The Hand Of the Lord Org
The Hand Of the Lord Org
Acts 1:4-5 New Living Translation
4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
4-18-22
A couple of weeks ago, I was telling an anecdote about when I helped a believer receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. I told how that he had both Oral Roberts and Kenneth Hagin pray for him to receive it, yet never did.
I began telling the story of how this waitress that I worked with had told me about the fellow and how I ask her to bring him up to the restaurant that I was working at. After she did, we prayed, he received it, and then I just added him to my list of those who I have prayed for and they always have received it with the manifestation of "Speaking in Tongues," which followed.
Well, I used to love doing that because there are many times when you minister to individuals, and not only do they feel that incredible joy that only comes from heaven, but you get to feel it as well.
There have been a number of times when I prayed for specific individuals and almost always every one had received the "gift of tongues." I believe that there was only one or two who never did and if I remember right one wasn't serious and another was cut short because of a lack of time.
Nevertheless, after a few years, what I had found out was that basically there were three reasons why an individual would not receive the "Baptism."
Number one was because these "potential candidates," couldn't understand that "God is no respecter of persons."
Please read the following.
God No Respecter Of Persons
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
In Romans 2:11 we read that “there is no respect of persons with God,” and these very words, with slight variations, are found many times in the Bible. How wonderful! No “big wheels” with Him! Rather, all stand on the same footing before His bar of justice.
Do you know why the kings in Israel’s history were — and were meant to be — so rich? This was so that they might rule with true justice, beholden only to God. The rich could not bribe the king, nor could the powerful intimidate him, for he was far richer and more powerful than they. There was only one person over the king, spiritually: the prophet, who kept reminding him of the Word and the claims of God.
Well, God is infinitely richer than all the wealthy rulers, barons and money magnates of this world put together, thus there is “no respect of persons with Him.” Also, justice is one of His divine attributes, hence it is unthinkable that He should show favoritism.
But now a question: If God is no respecter of persons, why did He favor one nation, Israel, above all the rest and, for many centuries, bless them above all others? The answer: God made a difference to show that “there is no difference” (Rom. 3:22,23). He made an artificial difference, a dispensational difference, to show that there was no essential difference, no moral difference. He erected a “middle wall of partition” between us to show that that wall must be broken down (Eph. 2:14-16).
And thus it is the same God who once said to Israel:
“Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant … Unto you first…” (Acts 3:25,26)
— this same God now says:
“There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek [Gentile], for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:12,13).
You see, God doesn't care if you are rich or if you are poor if you are wild or sedate if you are a little 'nuts,' or a lot of 'nuts.' He doesn't care if your parents were the world's greatest Theologians, or have been cursing God every day for the last sixty years of their lives. God doesn't care if your parents have been attending church for fifty years, or if you only attended a few in your life. He really really really doesn't care because He is no respecter of persons.
Whenever I brought someone to an altar in order to help get them Baptized in the Holy Spirit, never once did I hear the Lord say, "Hey, wait a minute, I am not going to Baptize that guy, he dropped out of third-grade Catechism."
Nope, never heard it once.
So, that's what I learned to do first, I explained to the prospective Convert that if God gave the Holy Spirit with the "Gift of Tongues," to me, then He was going to give it to you. If God has been giving it to murderers on Death Row, why would he withhold it from you?
If God was partial to a person's denomination, and only want to give it to a Pentecostal individual, then that would make him a "Respecter of Persons."
The Church doesn't receive such a gift because of your standing in a Charismatic Church or a Pentecostal Denomination. No, it was offered to all of mankind because Jesus died and rose from the dead as a perfect and complete sacrifice. In other words, he purchased this gift to send to all who will accept it, so long as you understand that it was given to every individual and it is given freely by the one who paid for it with his shed blood and crucifixion.
"God is no Respecter of Persons."
Another thing that I would always show them was the scripture where Jesus promised to give the Holy Spirit to the believer. One of my favorite scriptures was this:
Luke 11:13 New Living Translation
13 So if you sinful people 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.”
Matthew 7:7-12 New Living Translation
7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
In this passage, Jesus is also trying to give the believer a truth and that is that "This Gift," of the Holy Spirit is a wonderful thing to have in your life. He says, "if your son asks for a fish would you give him a snake?" You see, Jesus had the ability to look ahead in time and he knew the hypocrisy of the church.
For years, there were denominations that swore that the "Gift of Tongues," was of the devil."
