The Promise of The Father

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is NOT just an experience for those who belong to a movement or denomination. It is the "PROMISE OF THE FATHER" that Yeshuah said was available to all those willing to believe. The Promise of the Father and the baptism in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues are the same thing. Speaking in tongues does not qualify one for entrance into heaven. You don't have to speak in tongues to be saved. But speaking in tongues is the initial (NOT EVERY) evidence that one has been filled with the Holy Spirit. The church world is divided into two parts right now. The Protestant side (Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc.) is preaching unbelief while the Pentecostal and Charismatic side is trying hard to push the very power they brag about OUT of their movements! Many in the Charismatic movement who have this precious gift have abandoned their dependence on the Holy Spirit for psychology, education and materialism. Paul said "QUENCH NOT" the Holy Ghost!  The Holy Spirit is the third-person of the Godhead on earth today doing the work of the Kingdom. He is not a "thing" or an "it," HE IS GOD. And He is the PROMISE OF THE FATHER!

By Chris McDonald

Acts 1:4-5 -  And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. [5] For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

Luke 24:49 - And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

        This past February (2002) marked the 15-year anniversary of my personal experience with the Holy Ghost. In February 1987 I had journeyed to Atlanta, Georgia to find answers to an ever-growing conflict inside that there was something more to Christianity than going to church on Sunday and hearing 3 songs and a sermon. I grew up Southern Baptist. My dad was a Baptist pastor and we knew very little of the gifts of the Spirit. Most of what I had been taught about the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues was negative. I don't say that as a slight to my earthly father. My dad has come a long way in being open to what God does in this area. Being Southern Baptist though just didn't expose us to this experience. I remember the first time I ever heard anyone speak in tongues was during the years I stayed with my Aunt Florence who baby-sit my brother and I when we were young. I would remember us laying down for our afternoon naps upstairs and hearing our Aunt Florence praying downstairs. She would be praying in a normal language, sometimes calling each of our names to the Lord, then all of a sudden we would hear something that was not of this world as she began to speak in languages we didn't understand. Paul said in 1 Corinthians that there are such things as "tongues of angels," and I firmly believe that at times my Aunt Florence prayed in those languages.

        I tell you this. I'm 37 years old and that took place over 30 years ago but I still remember those occasions just like it was yesterday. My Aunt Florence was not ashamed of the Holy Spirit. She was not ashamed to speak in tongues while we listened. She was not ashamed to lay hands on us when we were young and pray over us in the Holy Ghost. I know now that those years with her were seed-planting years in my heart for what the Lord would do for me in February 1987. In the fall of 1986 the Lord touched my heart and started a hunger within me to find out more about Him. I was 21 at the time and had been through several changes in my life. I was like most American church kids. We grew up in church thinking we were saved and being a preacher's kid made it that much worse. There is such a danger in being around something without ever partaking of it and Jesus was just that type person to me. I had heard about Him, read about Him, talked about Him - but I NEVER KNEW HIM. I wanted to make things right with God and leave no question in my heart that I was ready for heaven.

        I remember writing my Aunt a letter asking her for information on the Holy Spirit. At that time in my life I had moved back in with my dad for a while. I remember getting up early on Sunday mornings and tuning in to a well-known evangelist who taught on the baptism of the Holy Spirit quite often. I would remember hearing what he had to say and think "wow, I want that. I want more of God." Again, you must realize that the only exposure to the Holy Spirit I had had up to that point was during my early childhood when I visited my aunts. Other than that I had been convinced that speaking in tongues was of the devil, it was not for today and it was not a necessity in your Christian walk. I was not just getting that from home any more but from the Baptist church I attended too. I remember a Bible study group one Sunday afternoon when several other younger people got together to discuss this and other issues relating to the Holy Spirit. Believe me - there was enough unbelief in that room to choke a mule - and I was the ringleader!

        Early in 1987 I started attending a full-gospel church and I was nervous as a cat! I remember every time they talked about tongues my old feelings of fear, unbelief and anxiety would rise quickly within me. A few times the pastor would call people to the front who wanted to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit which just made me more nervous. I was hungry, but I was not ready! I actually went up a couple of times to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit and nothing happened. Then I got desperate. I had gotten the courage to seek more of God and now I was not going to be denied.

