The Rapture: The Greatest Demonstration of Sheer Holy Ghost Power
It is impossible to separate the power of the Holy Ghost from the Rapture and Resurrection of the Saints. If the Resurrection of Jesus Christ was clearly the Divine function of His Spirit, then our resurrection is even more the sovereign work of the same Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul said it plainly, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Romans 8:11). This verse is not only speaking of His resurrection but also our present resurrected life with a clear secondary meaning in relation to our coming resurrection. You cannot separate our present Spirit anointed life from our future Rapture and resurrection. It is all the work of His Holy Ghost in us, shedding forth the power of His resurrection. If you do not have that power working in you now, you cannot expect to receive some kind of infusion when the Son of God splits the sky.
This future demonstration of this office of the Holy Ghost is breathtaking. The powers and supernatural activities of this event will expend the greatest display ever to occur at one moment of time since creation. In fact, I think it will be so similar to creation that we can learn much from that historical moment. The account of Moses is a beautiful picture of sheer Holy Ghost creative power. When God the Father chose to create this earth, the Son of God was the Word and the Holy Ghost was His right arm. “And God said” was a statement which imbodied the action of His eternal Son, who He called the “Word.” John’s gospel begins with this account, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (St. John 1:1-3).
But we must give His eternal Spirit His rightful place, also. Even before Jesus the Word spoke the first statement of creation, the Scripture stated, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). I love that statement, “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The triune God was creating this Universe and each member of the Godhead was powerfully involved. The Father made the choice, the Son spoke the Word, and the Spirit of the Father and the Son acted in supernatural powers and this cosmos “was created.” Every sphere of life in this entire created universe is throbbing with His spark of life since that moment 6,000 years ago. If His presence was withdrawn for one minute, every expression of living cells, atoms, and molecules would fold in instant death. All life is the living manifestation of the whisper of life by His mighty Spirit.
Creation was an incredible moment of mighty acts of power. Our bodies are a living testimony of this power as is all of creation. Every creature after his kind was created and Adam named them by their characteristics. Scientists baffle themselves in their study of life when they refuse to believe the account of Genesis. I have been reading a book entitled, The Body Electric. This capable doctor and surgeon speaks glowingly of the body’s ability to heal itself and has proven that our body is not just a mechanical machine. His documentation of a current, which he cannot understand acting in the human body amazes him. All I could think was how much he needs to meet this Creator I know and then he could know. The mystery of life is everywhere and God’s Spirit (the Holy Ghost) is the ordained source of every speck of that life. Nothing exists apart from our Great God.
Karen
Brother Chambers,
I awoke on 1/30 with a revelation of just this — the mighty resurrection power of God. I had the sense of all the dead bodies in the earth being raised at once — all by one word of the precious Holy Spirit’s power. I have not been the same since that day. I’ve experienced a personal revival and awakening. I believe the Lord has ministered to me that we are in the hour in which He is awakening the church. The wise virgins have their lamps filled with oil and they are about their Father’s business — seeking those that are lost and doing all in their power and strength to bring light of the gospel into their darkened souls. I believe we are on the verge of a witnessing opportunity like no other generation has ever had before them. And I believe God wants those of us who are awake to be ready — tracts prepared and in hand. For many of God’s wandering sons and daughters will begin to ask how to find the way to His heart, and be prepared to enter His House.
We have bought an entire case of tracts, have prepared a personal word to go with them and will begin handing them out to all God directs us to give them. The joy of the Lord is our strength. And there is no greater joy in heaven than when a sinner repents. We are to be about our Father’s business — He sent Jesus to seek and save that which was lost. If we are truly His disciples, we should be prepared and preparing as much as He gives us. For a time of harvest is coming. I also believe the same power that shall raise up all the dead, this same power is about to come upon those who have prepared themselves as the Bride of Christ, who are purifying their hearts as He is pure, and who are only living to be His witnesses, calling all to come now for the King is so soon coming. I am confessing that NOTHING and NO ONE will keep me from being ready at His coming — by His marvellous grace that is greater than ALL our sins! In Jesus’ Name
Karen Parrish
mike
PREACH!
melvin meyers
Those of us that live threw the Great Tribulation will have the greater out puring of the Holy Spirit. Looks to be in 2012 at Shavuot [Pentecost]. Because the 144,000 are marked before the Great Tribulation.
