| Revelation of "The Promise" |
To the Disciples of Jesus Christ,
The majority of Churches on the globe are stranded, standing on the mountain in Bethany where Jesus ascended up into Heaven.
Stop and think about that!
HeavenCrying
The Churches have not yet obeyed Jesus' commandment to go tarry in Jerusalem and wait for the "Promise" until they have been endued with the power from on high.
Until the Church obeys Jesus' commandment, the Church will remain powerless.
After receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, all believers must ask God for that extra portion of the Holy Spirit to be endued with the power from on high.
Every believer must have a Jerusalem (Pentecost) experience before the signs and wonders follow them on earth.
The old teachings and traditions of most legitimate Christian denominations representing the Body of Christ deny one of the fundamental commands given by Jesus Christ before His ascension to Heaven.
While teaching a bible study one day, I took the class to the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Luke to verses 44 through 53. I pointed out to the students that the first thing Jesus did was to teach and open up their understanding that His apostles might comprehend the Scriptures.
The second thing He did was to give the command to implement the Great Commission.
Lastly, before His ascension into Heaven, Jesus said, "Behold I send the Promise of the Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."
After the above teaching, I asked the class two questions.
Trumpet God's Word!
Hypothetically, if all of the apostles had died before the coming of the Promise, would all have gone to heaven or hell? At this point, Jesus had died for their sins and resurrected from the dead and was about to ascend into Heaven.
Most Christian denominations do teach that the gift of the Promise is given at repentance for the remission of sins and that is all that is needed to successfully live the Christian life.
However, Jesus commanded His apostles before His ascension, "Behold I send the Promise of the Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."
[Apparently, initial repentance does not automatically provide the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. Examples in the Book of Acts usually show that there are at least two experiences in this process. The editor of Lindsay House Publishing experienced three - because the baptism in fire came to her even later.]
John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Luke 3:15-17
The Holy Scripture, in the book of Acts the 16th Chapter from verses 25 through 31 explains how the Philippian jailer is converted. The Philippian jailer said to Paul and Silas,
"Sirs, What must I do to be saved?"
So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." According to the conclusion of the story, the Philippian jailer and his entire household were saved. While the Philippian jailer and his household are saved and will go to heaven if all died the next moment, but without tarrying and asking for the gift of the Promise (The Holy Ghost) they will not be endued with power as the apostles were, to live a successful Christian life with signs and wonders following the believer.
Jesus describes this successful Christian life in the 16 chapter of the Gospel of Mark from verses 17 through 18. Jesus said, "And these signs will follow those who believe: In my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
The 19th chapter of the book of Acts explains how the disciples of John received the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Scripture reads from verses 1 through 7,
"And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus and finding some disciples, he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?"
And they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's baptism."
Then Paul said,
"John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus."
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about twelve in all."
The above Scriptural evidence is found in the Holy Bible, the Word of God. Please note that the above Luke passage teaches all believers the following truths of wisdom that cannot be denied by a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
- The first thing to observe in the above Luke passage is that Jesus had already died for the sins of the world and therefore all of His disciples were saved from their sins. So why did Jesus command them to go and tarry in Jerusalem and wait for the "Promise" to be endued with power from on High?
- Secondly, Jesus taught His disciples the Word of God and opened up their understanding that His apostles might comprehend the Holy Scriptures.
- Thirdly, Jesus commanded His disciples that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. That is, to implement the Great Commission.
- Lastly, Jesus commanded His disciples saying,
"Behold I send the Promise of the Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."
In conclusion, most churches in the Body of Christ fail to teach absolute Scriptural truth from the Word of God, the Holy Bible. [Why? Because they prefer to cling to their traditions instead of the revealed Word of God. We must repent, and return to our first love, our Lord Jesus - God's Word.]
Without the absolute Word of God, there can be no power manifested in the local churches. God does not make suggestions. He gives commands from His Holy Word and He expects His believers to obey every word and not what they wish to hear and obey.
The holy book of St. John 1:32-34 says,
"And John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' "And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."
Jesus Christ clearly sets the example in the above Holy Scriptures and as His disciples, if we want to manifest the power to heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out evil spirits in the name of Jesus, all believers must pray to the Father for the gift of the Holy Spirit. That is the "Promise."
Remember!
Our Lord Jesus Christ expects
absolute obedience
to His teachings and commandments
from ALL believers in His Church, the Body of Christ.
In His Awesome and Holy Presence,
St. Wisdom