What about the end times?

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 

Acts 2:17 NKJV

 In our last study, we began looking at the Holy Spirit and His empowerment. It seemed good to let that word soak in your thinking and understanding another week. So today, I'd like to address some areas concerning Bible prophecy. Needless to say, any end-times study is wrought with much controversy. 

 What is the point of Bible prophecy? The answer is simple and clear. Hope. We who received Jesus have hope. We can have hope in this life no matter how the world and the ways of the world turns. 

 Bible prophecy is not given to create strife and division. I've witnessed how ministers will preach a message on prophecy and whether it was intended or not, give the impression that all they're saying is all these other teachers are wrong and I am right and here is why. That can lead to strife and division in the midst of people.

 Another area I've witnessed how ministers help create atmospheres of division and isolation is when they bring accusations into their teaching. What I mean is this, when you hear a minister proclaim if you don't accept my end-time view then you are promoting fear. You don't believe in a victorious end-time like I do. This isn't ministering life or hope or joy to anyone. All this type of ministry does is force people to choose sides and divide one believer from another. It's yet another subtle form of condemnation.

 We know condemnation is the ministry of death. We know condemnation does nothing but promote a sense of separation. It promotes a mindset that others don't measure up. Thank God for the Finished Work, which shows us who have believed are accepted, approved, and forever forgiven. This Righteousness in Him isn't rooted by what end-time view we take. 

 So which is the right view? That is a question that no one can answer because no matter how much I study, how much of the Word I rightly divide, no matter the context, someone will still disagree. Let's ask another question, would it matter what view I hold, if you still receive the truth of His all the time Goodness, Love, Grace, and Faith, and power from on High, through this ministry?

 I desire above all your growth in Grace. Your growth in Faith. I desire that your Faith grows exceedingly. I desire that you grow deeper in the Love of God, and love for others. I desire you to grow strong in joy, and in the things of the Holy Spirit. Learning how to flow more and more effectively in the Gifts and power of God. Regardless of what end-times view I hold to these are points we all can agree with strongly. 

 That stated I want to clarify, there is no Radical Grace view on end times. We have futurists and those who believe its all fulfilled preaching and teaching the Radical Grace and Goodness of God. So let's throw away the stones brethren. 

 Let's not try to divide ourselves, brethren. I will readily admit I have some concerns and reservations about the idea that all or most Bible prophecy has been fulfilled. Others have concerns about futurists who give the perception that we "check out" and don't engage our culture. So where do we go from here?

9 For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,  1 Thessalonians 5:9 MEV

 No matter what the future holds, this is a promise all believers can cling to and remain steadfast in. We know we are appointed to salvation, preservation, and deliverance, no matter what is happening in this world. This is hope. This is victory in Christ.

 So if we are preaching Bible prophecy, what do we minister? We above all minister hope. We minister His hope in a fallen, fractured creation. We don't promote or advance a sense of fear about the future. We must never proclaim a doom and gloom future. We preach Christ and His victorious work at the Cross, and His soon triumphant return. 

 

Prophecy is given to comfort not bring anxiety, distress, or disturbance. So proclaim His hope above all. When the world is upside down, or all seems to be going well, know our full redemption draws near as Jesus is coming again. We aren't abandoned or alone in this world.

 In summation, never proclaim fear, or dread, or doom and gloom. Don't promote hopelessness. Proclaim His triumphant victory. Don't give in to the temptation to be a tool of division, strife, and isolation. We are one in Christ.

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Who's Afraid of the Holy Ghost? (the Baptism in the Holy Spirit)

 

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:4 NKJV

 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 NKJV

 Today, I'd like to begin a new study on the Holy Spirit by asking a question. Who's afraid of the Holy Spirit? Often the mere mention of the Holy Ghost conjures up much controversy. Why? 

