It's Time to Fight Fire, With Fire!

Exodus 7:10-12

“So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the Lord had commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent! [11] Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. [12] They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents! But then Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.”

There is a word that has been in my mind all week, it’s the word ‘Fire.”

If someone were to walk into a room and yell, ‘FIRE,” the whole atmosphere would change, hearts would race, eyes would open wide, nobody would just sit there, everyone would be looking for the exits wondering where the fire is, and somebody would run for the fire extinguisher.

But I want to tell you this morning about a fire, that we don’t want to run from. A fire, that we’re not looking to extinguish, and that shouldn’t send us running for the exits. Friends I am talking about a fire that we should be crying out for; the fire of the Holy Ghost!

What we're seeing in this text is a power confrontation: The power of hell versus the power of God. I am compelled to tell you today; the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ must catch FIRE. There is an unholy, satanic, and demonic fire that is being unleashed in the earth today; and the sleepy, sloppy, passive, half-hearted slumbering, half-baked churches and church members aren’t qualified to deal with it. It’s going to take a Holy Ghost Fire baptized church that can pray heaven down and cast hell out.

Hell is on fire: The devil is sending his fire out against the church. In other words, the snakes are coming out of the woodpile, they're coming out of hiding, they are bringing hell fire destruction, and friends I’m telling you, that a bunch of wet blankets won’t extinguish their poison.

I am sure that most of you have heard the saying, “You’ve got to fight fire with fire.” Well, it’s true; nothing less than the fire of God that can put out hell's fire.

Even Shakespeare spoke of this fire against fire, “Be stirring as the time; be fire with fire; threaten the threatener, and outface the brow of bragging horror.”

Friends you might be saying by now, “you’re laying it on pretty thick aren’t you, surely it’s not that bad?” Yes, it is that bad! And any Pastor, minister, evangelist, or leader that does not sound the fire alarm to anyone who will listen is failing in their call, and is inviting disaster.

When witches are banding together and calling for the country to join them in casting spells hexes and curses against the president and the Supreme Court: We have a problem and it's not a disagreement of political parties, it's spiritual warfare! The snakes are coming out of the wood piles!

 And the most important thing the ministry can do today is to equip the saints to fight.

It's time for the Church to pray! ‘Now I lay me down to sleep’ prayers won't work here. If the church in the book of Acts would have prayed those type of wimpy prayers for Peter, he would have died. But the church went into deep spiritual warfare, they went into heaven-shaking, hell-breaking, unceasing prayer, and God sent an angel who delivered Peter from the same fate that James suffered.

It's time for the church to wake up! This is no time for the church to rest on her laurels, is the time for the church to catch fire!

I haven’t been focused on the Holy Ghost so much lately, because I think it would be neat for you to speak in tongues. I am focused on the baptism in the Holy Ghost, because hell is being unleashed against the church and in the world, and the only thing that will qualify you, equip you, and empower you to fight against it, is the Power of the Holy Ghost and Fire.

The Holy Ghost baptism is a fire baptism, you cannot separate the fire from the Holy Ghost. Fire has always been a symbol of the Lords presence among his people. Fire has always been an identifying characteristic of the people of God. Fire is heavens answer to our prayers, and it is heavens solution for our weakness. Fire is Heavens witness to an acceptable sacrifice, any time God finds an acceptable sacrifice he testifies and responds to it, and answers from heaven by fire.

Romans 12:1

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.”

Fire is Contagious; if there is material, the fire will burn. Proverbs 26:20 says, “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out:”

Wherever there are hungry hearts, the fire will burn!

The Fire of God will burn out of you everything that is not like God; it will burn out selfishness, anger, drug addiction, alcoholism, lust, bigotry, fear, pride, deceitfulness, and unforgiveness. There are too many people in the church who want to know God, just as ‘Blesser,’ but God is not just a “Blesser,’ He is a possessor! God wants to possess you, He wants to fill you, control you, and flow through you. Jesus, the Holy Ghost, wants to make you a channel of his power.

When the Holy Ghost came on the day of Pentecost: He came as a rushing mighty wind and tongues of fire. Why? Because God knew the church without power was no match for the devil. He knew that hell’s fire was burning against the church, and the only thing that could put it out was fire From Heaven.

It’s still true today: I pray about many things through the week, but at the top of my list, and first in priority is, God send the fire. Baptize me with fresh Holy Ghost, and Baptize your church in the Holy Ghost.

The fire of God is not a mental concept or idea to be analyzed by the mind: The fire of God is the tangible manifested power of God – it is Heaven touching earth. The power of God invading the earth's realm, consuming your mind, your soul, your body, and setting you on fire for his Kingdom Sake.

This is not a time for the Church to go AWOL, it is the time for the church to catch fire, so that we can fight hell’s fire with fire from Heaven.

What's In Your Belly?

