham, was he baptized with the Spirit?' Certainly, he was the prophet messenger to Laodicea whose ministry restored the faith by which Christ and the saints will judge the world. However the revelation which placed William Branham in the Body will not work today. Pentecost is over; All Seven Church Ages are over. The Seven Seals have been revealed, the perfect interpretation of the Word is come, and that which was in part is no longer sufficient to give the new birth, because He is no longer a Mediator for a partial understanding of the Word (I Corinthians 13:10; I John 1:7).
It is absolutely imperative we know and understand God's Word teaches that the Feasts of natural Israel were types.
The whole of the Gentile dispensation is the antitype of the Pentecostal Feast (Leviticus 23:9-21). It commenced with Pentecost, represented in the Old Testament by the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when the saints understood and held the common faith, followed by the seven Sabbaths or rests of the Seven Church Ages.
As the church grew, it attracted a mixed multitude. Not all were elect. It "left its first Love," Christ the Word, in the Ephesian Age (Revelation 2:4), suffered the "deeds" of nicolaitanism through Smyrna, enshrining them as "doctrine" in Pergamos where the Roman Catholic denomination organized, then brought almost one thousand years of Dark Ages upon the world through Thyatira. While the last three Ages encompassed the Reformation of the Roman Catholic system of false worship.
From Pentecost and through all seven Church Ages, Christ held the Office of Mediator. Initially He interceded in behalf of the early saints on account of their ignorance of the Word and the influence of Jewish myths and traditions. By about AD600 when Gentiles became the majority, the faith had been mixed with Jewish ritual (Easter or Passover, incense, and the attempted reintroduction of the Aaronic priesthood in the Papacy). Many purely pagan ideas also entered (like the trinity; ancestor worship, deification of dead 'saints,' the introduction of images, idols, altars, burning candles, Christmas, etc). The Dark Ages had begun: soon the saints would be martyred by the false church, and 'the' faith, which lived in their hearts, would be lost.
Throughout all seven Church Ages, Christ interceded in behalf of the saints who were worshiping Him ignorantly according to their hybrid religions. If they were living in the Light revealed for their age Christ received that revelation and baptized them into the Body, placing their ignorance under the blood. He continued as Mediator so long as the Bible was sealed with Seven Seals or until the last saint predestinated to the Laodicean Church Age was redeemed. Then His Ministry of intercession was completed. The Church Ages were over, and it was time to fulfill Revelations 4,5, and 10:1-7. It was time to commence the holy convocation that completes the Pentecostal Feast with the resurrection of the Gentile Bride.
When the Twenty-four Elders advertised for a kinsman redeemer Jesus came forward to claim His Rights. From the hands of God He took the Title Deed to earth that Adam had forfeited. Then He tore open the Seals and revealed the Mystery of Redemption to the "angel" of Revelations 3:14. In his turn God's prophet revealed to the Church the mystery of who is in the Body and how they were redeemed. This revelation is calling Christ's end-time Bride out of every denomination into the Fullness of the Word, for the manifestation of the sons of God and the translation.
So there were Seven Church Ages, each with a Messenger, whose Message was the baptism of the Holy Ghost and eternal Life to those who received It by faith, but Death to those who rejected It. A portion of God's Word (or Spirit) was allotted to each Age. All those elected by God's foreknowledge were predestinated to receive It and became the manifestation of that Word in their day.
These seven different baptisms of the Holy Ghost during the Church Ages were like the manna that brought life to the children of Israel during their journey to the Promised Land. Each portion of the Word could only manifest that portion of the Life of Christ in It's day. Whenever it was served on a subsequent day it brought spiritual sickness and Death. Your denomination cannot disclose this truth without exposing the fact that it is impersonating the Word for a day gone by. Denominations are no longer ruled by the Word but by all too powerful organizations committed to administering multinational institutions and are not free to serve the Living God as the Spirit leads. Consequently, those within these walled cities are bound by contractual obligations to government and unscriptural church business commitments.
Let's see what the gates of hell are against. They're not opposed to the denominations. Governments recognize them all, and Satan is head of all state governments. The world recognizes our denominations - all of them, and Satan is the god of this world. Jesus said that the gates of hell are against Spiritual revelation like the present Truth that Christ is here now, the same yesterday, and today, and forever. They are not against the garnished memorials to what He accomplished through Luther, Wesley, the Baptists, or Pentecostals in Ages gone by.