What is funny, was that the only thing that ever really changed their mind was when they began "cashing in," on the Praise and Worship Christian industry. I mean, "Who the hell cares where their 'tongues,' come from, so long as we can get in on the bottom floor of that huge Christian CD racket that the secular industries are manipulating for billions."
Have you ever thought that, if it wasn't for the billions of dollars from the record industries, the Pentecostal Church and Baptist Church might still be split today?
So anyway, you have to convince by scripture that the Holy Spirit is a good thing for a believer to receive and you have to make sure that they understand that God is no respecter of Persons.
Nonetheless, what everybody ought to understand is that the Holy Spirit was given with the purpose of bringing the believer into a closer relationship with the Father and with Jesus. The Holy Spirit is a Person. He is the Spirit of Jesus. When you accept Him you are accepting the Nature of God which should allow you to walk on the Earth as Jesus walked. This was why Jesus said:
John 14:12 New Living Translation
12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.
Well, so far we have shown that God is no respecter of persons, and therefore if I want what Jesus promised to every believer, I not only have the right to ask for it but He ought to give it to me, as he made a promise to.
Nevertheless, there are two other reasons that Satan will use to keep a believer from receiving the Holy Spirit.
The first one will be that the devil will tell you and convince you that you have a "sin," so much greater than anyone else, that you will never be able to receive it.
"Yes," he will say, "God has offered it to all, but most people haven't committed as many sins as YOU."
Or perhaps, it might be along these lines, "Oh yea, he forgives, BUT do you remember when you did this particular 'Sin,'" and he will name the sin and tell you that God can't forgive that one.
Or his absolute favorite one is this: "Hey, do you recall when you cursed or blasphemed the Holy Ghost?
Haven't you ever read where it says that all sin will be FORGIVEN except the BLASPHEMY of the Holy Ghost?"
"Gotcha, God will never ever give the Holy Spirit to you, you BLASPHEMER going straight to hell and will never ever be forgiven, just as it says in his word." You filthy degenerate you are lucky that he is given you daily breath if it were me..."
If you haven't heard, "Satan is the accuser of the brethren."
Well, this is what that scripture means, it means that if an individual goes through life "blaspheming" or hating God, never accepting Him, never knowing His goodness, then upon that individual's death there will be no Holy Spirit to "raise him from the dead, as Christ was raised from the dead and sits at the Fathers right hand."
But the Bible explicitly says that the same Spirit which raised Christ from the dead will be the same Spirit that will raise us, as well. Unless, of course, you are a blasphemer meaning one who has never asked God in his heart and walks as an enemy to God.
Romans 8:11 New Living Translation
11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
In other words, you will not be raised to life, but be considered a blasphemer of God.
So, yes you can take the Lord's name in vain, and still be a candidate of his great mercy and love, and also receive the gift that he promised you, whether that is becoming 'born again," or a receiver of the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit," with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
I told the story the other day, of a believer who could not receive the "Gift of Tongues," even though he had Oral Roberts and another great Church leader once pray for him.
In that case, I had to "lay hands on the man and discern why or what was holding him back from releasing his FAITH so he could accept the gift." After I laid hands on the man the Lord spoke to me and said that while growing up this man had committed the sin of incest.
Well, once God revealed what was holding this man's Faith back. it was easy to break Satan's lies. I then had to convince him that "The Power of the Blood of Jesus covers all sin, no matter how serious we believe our transgressions are."
I even had to point out that for him to continue to believe that God's blood wasn't more powerful than his little sin, was tantamount to blaspheming God?
Not that his transgression was little, but compared to the innocent blood our Savior shed and the wounds that he encountered and the death upon a tree, and for the fact that he had come from God willing to give his life for man, how can you compare?
It was like telling God "My issues are greater than your blood or promise of forgiveness."
Absolutely not, we are talking about the God of the universe who offered up his Son to die in order to save mankind.
So, up to now, we know that it is God's intent to give the Holy Spirit just as Jesus told his disciples and promised it to all of them. Not just to his Apostles, or Prophets, or inner circle, but to all. He said, "Go and wait for the promise of my Father...(to any who would dare to believe)
We can see that a person has to understand that it is a good gift and that God is not going to give you something that will make you do evil or is evil. Jesus or the Bible refers to him in many ways, the Counselor, the Comforter, the Spirit of wisdom, or the Spirit of Knowledge, among other descriptive names.
Then the individual has to understand that God is not a respecter of persons. He does not favor one person over another because we are all equal in his eyes. he didn't die just for the good man, he died for all men.