John 7:37-39 (KJV)

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Acts 1:8

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

Acts 2:38

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Friends, if you haven’t figured it out by now, I am a Pentecostal, and this morning the message the Lord has given me to share is from the heart of a man who knows that trying to live a holy life without the power that comes from the baptism of the Holy Ghost, is impossible.

For generations, the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and the ministration thereof has been going through a process of disintegration; not from Gods perspective, but from man’s perspective. Disintegrate means to break apart, dissolve, to break up, or crumble. We have reached the place where even within many so-called ‘Pentecostal' denominations, the baptism of the Holy Ghost has been reduced to the mere acknowledgement of an indwelling presence of Jesus experienced by all believers.

There is today, not only a depreciation for speaking with other tongues as the spirit gives the utterance as the initial sign and evidence of being Spirit filled, there is tremendous opposition against speaking in tongues; because it is not seeker friendly. We are told that it is putting emphasis on the wrong thing and that by acknowledging speaking in tongues as the initial sign and evidence of being baptized, that we are belittling those who do not speak with other tongues. That’s hogwash, and it’s not scriptural!

Friends, if we are going to be New Testament believers, if we are going to be a book of Acts church, and be followers of Jesus, then we must do what he told us to do and follow the example of the Apostles in the book of Acts!

On the day of Pentecost all that were in the upper room were filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance, and every occasion, in the book of Acts (the only NT book that records anyone being filled with the Holy Ghost), when they were filled with the Holy Ghost, they spoke with other tongues.

When the door of grace opened to the gentiles, they received this same gift and spoke with other tongues. And the Jewish believers that were there, knew that they had received the gift of the Holy Ghost. How? “And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. (Acts 10:45-46)”

They knew because, 'they heard them speak with tongues.' And all those there this time spoke the same language, so that different languages thing is out the window this time!

Why is speaking in tongues so important? As my pastor would say, “Glad you asked.”

Because it the reception and activation of this initial gift of the Holy Ghost that opens the door to the operation and the manifestation of the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit that are listed by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12.

The Holy Ghost in you by virtue of the baptism in the Holy Ghost is the river of Ezekiel 47, that brings life everywhere it flows, but it is through the gifts of the Spirit that this river travels and extends itself.

John 7: 38-39 “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

There are no rivers until we receive the Holy Spirit. It is impossible to experience the full, free, and abundant life that Jesus came to give us without the baptism of the Holy Ghost. And without the living water being placed in us by faith, it is impossible for the rivers to bring the blessings of the supernatural power of God into contact with the needs of the lost. Jesus in you, is a blessing to you alone, but it is Jesus flowing out of you through the gifts of the Spirit, that make you a blessing to others.

We must come back to the original purpose and power of the giving of the Holy Ghost: He is to first be in us as helper, teacher, comforter, illuminator, counselor, friend, and power to live a holy life. Then, He is to flow out of us by virtue of the gifts, to bring salvation, healing, deliverance, miracles, and signs and wonders, to set people free.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, (because) he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised… (Luke 4:18)”

How did Jesus do those things? By the gifts of the spirit: every blind eye opened, every demon cast out, every sick body he healed, feeding the multitudes, walking on water, calming the storm with His word, raising Lazarus from the dead, was all one or more of the gifts of the spirit at work in His life.

Acts 10:38

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”

That’s how Jesus did it: By the anointing of the Holy Ghost through the mighty gifts of the Spirit.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (John 14:12)”

Someone might say: ‘Well the gifts of the spirit are only for certain individuals.’ Yes, they are, they are for humans: born again, blood bought, blood washed humans! “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal (1 Corinthians 12:7)

I like the way the Contemporary English Version puts it,” The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.”

Why should we desire spiritual gifts? First, because the Word tells us to. Second, so that we can participate in the process of building up the Church, The Body of Christ. And thirdly, so that we have the power to overthrow the devil’s kingdom in the hearts and lives of lost men and women. The enemy’s kingdom is real, and it is through the gifts of the spirit that we meet the challenges of the enemy and bring deliverance to the oppressed.

Why are so many people unconcerned about the gifts of the Spirit and the operation of these gifts in their lives? Because they are not committed to living a holy life, because they are not committed to the building up and edifying of the church, and they are unconcerned about the condition of the world around them - unconcerned in the sense that they are unwilling to take steps that can make the difference.

To not Know these mighty gifts of power are available is ignorance, but to know and not care, and make no steps to receive them is foolishness.

Acts 2:38 - 39 “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

The promise of the Holy Ghost is to whosoever will repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and the gifts of the spirit are offered, to every believer, on the same basis.

You Don't Have to Be a Blind Beggar

Mark 10:46-52

46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, ‘Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.’

48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, ‘Thou son of David, have mercy on me.’

49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, ‘Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.’

50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?’ The blind man said unto him, ‘Lord, that I might receive my sight.’