 For one, there isn't much taught about the Spirit. Most ministries simply ignore much of the Spirit's power and supernatural working. Therefore because of ignorance or lack of knowledge on the Person of the Holy Spirit fear can arise. That is when one encounters the Spirit it can make some people uncomfortable. 

 Lastly, religious tradition tries to give a response to the lack of information and actually reinforces the fears many have about the Spirit and His work. Before I go further I would like to dispel myths and answer the objections concerning the Spirit's power, His gifts, and His fullness. You can find objections to the Baptism in the Spirit here, and the objections to tongues or prayer language here. 

 The enemy has a subtle scheme. Sowing seeds of distrust and discomfort his insidious scheme is to make the Comforter, seemingly uncomfortable to God's people. Some people hear people praying in another tongue and it can make them have reservations about the things of the Spirit.

 Why? Because they don't understand the work of the Spirit or they have fears that are sown by the enemy in their thinking or the traditions of men have become a stronghold in their mind. God has never given anything bad to His Church. God gave these gifts to empower us and strengthen and refresh us.

 Let's hear the words of God through Paul to begin.

 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Acts 19:2a NKJV

 Why did Paul ask this question to these believers in Ephesus if we get it all at salvation? Why did Paul ask this question? Didn't he know we get all there is at the point of conversion? 

 All one has to do is look through their Bible in the Epistles and see that Paul affirmed that when we are first saved we have the Spirit within. The Spirit baptizes us into the Body of Christ. He seals us for eternity, we are God's, no longer our own, eternally secure. When we first believed we got all there is to be complete in Christ. That is complete in our identity.

 

 What Paul is referencing is not the Spirit within. Paul wasn't suggesting that these men weren't complete in Christ. Paul was referencing the Spirit upon. Paul was referencing the empowerment of the Spirit we receive after being born again. Look closely at the entire event in Scripture here.

 Paul made sure these men were believers. He baptized them in water upon their belief, their profession of Faith in Christ. At this point, these men were born again, they were saved. This point is essential. Because next, we see Paul lay hands on them. 

 Paul's act of laying hands on them wasn't something needed for them to be saved. This wasn't Paul completing their salvation. We don't need an Apostle to lay hands upon us to be saved. That's not what is occurring here. Paul is laying hands upon them to receive the empowerment of the Spirit after they've been saved. 

 What happens immediately as they receive? They begin to speak with tongues and move in the Gifts of the Spirit. When we receive the Spirit there is always a manifestation of the Spirit. 

This will be the third time I am coming to you. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” 2 Corinthians 13:1 NKJV

 We have three witnesses stating specifically that when people are filled with the Spirit they will speak in tongues. They will experience a manifestation of the Spirit. You can see Acts 2 here, Acts 10 here, and of course, Acts 19 which we just mentioned. 

 The Spirit within speaks of our identity in Christ. He shows us we are Christ's, and no longer our own. He shows us we are Righteous, born again, a brand new creation, totally forgiven once for all time, and complete in Christ. He is our seal, the earnest of our inheritance, the proof we are eternally redeemed, saved, and secure. 

 The Spirit upon reveals to us our empowerment in Christ. We are filled to the overflow with the power of the Spirit. We have the Spirit working through us ministering life to others. Whereas the Spirit within is to strengthen ourselves the Spirit upon us not only builds us up and empowers us, it also allows us to be a greater blessing to the world around us. He bestows a heavenly language with which we can pray out the will of God and receive strength, wisdom, refreshing, and rest as we do so. 

 The Baptism in the Spirit is not about maturity. It isn't about being better than someone else. It doesn't mean one is spiritually superior to another. It's about the empowering of the Spirit. It's the Spirit upon for works of service.

 In summation, don't be afraid of the Holy Ghost. God would never give us something offensive, or scary, or bad. If you want to receive the Baptism in the Spirit, simply ask. If you've placed your trust in Christ all you need do is ask and receive. 