The specific evidence of the baptism with the Holy Ghost manifest a different portion of Word in each Age. Unless we are walking in the Light as Christ is in It we are not born again and cannot receive the genuine baptism with the Holy Spirit. Christ is the living Word, that's why you can't be born again by theology taught in Bible school. What worked in Grandma's day will confuse and lead you away from God in this day, make you two-fold more a child of hell.
Since we have the Fullness of the Word, Christ is no longer a Mediator. His Bride is maturing in the unity of the faith to reflect the Word, not a creed. The evidence of the new birth or baptism with the Holy Ghost is being under preeminence to the Word God is fulfilling now (John 5:19; Ephesians 5:24; Revelation 22:17-19).
During the Church Ages the saints were constantly arguing with God. They said, "You are a trinity, I believe in the holy Roman Catholic church, the communion of saints." The Bible says, "I Am One Person, One God, One Lord, the trinity is pagan. . . God does know Who and What He is; Rome is the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth; communication with the dead is spiritualism; if you can speak with them they're not saints, and not under the Blood." But as go-between, Christ reconciled His Elect with God.
The Church Age saints said, "We baptize in the Name of the Father, and in the Name of the Son, and in the Name of the Holy Ghost" changing those three Titles into three names to justify their trinity of gods. The Bible says, "My One redemptive Name is LORD JESUS CHRIST. In vain do you baptize for remission of sins . . . teaching for Doctrine the commandments of men." But Christ was a go-between during the Church Ages, reconciling the ignorance of His Elect with God the Word whilst the Book was sealed.
When the unfolding of the Seven Seals revealed Christ the Fullness of the Word, that which was in part - the seven portions of Word or Spirit which birthed the Church Age saints, was done away (I Corinthians 13:10).
The evidence of the new birth today is perfect faith. Notice, Mr. Critic and Mr. Unbeliever, I said perfect understanding, not all faith. Jesus will be revealing Himself throughout Eternity.
The end-time Bride is one in agreement with God, as Jesus prayed in John 17:21-26 - by perfect faith. With faith there can be no disagreement between ourselves and God. Faith is Oneness. We don't need a Mediator, for the mind that was in Christ is now in us. Do you see It (Amos 3:3).
I trust the Lord Jesus is unfolding these things to your understanding. I realize these things are so contrary to what you ministers and Bible students have learned. The Bible spoke of a time when every church and every minister would be found to be in error. So please be patient with me Brethren, and know most assuredly I am not trying to 'unchristianise' anyone. As you verify these things in your own Bible, you will recognize this is the Grace of God toward you.
If the Church had actually been preaching THUS SAITH THE LORD all these years there would have been no need for Christ to be a Mediator. He was a Mediator because the saints were not in agreement with the Word. For 500 years true Christians were known as Reformers. But the Bible says nothing about "reforming God's Word:" His Word never changes. It was Roman Catholic beliefs and their system of worship which was being 'reformed.' The Reformers were trying to return to the resolutions established after the First Nicea Council of AD325 where the Roman Catholic church was organized.
It is impossible to 'reform' God's unchanging Word. But the Bible does teach a restoration of the Word which had become lost to the people - buried under man-made creed and tradition (Joel 2:25; Acts 3:19-26). We must find God's prophet, as His Word comes only to a prophet. We can not be restored to the original and only faith of the Church fathers, unless we receive the revelation this man is commissioned to restore in our day (Malachi 4:5-6; Matthew 17:11).
The Bible says, before the Seventh Trumpet Angel calls Israel to recognize their Atonement, God sends us a prophet with THUS SAITH THE LORD to call His Bride out of all those man-made traditions into Oneness with the Word by Agreement of Faith. Once the Word is restored, "that which was in part was finished," and the days of ignorance are over. Christ is no longer a Mediator.
Don't reject the Holy Spirit for the sake of denominational approval. The cry in the last Church Age is to admit "I am wrong". Let's be God-pleasers like Enoch, not men-pleasers like the denominational churches (Revelation 3:14-22).
Let's all lay aside our denominational differences with the Bible (sin), and each other (pride,) which so easily beset us and run with patience the race that is set before us, searching what God's Bible promised He would do in this present day and walk in the Light He is in now.
The hour is desperately late. Bible believers who can see these things clearly in God's Word, please share the Message with others through the life you live, your computer modem, fax, the postal system, your Bible studies and preaching. I appreciate your letters and questions through which the Lord shows me how I can best serve you in the faith. When you see Light or revelation through this ministry vindicated in the Bible, step into It and watch as more Light unfolds. When you have queries or doubts, pray about them and search the Scriptures before writing, believing the Holy Spirit, Who is a Dissolver of doubts, will supernaturally guide the ministry to address the matter over this pulpit. God richly bless you.