52 And Jesus said unto him, ‘Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.’ And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

I’m going to start by stating with authority; someone reading this word is about to be transformed.  God is giving you the opportunity today, to receive your sight. Your eyes are about to be opened to see the life that God has prepared for you. Satan has been lying to you! The devil has been deceiving you, and you’ve been unable to picture what the unfettered power of the Holy Ghost can do in you, and through you. But if you will receive this word today, God’s about to bless you with an incredible vision.

It’s time for you to get indignant, downright angry at the devil. It’s time for you to stand up in the anointing, to move out in faith, and go after your inheritance in Christ. You don’t have to be a victim of your circumstances, sickness can’t stop you, your past can’t stop you, doubters can’t stop you, finances can’t stop you; your circumstances don’t determine your destiny. Stop wearing your circumstances like chains, stop letting them hold you in bondage, stop letting them blind you to the overcoming power you have through the Holy Ghost, and stop letting them keep you from the abundant life that Jesus came to give.  It’s time to break the chains! It’s time to let the Holy Ghost open your eyes so you can see what God sees, and it is time for you to possess the promises!

Blind Bartimaeus represents those trapped in the darkness of sin.  Before we met Jesus we were foul, unclean, polluted by sin, and yet we were so important to God that He manifested Himself in the flesh, He became a man, and He dies for our sins so that we could be free from our sin, so that we could walk in a newness of life, through the power of God, the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Ghost, who lives in every true child of God.

You may be a millionaire, you may live in a mansion, but if you don’t know Jesus, you are no different than a homeless beggar, or someone who is a slave to alcohol and drugs. Without Jesus everyone is in the same condition: blind, lost and polluted by sin. There is only one cure for rich and poor alike, the blood of Jesus.

However, Bartimaeus also represents another group, not in the world but in the church, people who are in the body of Christ, who love God, who are saved, but are living a limited life.  They are living like beggars. They live with the mindset that they are not worthy, that if they could just get the crumbs from the Masters table, they would be satisfied. They are living in spiritual blindness. They are blind to their inheritance in Christ, unaware that being worthy has nothing to do with us and everything to do with Jesus. Our righteousness is in him, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – II Corinthians 5:21

Jesus didn’t come to give us crumbs, He came to give us life and that more abundantly (John 10:10): many have gone to great lengths for eternal life, but fail to experience abundant life right here, right now. Jesus came to give us power to live extraordinary lives, and yet so many are satisfied with crumbs.

The road represents the place where the business of life is going on.  And Jesus is coming toward you on the road and He carries with Him, the anointing that brings peace, joy, abundant life, and God’s favor.  Too many of God’s children are like Bartimaeus, stuck on the side of the road begging.  People who love God and yet they are willing to live a substandard life. Willing to eat a bologna sandwich, when there is a T-bone steak laid out before them, and all they have to do is make the effort receive it.

Too many of Gods people are saved but they’re living on crumbs, just getting by, trying to hang on and hold out till Jesus comes, saved but living defeated lives.  You are discouraged, anxious, fearful, worried, and stressed out.  You have no peace, no joy, and your life is a life of want, and not abundance.  Jesus didn’t come to bring us a “crumby” life, a life of just getting by, of just surviving, or of just holding on by a thread.  He came to give us abundant life, unlimited life, and a life of Joy unspeakable and full of glory.  He came to give us peace like a river and power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy.

One day Blind Bartimaeus the beggar heard Jesus was coming and he decided that day he wanted abundant life.  He decided he was tired of begging, tired of living on crumbs, tired of being in want, always in need, always in lack, always coming up short, and just barely surviving.

What happened to Bartimaeus that delivered him from the place of living the life of a beggar, with no vision, no dreams, no passion, no hope of better days, just getting by living on crumbs? You say Jesus healed him: Yes, but before healing came, something else happened in him.

First he recognized he had a need and acknowledged his deficiency.  Second, He became desperate for a change, desperate for abundant life, desperate for vision, and he wanted deliverance from a life of impotency, from a powerless life. Third, he recognized that Jesus was the only one who could deliver him, who could open his eyes and bring him into a life of vision, a life of power and abundance.  And finally he sold out, he tossed convention to the side, he wasn’t worried about what anyone thought, he would not be hindered by his circumstances, and did whatever it took to get Jesus’ attention.

A lot of people want what Jesus has, but they’re unwilling to pay for it. No you can’t buy a miracle, you can’t buy Gods presence or power with money.  But it’s not free, it will cost you something: It will cost you your pride, it will cost you your preconceived religious ideas and traditions, it will cost you your old way of doing business, and you’ll have to do what the Holy Spirit tells you to do.  It will cost you time.  It will cost you your old associations, you’ll have to run with a different group of people.  It may even cost you your reputation among men, as you may be criticized and persecuted, you may be labeled a fanatic.

That’s why there are still a lot of blind beggars in the church, they would rather be blind than pay the price to be healed.  They would rather live on crumbs from someone else’s table than to pay the price to receive personal revelation and the abundant presence and power of Jesus in their lives. 