Fran Vincent
Never call the Holy Spirit a ghost! A ghost is a soul of a dead person and that is an insult to God.
That is why the kjv is full of errors. God is a spirit. You must be in His spirit and in His truth to worship Him properly.
ARTHUR
ONE OF THE NEAREST EXPRESSIONS OF THE PROPHECIES IS WHEN WILL ISRAEL DEAL WITH ISLAM. THIS MUST COME SUDDENLY, ALL OVER THE EAST INCLUDING RUSSIA AND THOSE ISLAMIC NATIONS OR STATES OF SOUTH RUSSIA. CONSIDER THE TRIBULATION, A TROUBLESOME TIME OF NO REST IN ISRAEL. PSA 83 MUST TAKE PLACE BEFORE EZEK 38-39 OCCURS. HENCE ISRAEL MUST HAVE 7 GOOD YEARS OF CLEAN UP TIME AS IDENTIFIED IN EZEKIEL. HENCE THE RAPTURE MUST BE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIB WHEN THE TWO CANDLESTICKS STAND UP TO WITNESS AT THE TIME OF THE WICKED ONE FROM EUROPE MAKES A 7 YEAR PEACE CONTRACT…SO, CONSIDER THIS, THE FIG TREE BUDDED IN 1948, PSA 90V10 GIVES MAN AND ISRAEL 10 YEARS PAST 70 YEARS, 70 YEARS WILL NOT COVER THE ARABIC WARS AND THE 7 YRS CLEAN UP TIME. IT MUST BE RIGHT IN OUR FACE CONSIDERING THE 80 YEAR LIMIT THAT CHRIST SAID, THIS GENERATION SHALL NOT PASS BEFORE ALL THESE THINGS COME TO PASS….WAR IS IN OUR FACES, ISRAEL CLEANS UP, THE TRIB BEGINS, MID TRIB IS DESOLATION OF ISRAEL, 1/3 OF ISRAELIS ESCAPE TO MOAB WHICH IS BURNED OUT, ARMAGEDDON ASSEMBLES, ISRAEL RETAKES JERUSALEM AFTER 3 1/2 YRS AND CHRIST RETURNS DESTROYING THE WORLDS ARMIES IN MEGIDDO OR PLAINS OF ESDRAELON…CHECK IT OUT, MAKES SENSE TO ME…RAPTURE? ABOUT 2021 AT THE FEAST OF THE NEW MOON IN SEPTEMBER.
Praise the Lord!
Karen, thank you for sharing that revelation. Your words touched close to home with me. I also have felt like the time is drawing near for Christ to snatch us up, but before that there will be a Great Harvest! Praise the Lord! Lately the parable of the virgin and oil lamps has to my mind often and I hunger for the Lord and do not wish to be one of those that did not prepare myself with enough oil. I read somewhere that the oil is the Holy Spirit but have not done any research to back it up yet. If it is then I want all the Holy Spirit I can get. I’ve asked but still cannot speak in tongues so am not sure that it is a requirement. I do know that it is better to desire the gift of prophecy which I’ve always been a student of end times prophecy. oh Praise the Lord it won’t be long now. My boyfriend and I have broken up just this weekend after 4 1/2 years toghether and I know that part of it was because of my desire to remain pure and righteous. My coworkers dont’ treat me the same now that I have been going back to Church but I am not surprised by that.
My prayer is that every human on earth can stand befoe the Lord with gladness and not be ashamed.
Amen
James Lishman
Melvin my man – you are welcome to go through the Great Tribulation – but me and millions of the saints – WE WILL BE OUTA HERE by the POWER of THE SPIRIT – AT THE TRUMPET CALL to rise up when JESUS comes on the clouds calling HIS elect (1 Thess 4) Read and be encouraged – BEFORE the Tribulation
Charles
The teaching of a secret pretribulation rapture is a doctrine that never existed before 1830. Did the pretribulation rapture come into existence by a careful exegesis of Scripture? No. The first person to teach the doctrine was a young woman named Margaret Macdonald. Margaret was not a theologian or Bible expositor but was a “prophetess” in the Irvingite sect of the Catholic Apostolic Church.