 You can simply pray a simple prayer "Father, I have put my trust in you. I know I am a child of God and forever forgiven and eternally loved. As your own, I ask for the empowering of the Spirit. Jesus, I ask you to baptize me into the Holy Ghost, and I believe I receive it right now. I praise you and thank you for this empowerment. I now praise you in my native tongue and I praise you in the Spirit, my personal prayer language, in Jesus' name."

 Just speak out those words the Spirit is speaking. Don't try to understand it intellectually. Just receive it and speak, let that Holy Ghost melody flow out of your belly as you lift up the name of Jesus. God is with you and for you, rejoice. 

Image by My pictures are CC0. When doing composings: from Pixabay 

Eternal Security: Truth or falsehood?

39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. 40 For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.” 

John 6:39-40 NLT

 One of the most controversial theological views is the question of eternal security. Just how secure is one's salvation? After you've placed your trust in Christ to save and redeem you can you in fact lose that salvation? Is eternal life really eternal? 

 Many hold to the view that salvation can in fact be lost. Or they believe the notion that one can return the free gift of salvation to the Father. They believe that one can, if they become too entangled in sinful deeds and habits, lose their salvation. Others say because of deception and a hardened heart that one can forsake God and leave their salvation, that is returning the free gift back to God.

 In essence, they don't believe salvation is eternal. They would deny holding to that view. They would say salvation is eternal but can be lost or forfeited. If that was actually possible, then it is abundantly clear that salvation would not be eternal upon reception but temporal based on the actions and heart of the one who received it. In other words, God declared it eternal but we can, by our doings and beliefs make it "uneternal" or temporal. 

 “I say emphatically that anyone who listens to my message and believes in God who sent me has eternal life, and will never be damned for his sins, but has already passed out of death into life. John 5:24 TLB

29 For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:29 MEV

 

 Look at the words of Jesus and Paul. They seem to affirm our salvation is eternal in duration and something that is never withdrawn. Nothing in these passages seem to indicate loss of salvation is possible.

 Some would say those passages are only for the faithful brethren. They're only for those who abstain from sinful living. Those passages are only for the faithful, those who endure to the end. These passages are only for those who do the will of God.

 What is the will of God? What is the work of God? 

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” John 6:29 MEV

 It seems God wants us to believe. It's that simple. There is nothing more we can do to be found loved and favored and to receive eternal life. Believe. The Gospel is simple. Believe that Jesus is who He said He is. Believe, trust in, cling to His perfect work of redemption.

 Our salvation is eternal. Salvation is not temporal. Our salvation isn't awaiting our doings and works to complete it. Our salvation isn't begun by God and finished by us. Salvation isn't given and then taken away because of our actions. Salvation is eternal and irrevocable. 

 Think, apart from traditional teachings, think about salvation. What actions or deeds or good works caused you to receive salvation? What did you do to achieve salvation? What amount of goodness on your part procured your eternal salvation? What level of personal holiness, abstinence from sin caused God to favor you above others and eternally redeem you? 

 Nothing we did ever amounted to the equivalence of the price required for eternal salvation. We were lost, sinful, we pursued our own pleasures, and were rebellious to God's ways. We were selfish and not at all deserving of anything from God. 

 So here is the good news. God looked beyond our actions, our sins, our wrong thinking, and chose us. He perfectly purchased our eternal redemption because of His Goodness, not ours. If it was His great Goodness alone that offered us salvation, then once received, what possible action or thinking or unbelief on our part could cause this salvation to be removed from us? If we didn't merit it in the first place, how could our actions, our sins, our disbelief cause our salvation to be nullified? In Christ, we are eternally secure!

 In summation, our salvation is eternal and completely secure. Don't accept the notion from men that we can lose it or forfeit it. God saved us because He loved us and chose us and paid the full price on our behalf. We did nothing to obtain it so there is nothing we can do to lose it. Grace, it is that amazing.

Image by Manfred Antranias Zimmer from Pixabay