I’m not in a position to criticize: I used to be one of those people.  I would blindly follow and be led around by someone else, living off crumbs because I wasn’t willing to pay the price for personal revelation and have the power of God in my life.  It’s not sin that is keeping most Christians from the abundant life, its self.

Bartimaeus robe represents his old life, the life of “self”.  As he came to Jesus he cast away his robe. He put off the “self” life to receive abundant life.  The only way for you and I to receive the abundant life that Christ came for us to have, is to let the cross deliver us from ourselves.

Friends today God told me to speak to those still begging and remind you: The only way to resurrection power is through the cross.  The abundant life that God offers can only be manifested in us to the degree that the cross has exercised its power over “self” in our life. First comes repentance, we turn around and leave our old life, we throw off the coat of the beggar. Second, we must be baptized for the remission of sin – we follow Jesus in his death and resurrection. The we receive the Holy Ghost which gives us the power to live in Him (Acts 2:38).

Listen to what I am saying!  Your miracle, your healing, your deliverance, and your spiritual breakthrough are in His presence.  There is peace, joy, and restoration are in His presence.  Just lift your hands right now and begin to call on his name.  Don’t watch it pass you by!  Cry out to Jesus and get His attention. Don’t let His presence pass you by.

The Stone Rolling Voice of Jesus

In the first 40 verses of the 11th chapter in the book of John you find the amazing account of the resurrection of Lazarus. The story of Lazarus is one of my favorite stories of the New testament. I love the story of Lazarus because it reminds the reader that, it's not over till God says it's over!

It reminds us that: God can do anything, that God works in the darkest hour, that man's impossibilities are God's opportunities. It teaches us that God is not glorified by our sin, or sickness and disease, but he is glorified by our deliverance, our healing, and our salvation.

In the beginning of the account of Lazarus’ resurrection, word comes to Jesus that his friend Lazarus is sick, but Jesus does not rush off immediately to his rescue, Jesus waits 2 days to respond. So what? What are two days to Jesus? It could just as easily have been 12 years, like the woman with the issue of blood, or 38 years like the man at the Pool of Bethesda. The point is, that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how long you been sick, or how wrong your choices have become, or how strong the chains that have you bound are; it is all the same to Jesus.

The same power that heals a headache, can drive cancer out of your body! The same power that heals a pulled muscle, can drive demons out. The same power provides bread and fish to feed the hungry can heal the blind, make the lame walk, make the deaf hear, and break the power of addiction!

After 2 days Jesus says, “Now Let’s go wake Lazarus up.” Jesus is even reluctant to speak of Lazarus as dead, he simply says: he's asleep and I'm going to wake him up. Because as far as God's power is concerned there is no difference.

God has put someone on my heart this morning, I don’t know who you are, but friend God told me to tell you, ‘your case it's not too hard for Jesus.’ It may be too hard for doctors, but Dr. Jesus will take your case. The marriage counselors may say there’s nothing else they can do; Jesus can restore your marriage. The devil is whispering that your life isn’t worth living anymore, Jesus said that he came to give you life and the devil is a liar! Jesus is the healer, and nothing is too hard for Him!

I love the story of Lazarus because it screams out to me, ‘It's never too late! Never give up! Never quit praying, never quit confessing, never quit praising God, never quit believing!’

We are living in a generation of spiritual zombies, people all around us are lost in a world of depravity, they are truly the walking dead. A generation of millions who have turned their backs on God. Our country is in danger of destruction, and it seems like there is no hope.

For many years the church has used this portion of Scripture to refer to what they have called the Lazarus generation. Because Lazarus represents a hopeless cause, an irreversible situation, a condition beyond repair. That which has gone beyond the Hope of no return, and that, which from all natural evidence is dead and buried.

That’s what it meant when they rolled the stone across the door: It meant, It’s over, it’s passed, it’s decided, it is what it is, and it’s never going to change. But you cannot refer to the story of Lazarus and end at the tomb! The message of Lazarus is one of redemption, of resurrection, of healing and wholeness and deliverance. At the voice of Jesus: Lazarus is raised from the dead and the end becomes a new beginning, where death had reigned life begins again.

And that is the message that God has given me today to proclaim to this Generation, ‘God is not finished with you! You may be bound, you may be full of demons, you make look dead, and act dead, you may look like you’re beyond hope, but at the Sound of His voice, the dead are raised! This generation is not unreachable, and they are not beyond hope.

But the answer is not in religion, it’s not in philosophies, or traditions of man. It’s not in our ideas, or superficial spirituality, or semi-religious songs! It’s not in the I’m okay, you’re okay, judge not lest ye be judged satanic everything goes mindset: Just like Lazarus, if this generation is to be raised from their slumber of death, they must hear the voice of Jesus!

John 5:25

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.”