Sandra
It wouldn’t surprise me if we left in the next two years, or maybe even this year. I always pray for those who are lost and the ones that I can share the gospel with, I do so. But so many don’t want to hear or have a skewed version of it.
Just saw a video of a little boy from NE. He was three and almost died. While in the hospital under surgery, he experienced a (vision, near death experience, what have you) but was in very close contact with HEaven. He was too young at the time to understand everything but this is what he said. (He is now 11). He met Jesus. Sat on Jesus’s lap. Met his grandfather who he had never known. But said Grandpa looked like the picture of him when he was a young adult. The streets are gold and there are soooo many colors!! HE told his mom that he has two sisters. (One is living). He had never been told that his mom had a miscarriage before he was born. The angels sang to him while he was sick. And God is so big. He’s the biggest thing there and he is so big he can hold the earth in his palm. All this from a three year old. His Dad and him have written a book of his experience. It is called Heaven is real, or something like that. I hope to read it too.
Ed Wood
Hello Pastor Joseph.
Whether the earth and universe are only 6000 years old or 13.7 billion years for the universe and 4.6 billion years for the solar system and our small little planet, it is clear that neither are the result of random acts. Despite what much of the scientific community says, order NEVER comes from chaos.
Life is balanced on such a precarious razor’s edge of conditions so numerous and precise that believing them to be the result of chance is simply not reasonable.
One major argument against this “random events’ theory is that if advanced life is a common result of random acts in this universe of perhpas hundreds of billions of galaxies each composed of at least 100 billion stars, why haven’t our SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) programs detected at least one signal indicating another technological civilization somewhere out in space after 50 years of listening? (And even if such a thing did happen one day, the odds are it will be a mistake or deception.)
In my opinion, all one has to do is to take a look at the evidence with an open mind to reach the conclusion that
God created our planet as a place on which to place humanity and that the plans the Bible reveals he has for us and the future are no myths or illusions.
Rev David Moran
Webster’s Definition of GHOST 1: the seat of life or intelligence : soul
From: Middle English gost, gast, from Old English ga-st; akin to Old High German geist spirit
The only word I would change in the King James Bible is “Easter”. God does not mind if we call Him Abba or Father as long as we call on Him now! I have heard from several Orthodox Jewish people that they are having nightmares of new pogroms and death, pray for Israel and the saints. God Bless all at Paw Creek!
James Lishman
Charles – you clearly do not know the scriptures and believe the lies of the dark side – do a decent study on the Rapture.
You are also welcome to go thru the Trib – but me – I will be outa here at the trumpet call!
Balstrome
Serious I hope you folk are not allowed to vote, because you really are mentally deluded to believe this nonsense. There is no gods, your Jesus never existed. Paul made up all those stories, if he ever existed at all.
But nothing I will say here can convince deluded folk such as yourselves to open a non biblical book and use some critical thinking to reason why religion is utter rubbish.
You do know animist in Africa and Hindu’s in India consider your belief system to be incorrect and theirs to be the correct one’s. That alone should tell you that someone is not telling the truth, and faith or belief will not provide any reasonable answers.
Ed Wood
Note to “Praise the Lord”
Here is an opinion from a lay person on your concerns.
If you read 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, you will see that there are many gifs which the Holy Spirit can give you and that he apportions them out as they are needed (1 Corinthians 12:11-12). Notice that not every one gets the same gift, tongues included. So, just ask God to help you do what he wants you to do and he will decide the the best way for you to do it.
Now I do respect and greatly admire Pastor Joseph, but on the matter speaking in tongues as evidence of being baptized by the Holy Spirit, we disagree. I believe one problem with this Pentacostal view is that it may make those who have never spoken in tongues (like me!) feel somehow “inferior” or less favored by God in their own minds compared to those that have.
The main thing to remember is that if you have accepted Jesus (John 3:16-18), the Holy Spirit has already taken up residence in you (John 14:15-17) and because he has Pastor Joseph, you and I will be meeting him and each other in heaven! (Romans 8:11)
And that’s what’s really important.