Next, the prospective candidate has to understand that there is no sin that would keep God from giving the Holy Spirit to a man. He must understand that Jesus has cleansed you of all sin, upon repentance, so you are now a clean vessel that He can pour into you His Holy Spirit.
Well, there was one other thing that kept multitudes from receiving this free gift, so many people would tarry at the altars, sometimes for years before receiving it.
Did you hear me?
There was one other "blockage" which kept these individuals from receiving this "Free Gift," from the Lord Almighty.
Unfortunately, in the church, some pastors always like to be in control. Therefore, in many congregations, these clergy could be more hurtful than helpful.
Some would even preach that if you gave up this or you gave up that then you would be pleasing to God, and He might, who knows, but this coming Revival night, he might just give the "gift of tongues," to those who have been a tarrying?
Or there were others, I am sure who might have suggested, "Well, my little flock perhaps, you have never received the "Gifts," because you have never Tithed, or given enough to the Church?"
I don't know, I wasn't in your little church services, but what I came to learn in the Spirit was that many people would not receive from God because they were really trying to purchase what cost God's true Son his entire life given as an offering on a Cross.
"Oh God, if you give me the Baptism, I will quit smoking those cigarettes behind the barn."
"Oh God, if you give me the gift of speaking in tongues, I promise I will quit meeting up with the Pastor's daughter after Sunday meal."
"Oh God, if you give me the Gifts, I will go to Tibet and become a missionary."
"Oh God, if you just give me these gifts of tongues, I will never drink a drop of alcohol again."
I don't know, I forget, but a few times, I was able to hear into the Spirit realm when these believers had been brought to an altar.
And standing there in the Spirit I just knew that what they were doing was wrong.
I mean, you have to truly understand the worth of the gift that God gave to man in order to redeem man back to Himself. You have to comprehend what Jesus suffered, or what he went through when he willingly gave his life up to one of the cruelest forms of torture and death that had ever been conceived by man.
And then imagine how God must feel when the obvious is ignored and he hears us offering Him a gift of quitting smoking, or drinking, or behaving wickedly?
I can hear God in heaven, "Wow, that's good, but do you have anything else you can trade to equal the death and torture that my son went through in order to freely give you this gift?"
So, the last requirement that a person needs to know so that their spirit man can be opened in Faith to receive such a gift from heaven is that they have to understand that it is freely given, bought, and paid for by God Himself. You can't earn it, your pastor can't talk you into receiving it, there is nothing on this Earth that is even close to what its true value really is, there is no promise there is no sacrifice there is absolutely nothing that one can do to have God release it into your spirit. No, it must be received by faith as part of the sacrifice that Jesus gave to mankind.
Plain and simple!
Steps to be Baptized in the Holy Spirit
(w/ the evidence of speaking in tongues.)
Step One:
We can see that a person has to understand that it is a good gift and that God is not going to give you something that will make you do evil or is evil. Jesus or the Bible refers to him in many ways, the Counselor, the Comforter, the Spirit of wisdom, or the Spirit of Knowledge, among other descriptive names.
Step Two:
Then the individual has to understand that God is not a respecter of persons. He does not favor one person over another because we are all equal in his eyes. he didn't die just for the good man, he died for all men.
Step Three:
Next, the prospective candidate has to understand that there is no sin that would keep God from giving the Holy Spirit to a man. He must understand that Jesus has cleansed you of all sin, upon repentance, so you are now a clean vessel that He can pour into you His Holy Spirit.
Step Four:
(You cannot make any kind of deal which will motivate God to give you it.)
NO BARGAINING WITH GOD.
So, the last requirement that a person needs to know so that their spirit man can be opened in Faith to receive such a gift from heaven is that they have to understand that it is freely given, bought, and paid for by God Himself. You can't earn it, your pastor can't talk you into receiving it, there is nothing on this Earth that is even close to what its true value really is, there is no promise there is no sacrifice there is absolutely nothing that one can do to have God release it into your spirit. No, it must be received by faith as part of the sacrifice that Jesus gave to mankind.
You simply have to believe for it through Faith in Jesus.
(Actually, it should be the easiest thing in the world to receive because the onus is on God doing all the work. Again, there is nothing you can do to earn it or receive it other than to believe that it's God's will for you to have it.)
God bless, I hope this helps some!
Hebrews 11:6 New American Standard Bible
6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him.
Hebrews 10:38 New American Standard Bible
38 But My righteous one will live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.
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