The sad thing today is that: There are not many places today where Jesus voice is being heard. We’re hearing all kinds of goofy doctrine, and all kinds of self-help gurus, and cheap grace teachings, teachers and life coaches, but we don’t hear very many pure, simple, undiluted, unadulterated preachers of the gospel anymore.

When Lazarus hears the voice of Jesus he was resurrected, and if this Lazarus Generation hears the voice of Jesus they will also be resurrected. They might rise from the dead with green hair, with tattoos, with piercing all over their bodies, and they might even rise from the dead not sure of whether they are male or female, but they will rise and the Church must to be ready to loose them from their grave clothes.

We have to have enough of the love and the compassion of Christ to look beyond their past, and equip them for their destiny. If the Church is not able to do this: As far as making a difference in the world is concerned, the church is irrelevant.

Now I’m going to ratchet up a notch: Friends you might want to check your seat belt and make sure you’re buckled in. I Believe that if we were honest about it, we can see that the Lazarus generation has crept into much of the church in America today.

The church that has fallen asleep. It has become spiritually lifeless, dormant, and powerless. It is important to note that Lazarus was sick before he died. The church has become sick by mixing with the world, the spirit of worldliness has poisoned the church! Something that shouldn't be in the body has poisoned it! Sin is poison to the body of Christ! Sin kills, it destroys, it weakens, and it makes us cowards!

The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion. (Proverbs 28:1)

Sin separates us from God, and robs us of our power!

Lazarus was sick, and by and large today, the Church is Sick. ‘He whom thou lovest is sick.’ God loves the church, but she is sick. Gambling, social drinking, fornication, adultery, pornography, homosexuality, shacking up, perversion, is poisoning churches. If you want to know why the Church today, for the most part, is powerless: it's because she's been drinking poison!

What are you saying preacher? I'm telling you that the church is asleep and many would even go so far as to say dead, But the good news is that Lazarus was raised from the dead! Even though he had been sick and died that wasn't the end of the story!

I don’t know about you, but I’m glad when I was sick and dead in my sin, a praying wife wouldn’t let go! She held onto God, kept praying, kept confessing the promises of God, and kept believing. And I once was dead, but I’m alive again in Jesus! Because He called out to me in the depths of the darkest sin, and I heard His voice. Praise God, I heard His voice!

Somebody I'm speaking to right now through these words, you are just like Lazarus, you are dead and stinking in your mess. But God. But God hasn’t written you off. You did everything you could to roll the stone in front of the door. God loves you too much to give up on you. Some of you are in a mess right now: but Jesus is coming to you.

Some of you feel like you've gone too far, you've done too much, you can never be saved, you can never be free, but that's why this story is in the Bible, to show you the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. To show you the power of His love, and to show you that the power of His love is greater than any Stone that sin has rolled across your life.

Spiritual DNA

Genesis 1:26a

“And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: …”

Genesis 5:1

“This is the written account of Adam's family line. When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God.”

The other day as I was shaving, I was gazing in the mirror at the reflection of my face: I was staring intently trying to determine if what all of my family says about me is true. Do I look just like my father? Honestly, I can’t see it. But every time I visit my family, it’s the same thing – from aunts and uncles, cousins, and even my brothers and sisters, “you look just like your daddy.”

My father passed away about 25 years ago, but I even have one brother that told me that being around me makes him uncomfortable sometimes, because of how much I look like my father.

I started thinking about that commercial on the radio about a website that was created for people to research their family history. Now they have a service where you can send them a DNA sample and they can tell you the origins of your DNA. For the low price of $79.99, you can discover your family’s ethnic make-up.

In that moment of contemplating how awesome it would be to know what that test would reveal about my biological make-up, the Lord spoke to me: “You’re going through a test right now, aren’t you? What is this test going to reveal about your spiritual make-up? How much of my character is going to be found in you? What is your spiritual DNA? How much do you look like Jesus?”

As Believers we have been born again by the spirit of God into the family of God, we have a new blood line, we are the children of God, we are joint heirs with Jesus, and we have been called out of the ways of men, into the ways of God, and as we progress spiritually, we are supposed to look like Jesus.

Romans 8:29

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

I’m talking about a family resemblance! We are the sons of God!

1 John 3:2

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

By virtue of the new birth, you and I are sons!

When you see a branch of an apple tree, loaded down with apples, you have no difficulty distinguishing its identity. No one wonders if perhaps that branch is connected to a peach tree, or fig tree, because the branch takes on the same character as the tree: it has a family resemblance. Jesus said, “I am the vine ye are the branches.”

In the times we are living in, it is getting harder and harder to distinguish what family many so called “Believers,” belong to. Many Churches are becoming more worldly, and more comfortable with sin. And we laugh at the things that used to make us cry. What used to break our hearts now gets passed off by saying, “it’s just the times we’re in.”