Karen
For Praise the Lord! Don’t be confused by any comments you read here or anywhere else. Stay with what is clear in the Scriptures. Acts 2, 8, 10 & 14 all clearly reveal that every time anyone received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, this recieving was evidenced by the individual(s) being enabled by the Spirit to speak in unknown tongues as He gave them utterance. I thank God that when He saved me in 1979, He mercifully placed me under a ministry that didn’t try to reinterpret was is clearly written in Scripture. There are many reasons why people cannot receive their personal prayer language (tongues). For me, it was necessary that I confess and repent of occult involvement – drug usage, ouija board playing, horoscopes, generational involvement with occult, my father’s Edgar Cayce involvement, my grandmothers’ Jeanne Dixon involvement — etc. I’m not saying that this is why you have not received. But I know that as the pastor prayed for me and I renounced all involvement in all fashions, both my own and all my forefather’s, I was bouncing on the chair like a rubber ball. And then, those demonic powers left and I was freed to receive a personal language unknown to me, but always known to God. I cannot tell you how thankful I am that I have been enabled to pray in the Holy Spirit when I’ve not known what to ask in English. Romans 8 tells us that the Spirit will always pray according to the perfect will of God. I’ve had numerous times in my life when that prayer in “tongues” has then been interpreted as I’ve prayed in English. The prayers have been instantly answered at times — especially in prayer for particular people undergoing physical attacks. Also — several years ago, my husband and I were watching a missionary film. The missionary was praying over a group of homeless boys that she had taken into their home. My husband asked me to stop and rewind the film several times. He said, “Karen, you say those exact same words often when I hear you praying in the Holy Spirit.” Well — my curiosity really was heightened. For many years ago, I was praying in Canada with a sister in Christ who knew seven languages. When she and I finished praying together, she was so excited. She exclaimed: “God answered my prayer! God answered my prayer!” I believe God ALWAYS answers our prayers as we pray, and we wait for the answer to be made manifested to our sight. So, I didn’t know what she meant. She said that for many years she had desired to hear someone she knew didn’t know one of six languages she spoke other than English. She said as we prayed, I prayed in perfect Portuguese. I was praising the Lord and thanking Him for His faithfulness, His care — not exactly sure of every word she shared. Sooooooo (sorry to be so long), when my husband said he recognized the words of the language the missionary was praying in, I went to see what the national language was of the nation she was in — Mozambigue — and — YES! It was Portugese. So, no matter WHAT men may say, I KNOW that the Holy Spirit still gives languages to us to pray and release perfect, bulls-eye prayers to our Father. This is why the intellects of men are influenced by the devil to come up with theories, explanations that contradict the words the Holy Spirit wrote for us. If we will only humble ourselves to the word of God alone, get all our pride and reasons why we wouldn’t want to be among the number of people who “babble in tongues” out of the way — God will always give His Precious Holy Spirit and the personal prayer language to all who ask IN FAITH, nothing wavering (no unbelief). I will pray for you to receive what you need to aid you to be freed to receive this that is available to all the children of God. For He declared it so in Acts: This is the refreshing that shall come.” Unto ALL generations. Not just the early church. Blessings in Jesus — Karen
Karen
One More Word to Praise the Lord!
There is a difference between the “gift of tongues” and the “personal prayer language of tongues.” The gift of tongues is to be exercised in the assembly of the believers, and it should always be interpreted. If someone is not present who has the gift of interpretation, then Paul says that we are to pray for the interpretation ourselves. If we don’t have the faith to pray for the utterance to be interpreted, we should hold our peace and not speak out. What has done more damage to the faith of those who are seeking the baptism (in my opinion) is the exercise of the flesh. People have no Biblical teaching so they put a stumbling block in the paths of others. There are people who get into the flesh and pray out loud in their tongues, thinking they are exercising the gift of speaking in tongues. Then, no one interprets and this ministers confusion. I clearly see two separate types of tongues — personal prayer language every believer receives who receives the baptism in the Holy Spirit. And then, the gift of tongues, given by God’s choice to individuals HE gifts in this way. The prayer language is to be freely partaken of whenever we choose. But the exericse of the gift of tongues is at God’s Spirit’s anointing. Jude 20 tells us to pray in the Holy Ghost, building up ourselves in our Faith. I know this is my own personal experience of the truth — I’ve NEVER not been built up in faith after praying in the language God has given me. For it takes faith to open your mouth and yield to the Holy Spirit’s utterances. If you don’t believe you are praying in the Holy Spirit’s words, you won’t pray in faith. Makes sense to you?