DO YOU HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT TODAY?

Grace be to you all, and peace from God, our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. We write this epistle to you all today to divide the Word of truth concerning the promise of the Father which is the Holy Spirit. It is written in the prophets and quoted in John 6:45 “Everyone shall be taught by God” How shall this be? By the Holy Spirit. Our Lord Jesus Christ declared in John 14:26 “ 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 . By these scriptures, we understand that true knowledge of the things of God can only come by the Holy Spirit. He alone is the Spirit of truth and no man can know the truth except by Him.

As children of the kingdom, we are commanded to live and walk in the Spirit (Gal 5:25) day by day. This is the life unto which we have all been called. But how can a man live and walk therein when he cannot even hear from the Lord? Many believers today do not have the Spirit of God abiding in them day by day, and so they do not hear from the Lord. They sin today, repent tomorrow, and then sin again. Hear us brethren, God hates sin. You cannot continue in sin and have the Holy Spirit abide in you. This is impossible. As children of light, if you accidentally commit sin, you must be quick to repent immediately. This is the first proof that you have the Spirit of God working in you. All believers having a hope to see the Lord at the catching away must be pure and holy. This means they must be without any form of sin. There is nothing like small sin. A single sin is enough to send a man to hell. This was the original story of man in the Garden of Eden where Adam sinned. He committed a single sin, the sin of disobedience whose foundation is unbelief. Yet, by this single sin, all men became separated from God. Physical death also came by this sin which then transferred to all men till today.

To live and walk in the Spirit daily, one must be filled with the Spirit. Though the Spirit anoints men in preaching (Luke 4:18, Acts 2:11-39, 1 Corinth 1:17-18), in prophesying (Acts 3:21, 11:27, 13:1, 32), and in speaking in tongues of men and angels (Rom 8:26, 1 Corinth 14:2-14), the most important manifestation of the Spirit in a believer is in the exercising of spiritual gifts and bearing of the fruit. There is only one fruit of the Spirit but many gifts (1 Corinth 12:8, Eph 5:9, Gal 5:22). All believers are commanded to covet these gifts (1 Corinth 12:31). These gifts, also called gifts of the Spirit fall into three natural divisions:

A. Gifts of revelation – the mind gifts

(1) The word of wisdom: - This is supernatural revelation, or insight into the divine will and purpose, showing how to solve any problem that may arise (1 Ki 3:16-28, Matt 2:20, Luke 22:10-12, John 2:22-24, 4:16-19)

(2) The word of knowledge: - This is supernatural revelation of divine knowledge, or insight into the divine mind, will, or plan, and also the plans of others that man could not know of himself (1 Sam 3:7-15, 2 Ki 6:8-12, Acts 9:11-12, Matt 16:16, John 1:1-3, Acts 5:3-4, 21:11, Eph 3)

(3) Discerning of Spirits: - This is supernatural revelation into the realm of spirits to detect them and their plans and to read the minds of men (Matt 9:4, Luke 13:16, John 2:25, Acts 13:9-10, 16:16, 1 Tim 4:1-4)

B. Gifts of inspiration – vocal gifts

(1) Prophecy: - This is supernatural utterance in the native tongue (1 Corinth 4:3). It is a miracle of divine utterance, not conceived by human thought or reasoning (Acts 3:21, 11:28, 21:11, 2 Peter 1:21, 1 Corinth 14:23-32). It includes speaking unto men to edification, exhortation, and comfort (1 Corinth 14:3)

(2) Divers kinds of tongues: - This is supernatural utterance in other languages which are not known to the speaker (Isa 28:11, Mark 16:17, Acts 2:4, 10:44-48, 19:1-7, 1 Corinth 12:10, 28-31, 13:1-3, 14:2, 4-22)

(3) The interpretation of tongues: - This is simply supernatural ability to interpret in the native tongue what is uttered in other languages not known by the one who interprets by the Spirit (1 Corinth 12:10, 14:5, 13-15)

C. Gifts of Power – working gifts

(1) Faith: - This is supernatural ability to believe God without human doubt, unbelief, and reasoning (Rom 4:17, James 1:5-8, Matt 17:20, 21:22, Mark 9:23, 11:22-24, Heb 11:6, 12:1-3)

(2) The gifts of healing: - This is supernatural power to heal all manner of sickness without human aid or medicine (Mark 16:18, John 14:12, 1 Corinth 12:9)

(3) The working of miracles: - This is supernatural power to intervene in the ordinary course of nature and to counteract natural laws if necessary (1 Corinth 12:10, 27-31, Heb 2:3-4, Ex 7:10-14, 21, 2 Ki 4:1-44, 6:1-7). All these gifts can be received by every believer through faith, knowledge of the Word of God, and prayer.