Friends, the truth is: you can dress it up anyway you want to and call it good, but Jesus said the tree is known by its fruit. If the fruit is rotten the tree is rotten. You can’t have a rotten tree and good fruit. The tree may have beautiful branches and leaves, it may look good, and it may sound good, but if it is not being taken care of, being fed the right nutrients, being pruned occasionally, then take look at the fruit – and be careful, because there’s probably a worm inside.

In order to withstand the storm, the tree must be strong. It must have good roots, to bear good fruit, and stand the test of time. If we want to bear good fruit, and stand the tests of life we must be fed in our spirit, so that we can put down good roots.

Ephesian 4:14-19 (NKJV)

“14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Let me take it a step farther, there are only two families in the spiritual sense, that you can belong to: The family of God, or the family of the devil.

John 8:44

“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

1 John 3:10

In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

In the natural many times people will attribute a certain characteristic or personality trait to their bloodline: A bad temper, self-pity, critical, prejudice, untrustworthy –  it’s in the blood. That’s the way his Grandpa was and his daddy – the poor kid didn’t have a chance. It’s a family resemblance.

But as a new creature in Christ Jesus we have a new bloodline, the bloodline of Jesus! And this bloodline doesn’t have any alcoholics, liars, womanizers, or gossips in it! It doesn’t have any prejudice, self-pity, or anger in it! It doesn’t have any diabetes, heart disease, or cancer in it!

Friends, do you follow what I’m trying to say today? I’m talking about a family resemblance! You won’t find adultery, fornication, drug addiction, wife abuse, or child abuse in this bloodline. Too many times Christians want to excuse wrong behavior by saying: "I can’t help it it’s just my nature" – no sir! No ma’am! A true child of God cannot use that excuse because they have a new nature, and a new bloodline! Our Spiritual DNA has been transformed by the renewing of our minds!

We cannot say: “I really am a good tree; you just have to overlook my bad fruit.”

Friend that’s a lie out of hell itself to keep you bound by your past! If the tree is “rooted and established in Christ,” there will be a family resemblance! And it will bring forth the fruits of righteousness, and the fruit of the spirit! If we are being transformed, and not conformed, we’re going to look like our daddy, we’re going to think like our daddy, and act like our daddy.

Ephesians 5:1-14

Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them.

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says:

“Awake, you who sleep,

Arise from the dead,

And Christ will give you light.”

The Power of Pentecost

Acts 2:1-4

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (KJV).”

               I heard a story on time about a vacuum salesman out in rural Texas. He approached an old farm house. Knocked on the door, and he told a lady, "I’ve got the most exciting vacuum cleaner you have ever seen. It will clean your house from top to bottom."

               And the lady said, "It sounds real good."

               Then he said, "You see that big pile of dirt right there on the floor with all those fur balls and bugs and things? This vacuum cleaner will just pick up all those things up just like that, and if it don’t, I’ll eat it."

               She replied, "well you might as well get your knife and fork, because we ain’t got power out here!" - The moral of the story is, you will be sucking up dirt the rest of your life if you do not have power.

               Power is the one thing nations, politicians and the business world covet. But the power that we really need is not an earthly power. God has promised believers Spiritual power. Vance Havner once rightly said, “We are not going to move this world by criticism of it nor conformity to it, but by combustion within it of lives ignited by the Spirit of God.”

               The early church had none of the things we think are so essential for success today: buildings, money, social status, technology, contemporary worship, and yet, the church won multitudes to Christ and saw many churches established throughout the Roman world. Why? Because the church had the power of the Holy Spirit energizing its ministry. They were a people ignited by the Spirit of God.

               The church today needs to discover once again that we have an unchanging God. We need once again to discover the power of Pentecost. That same Holy Spirit power is available to us today to make us more effective witnesses for Christ. The better we understand His working at Pentecost, the better we will relate to Him and experience His power.

               What is Pentecost? It is the fulfillment of God’s promise to His disciples, that they would receive power in order to accomplish His purpose to be witnesses. Today we have become too far removed from the Upper room. We need the upper room experience in 2017, just like they needed it on Azusa Street in 1906! What difference can Pentecost make to you and me, and our world today if we would just tarry, if the church could come together in one accord!

               First, Pentecost provides PURPOSE. Pentecost is from the Greek word meaning 50th. It is referring to the 50th day after the Passover. The Passover was sacrificed on the 14th day of the first month of the year (Abib). The third day following that sacrifice a sheaf of barley harvest was offered to God. That sheaf was the first fruits of the harvest. (See Leviticus 23:15-17)

               Why is all that important? Because the typology teaches us that Pentecost is about the harvest. Jesus established the connection in Acts 1:8. Any time the church loses sight of that connection she gets into trouble. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost for the harvest of souls. We are filled with the Holy Ghost, and empowered, to be a witness. That’s the express purpose of the baptism in the Holy Ghost. On that day 3000 were saved and filled with the Holy Ghost and then return as witnesses throughout the Roman world. When Pentecost comes, it will always align us with God’s purpose. His purpose is the HARVEST!

