| Baptism of the Holy Ghost Leads to True Religion |
Today's Text:
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. John 14:26
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The Message:
The Lord will enrich the minds of those who are searching for the hidden treasures of truth. What promise did our Lord Jesus Christ make to His disciples to furnish them with consolation in view of His departure from them? It was the promise of the Holy Spirit of God. The divine influence of the Holy Spirit was to cooperate with the human mind and bring to their remembrance whatsoever Christ had spoken unto them. The great need of this time of peril is the Holy Spirit, for it will bring to the receiver all other blessings in its train. The truth believed will transform the character.
In the light of the truth that is shining in our day, we are reproved for the dearth [scarcity] of the Holy Spirit. This lack is an evidence that there is not an abundance of that faith which works by love and purifies the soul. As long as individuals are content with a mere theory of truth, and are yet lacking in the daily operation of the Spirit of God upon the heart, which is manifested in outward transformation of character, they are cutting themselves off from the qualification that would fit them for greater efficiency in the Master's work. Those who are devoid of the Holy Spirit cannot be faithful watchmen upon the walls of Zion, for they are blind to the work that ought to be done, and do not give the trumpet a certain sound.
The baptism of the Holy Ghost as on the day of Pentecost will lead to a revival of true religion, and to the performance of many wonderful works. Heavenly intelligences will come among us, and men and women will speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Spirit of God. But should the Lord work upon people as He did on and after the day of Pentecost, many who now claim to believe the truth would know so very little of the operation of the Holy Spirit that they would cry, "Beware of fanaticism." They would say of those who were filled with the Spirit, "These men are drunk with new wine." [Acts 2:13.].
The time is not far off now when men will want a much closer relation to Christ, a much closer union with His Holy Spirit than ever they have had, or will have, unless they give up their will and their way, and submit to God's will and God's way. The great sin of those who profess to be Christians is that they do not open the heart to receive the Holy Spirit. When souls long after Christ, and seek to become one with Him, then those who are content with the form of godliness exclaim, "Be careful; do not go to extremes."
When angels of heaven come among us and work through human agents, there will be solid, substantial conversions, after the order of the conversions of the day of Pentecost. Now brethren, be careful and do not go into human excitement. But while we should be careful not to go into human excitement, we should not be among those who will raise inquiries and cherish doubts in reference to the work of the Spirit of God, for there will be those who will question and criticize when the Spirit of God takes possession of men and women, because their own hearts are not moved, but are cold and unimpressible.
Conversion among the people is what we must see, before they are made ready to stand in the great day of God. Truth is always aggressive, it is not a passive, dead element; it is a working power that operates upon the hearts of those who believe. The Lord never honors cold Pharisaism and unbelief. Let all our brethren read the first few chapters of Acts, and see how the Lord has worked and how He will work where faith is cherished in the hearts of His people. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but let every one serve God with pure, clean, unselfish hearts, having an eye single to the glory of God. We need power from above, a more than mortal power, to accompany the proclamation of the last message of mercy to our world. With this power victories will be achieved that will make manifest that divine power accompanies the words of the human agents whom God is using to defeat the lying wonders of this degenerate age.-Letter 27, 1894.
*Note: I have added in the parts that were left out by the compilers for what ever reason, that the true sentiment of the author may be seen. These parts are underlined.
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Commentary:
My friend, the Spirit that is to lead us to all truth is the Spirit of Christ. In John 14 when Christ was preparing them for what was to come, they did not understand the plain teachings that He was giving them. As such He began to use illustrations that they would understand what was to come. In John 16:25 He said "These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father."
As such the verses in John 14:16, 17 were an illustration of the truths that He was trying to share with them. He said "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." Jesus used the illustration of the Comforter to show how He would be with them always, for He said in verse 18 "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." He was saying that He would personally be with them through His Spirit.
Jesus was not saying that God would send another being, but that He would send them Jesus in another form and in another way. "...but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." (verse 17). He also said that the Comforter was the Spirit of truth, and just prior to that He said "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) Therefore the Spirit of Truth is the Spirit of Christ.
It is very sad that the doctrine of the trinity distorts the words of Christ to point us to another being to comfort us and to connect us with the Father, when Jesus said "... no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
My friend, if we are to have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we must understand who that Spirit is. If we are believe that the Holy Spirit is not the Spirit of Christ, then we are receiving a different spirit then the one that Jesus promised to give.
May you open your eyes to the deception that has been played upon you and reject the trinity that you may receive the Spirit of God through His Son Jesus Christ today.
God bless,
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
The Trinity is the foundational teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, by it comes all of her doctrines, to include Sunday sacredness. While the Seventh-Day Adventist Church states that their trinity is different from the Catholic trinity, why does the Catholic Trinity look the same as the Seventh-day Adventist trinity?
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Video of the Week
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| The Living Temple (Lobelville) - David Clayton |
David Clayton give us a very clear message that shows us how the Spirit of God is to live within us. This message will open the eyes of the truly sincere to the work that must happen within our hearts. The cleansing of the temple in Heaven must also happen in all those who will be saved.
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