According to the scriptures, unlike gifts of the Spirit, there is only one fruit of the Spirit. This fruit is nine fold. Any believer that claims to have the fruit of the spirit must possess the complete nine-fold fruit. These are: -

(1). Love (Greek word is agape, meaning divine love). It is a strong, ardent, tender, compassionate devotion to the well-being of someone (1 Corinth 13:4). (2) Joy, the emotional excitement, gladness or delight, that proceeds forth from the deep of the heart. (3) Peace, the state of quietness, rest, harmony, order, and security; even in the midst of turmoil, strife, and temptations. (4) Longsuffering, meaning patient endurance; to bear long with the weakness, offences, injuries, and provocations of others, without murmuring, repining, or resentment (1 Corinth 13:4-7, 2 Corinth 6:4-6, Eph 4:1-2, Col 1:11, 3:12-13, 1 Tim 1:16, 2 Tim 3:10, 4:2). (5) Gentleness, a disposition to be gentle, soft-spoken, kind, even-tempered, cultured, and refined in character and conduct (2 Tim 2:24-26, Titus 3:1-2, James 3:17). (6) Goodness, the state of being good, kind, virtuous, generous, benevolent, and God-like in life and conduct (Ex 33:19, 34:6, Psa 23:6, 31:19). (7) Faith, the divinely implanted, acquired, and created principle of inward and wholehearted confidence, assurance, trust, and total reliance in God and all that He says. (8) Meekness, the disposition to be gentle, kind, indulgent, even-balanced in tempers and passions, and patient in suffering injuries without feeling a spirit of revenge. (9) Temperance, which simply means self-control; moderation in the indulgence of the appetites and passions (Pro 23:1-3, 25:16, Dan 1:8-16, Rom 13:14, Phil 4:5, Tit 2:2-3).

How can you know you have received these gifts? It is when the Holy Spirit operates them through you to accomplish their intended purpose. Their main purpose is to confirm the Word of God.

Now, why are all these gifts and fruit important? Because they are the assurance that the Holy Spirit is still working in you. See brethren, in these last days, God is bringing many of His prophecies to pass in our eyes yet many believers do not see these things because they are not full of the Spirit. For they can only be known and understood through the Holy Spirit. Islam is on the rise, Iraq is been rebuilt, Israel is been persecuted, earthquakes, wars, and famines are all over the whole earth, and many are departing from the faith, and yet with these many signs, many believers are still asleep. We tell these things and testify of what we have heard from the Lord, yet many are not wiling to believe our report. We even say by the Word of the Lord that the catching away is at hand and the Lord has again sent his messengers in the spirit and power of Elias to prepare them for His appearing, yet many are still in unbelief. They pursue riches, positions, and pleasures of the world daily, living like the world, instead of living in all holiness, ready and waiting for the Lord’s appearing. Many don’t even want to hear us say the Lord is coming. They indeed love the world more than they do love the Lord. Our Lord has said if any man loves the world more than him, he cannot enter His kingdom. Him that hath an ear let him hear.

We beseech you in the name of the Lord to take heed to these messages. Study the scriptures and seek the Lord diligently. Prove by the scriptures that these things are true. Ask the Lord if we have testified of ourselves. Behold! The day is coming, when men shall run to and fro to learn of all these things that we have written according to the word of the Lord. They shall learn it with tears and sorrow, for that which was to happen and Him who was to come would have come and gone. Yet, there will still be hope, even for those that shall not receive the mark, the name, or the number of the name of the evil one that is to come. Again, we have already told you. The days are short. The end of all things is at hand. Let us live each day as if the Lord is coming today for His coming is sooner than we think. Remember, He is coming for only those that are prepared, ready, and waiting for Him and that great day is at hand. It is even at the doors. Marvel not that we always say the day is at hand, for if it were not so, we would have told you. The one faithful and true has commanded us what we must declare and say. And in this manner we speak these things. Prepare ye the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight. The coming of the Lord is at hand. It is even at the doors. May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.