               Second, Pentecost produces UNITY. One of the common criticisms concerning the baptism of the Holy Ghost, is that it is an experience that divides the church. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is, nothing unites the church more than when the power and presence of Holy Ghost fills a church.

               I have been in a lot of churches over the years, but the church I am a member of currently, is by far, the most unified. I have mentioned to my wife, or should I say asked her on more than one occasion, “have you ever heard anyone saying a bad thing about another person in our church family?” she always answers, “No, not once.”

               I know that there are hypocrites in every church, even ours, but for the most part, the committed members of our church are filled with the Holy Ghost, and we pray for each other, cry for each other, and rejoice with each other! The power of the Holy Ghost produces unity, not division.

               There has been a lot of misconceptions and errors when it comes to unity. To understand what this unity is about, you need to understand that this unity is not a contrived unity manipulated from within. Neither is it a controlled unity that is forced from outside the church. The word Luke uses, is the word ‘homothumadon’. It occurs 11 times in the book of Acts and once in Romans 15:6. It means ‘with one mind together.’ When it is used as an adjective, the word carries the thought of willingly and voluntarily choosing. No one forced these followers of Jesus to be together. They chose, of their own accord to be together, because they had a common cause, a common purpose and a common Savior and a common desire.

               The important thing is this: the day they had been waiting for came! And when it came they were ready. They were all there together in one place doing exactly what Jesus had told them to do. They were praying and waiting for the promise Jesus had given.

               Finally, we will never experience Pentecost until we understand how, Pentecost EMPOWERS ministry. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is the ‘primary empowering of God that every New Testament believer must experience. It is so important, that Jesus gave His followers this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 1:4-5)

               The Greek word for baptize means to be literally immersed or covered over. It does not mean to be lightly dipped or sprinkled. It means to be completely drenched, immersed, and saturated. This means that that the Lords desire to baptize you with in the Holy Ghost, Jesus wants to immerse you in HIMSELF!

               Pentecost can be summed up in one word, CHANGE. This intimate immersion affected both their spiritual awareness and their physical senses. We find here three areas of change that the Holy Spirit brought: First, their hearing was influenced when the sound of a strong, gusting wind filled the house – They began to hear God inspired sound. Then came the appearance of fire that was seemingly magnetic in its attraction to each hungry seeker – they began to see God inspired sights. Not only were their hearing and sight affected, but fire then came to rest upon each one of them as they were all literally filled with the Holy Spirit. The verb which Luke uses for ‘filling’, is used to indicate the process of being anointed with the power of the Spirit for Divine service. The fire fell from Heaven, and separated to rest on each person – their entire existence was SATURATED by God.

               There is only one source of power that the Christian can tap into, to overcome life’s difficulties.  There is only one source of power that we can receive to live in a manner that brings glory to the name of Jesus.  A believer that is filled with power, is a Christian who is living by the power and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

               Pentecost marked the introduction of a completely new way to live according to God’s standards.  In the Old Testament, they relied on their own ability to follow a rigid set of standards to achieve a right relationship with God, to be “righteous.”  Now, in the New Testament with the infilling, or baptism of the Holy Spirit the believer now had a source of power for righteous living that dwells within us and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.

               Every covenant with God is intended to be sealed in blood.  In the OT God gave Moses the Law which laid out the rules for sprinkling the blood of animals over the sins of the people to restore them to fellowship with God.  In the NT Jesus sealed the covenant with his own blood.  His blood is the signature that life in the power of the Spirit is now available to every believer who wants it.

               Every believer should be experiencing the power of a Holy Spirit filled Life. Jesus did not shed his blood just to save you from your sins. Yes, His blood cleanses you from your sin, but it also seals you into a life of covenant living.  Because of this wonderful blood we have become joints heirs with Jesus, the seed of Abraham and children of the promises of God.  The Magnificent blood of Jesus is the introduction of the believer into the life of the Spirit, or living.

               Lev 14: Tells of the cleansing of the leper.  First the blood of the guilt offering was applied to the unclean person’s body and then the priest would apply the oil.  This is symbolic of how the blood prepares us for the anointing. How it must grieve the Lord, for us to stop short of what he paid so high a price for us to have. The will of God is that you be filled with the Spirit, so that we become the channels through which His Spirit flows through, that we become ministers of that anointing.

               The greatest need in our country right now is not different leaders, it is not a better economy, what our country needs now more than anything else if for the Church of Jesus Christ to receive a fresh outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit and to be revisited with New Testament Power and Anointing.

Equilibrium

Isaiah 33:6

“And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.”

Those of you who know my story, know that I was a backslidden preacher who traded his pulpit for a season of sin. It is only by God’s grace and mercy, that I came to my senses before it was too late. I do not consider myself a pastor, a preacher, or a prophet. I write this blog because, even though I tell myself, and the enemy constantly tells me, ‘no one cares what you have to say anymore,’ - “But your message burns in my heart and bones, and I cannot keep silent (Jeremiah 20:9, Contemporary English Version).”

These last several days I have had a lot of time to listen to the voice of the Lord, and I have been hearing something in my spirit, and it has been getting louder and louder. Trying to make sense of some sensless acts of violence in our community, and as I look around, it seems as though the majority of our society has lost their mind.

When the prodigal son in the scriptures came to himself in the pigpen after wasting his substance, and wasting his life on riotous living, he remembered where he had come from. He remembered his father’s house. He remembered what was good and what was evil, he remembered what faithfulness and honesty and integrity and dignity looked like. He remembered what it felt like to be loved.

But this society has gone crazy, it’s as if our nation has been sucked up into a tornado of depravity, and we are spinning out of control, destroying everything that was good about this country as the storm of depravity cuts a path across our nation. Elijah the prophet went up to heaven in a whirlwind of holy fire, but this nation, and this generation, is going to hell in a whirlwind of hell’s fire.

There has always been evil and good in our world, but this is no longer a society that sins and does wrong, it has become a society that pursues, with passion, the most wicked and perverse things that they can do. They pervert truth, rebel against God, spit in his face, and to make a mockery of the cross and the blood of Jesus.

But it’s not just our nation, it’s happening all over the world, nations are being driven by evil, like puppets on a string. They are murderous acting without any concern for human life, their thirst for power and World dominance has made them mad. They’re off their rockers, they’ve lost it, they’ve gone off the deep end, and it seems as if there is not a shred of decency or human compassion left to stabilize their actions.

God has designed something within the human ear, that gives us stability, equilibrium, it’s what gives us the ability to walk around without falling, because we live on a globe that is in constant motion. But if that mechanism in our inner ear is diseased, and our equilibrium, or point of balance is lost it is nearly impossible to bring it back into a state of perpetual stability.

That is what is happening in America the initial equilibrium that we had in this country that was established in our trust and faith in God, and obedience to his righteous commandments, has been lost and we are a nation with no equilibrium. Our nation has become morally unstable. And it appears, from my perspective, that there are no restraints, no efforts being made to pull back on the yoke, and bring us back to course. All stabilizing factors, all common sense, all goodness and decency are being rejected on every hand.

Thank God for what our newly elected president and leaders are trying to do, but it’s not the president’s calling, to fix the soul of this nation. It’s not a race issue, it’s not a political party issue, and it’s not a money issue – it’s a soul issue. Satan is bidding for the soul of this nation, and as far as I can tell, he don’t have much competition!

Too many preachers won’t tell the truth, they want to keep their people medicated and sedated, and in a catatonic state, oblivious to the world around them. They keep them drugged up on feel good messages that never deal with sin, or the consequences, and don’t tell them how to have power over sin and the devil. They reject the only power that helps us conquer sin – Salvation in the only name that can save us, Jesus, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost!

America is in a downward spiral toward destruction, and the majority of the church world is just sitting around singing ‘Kum bay yah.’

Sin is in the church: Homosexuality, alcoholism, gambling, fornication, adultery, pornography, sexual perversion, lust, pride, hypocrisy, false doctrine – telling people that it doesn’t matter what they do or how they live. It’s grace gone wild! It’s already covered, your already justified, there’s no judgement with God. That’s contrary to His Word, “Without holiness, no one will see God (Hebrews 12:14).”

Hell was not the invention of law preaching condemning religious zealots, it is a real place!

Matthew 25:41

“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”

And the bible says because of the pride and rebellion of man Hell has enlarged herself to receive them.

Isaiah 5:14

“Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.”

Friends, I try my best to be a positive preacher, to encourage and strengthen those who suffer, but you can’t heal a cancer with a band aid. You need to burn it out, or cut it out.

Our country including much of the church world today has been thrown off balance and they have lost their equilibrium, they have lost their stabilizing force. I want to speak to you, friends, and tell you today that there is still hope for our nation, there is a way to return equilibrium to a lukewarm church, there is hope for you no matter how far out of control you have become: His name is Jesus!

Jesus is the stabilizing factor, and friends, if we’ve ever needed anything in this world today and in the church: It’s a stabilizing factor, the wisdom and knowledge, of the name that can break every chain, and the power of the Holy Ghost residing in God’s people!

On the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter, after being baptized in the Holy Ghost, preached the first sermon of the Christian Church. He was standing among a crowd of men and women who just 40 or so days before had rejected Jesus and shouted for his execution, and he reminded them of their part in Jesus’ death, “This Jesus, whom you crucified.”

After hearing Peter’s words, it says that they were pricked in their heart and asked Peter, “What must we do to be saved?”

Peter answered them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38, KJV).”

The answer to the question for our world today: What must we do to be saved? Is the same.