        I went to my Aunts house the first week of February and spent all day Saturday talking with her about this. I was open and honest with her and laid out to her my fears about what I had heard. I told her that there was something that was churning inside me though at the same time that made me KNOW that I needed this experience. This discussion went on all day long. I remember that night about 11:00 PM my Aunt said "Chris, we can talk about this all day and all night, let's just pray and ask the Lord to do the rest." She got behind me and laid hands on my head. I remember hearing her pray in English and then she began to pray in tongues. I can't explain much more of this because the rest is almost a blur. I do remember finding myself on the floor in her house, crying, weeping deeply from within, feeling the Lord's hand literally crush my heart and spirit. I heard myself moaning words and praying in English asking the Lord Jesus to forgive me of my sins. A prophetic word came forth from my aunt that I had hid unforgiveness in my heart towards my parents over their divorce and the Lord had to remove that first before He would fill me with the Spirit. The last words in English I said was "Lord, forgive me for not forgiving my parents (mainly my mother)." The next thing I heard coming from my mouth was literally like a "river" of words that were NOT in English. After such a long search for the truth concerning tongues had ended in their reality, I just let the Holy Spirit flow and flow and flow and flow through me in tongues all night long.

        About 4 AM I went into my mother's bedroom (she had accompanied me on this trip) and I woke her up weeping asking her to forgive me for holding anything against her for the divorce my parents went through in 1983. I just fell off to sleep and woke back up about 8 the next morning speaking in tongues again.  I remember feeling a sensation in my spirit man of a "river" that was flowing. I could literally "hear" this river! It was powerful! As I came home that afternoon two things have never happened again since that day. I have never again told ANYONE that speaking is tongues is of the devil AND I have never told anyone that the baptism in the Holy Ghost is NOT REAL. And friend that is the bottom line. Many of you reading this may not believe in this experience because of what you've been taught but to those of us who have experienced this glorious infilling - there is NOTHING any of your doctrinal statements or denominational theology could state to make us believe this experience isn't real. It's the same thing as someone not believing in hell. Five seconds in the PIT will cure your theology! Five seconds in the PIT will cure unbelief in hell! And once you experience the mighty baptism in the Holy Ghost you will never be the same again.

My Nine-Year Old Son Brandon Received The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit Last Week!

        As I was driving my family to dinner this past weekend I was talking to my nine-year old son Brandon who visits us on weekends about my deep desire for him to be filled with the Spirit. I told him I was praying for him daily that the Lord would anoint him for service with the baptism in the Holy Ghost. As I spoke these things to him he just smiled and said "Dad, I have something to tell you." He told me that about a week or so ago he was in a local church in North Georgia and went down front to be prayed for to receive this enduement of power from on high. He just lifted his little hands "and something felt like it was touching my hands when I did," he said. He said he began to praise God in English and all of a sudden his little voice started speaking in another language. It was just a few words but he said "it sounded like Spanish dad." I just wept in my front seat as he told me this. I reached over and laid my hands on his little leg and just asked God to increase that power in his life. I talked with him to make sure what he had received was real and was touched by my sons' excitement over what had happened.

        As I listened to his child-like interpretation of what happened it hit me that if us old crusty adults would embrace the HOLY GHOST as my nine-year old did - we'd turn AMERICA UPSIDE down just like the early church turned their WORLD upside down in the first church!

Acts 17:6 - And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;

        The baptism in the Holy Ghost is real and it is for TODAY! It is more than just an experience, it's an encounter with a HOLY God that wants to endue us with power. Does this encounter make you perfect? No. I have had tremendous difficulty in my life over the years. I realize now that my problems were a direct result of me putting my faith in this "experience," without giving my life totally to the Lord and being LED by the same Holy Ghost which came inside of me in this manner in 1987. Is this experience a cure-all for godly Christian living? NO! But it sure will help you if you will allow this experience to take you deeper with the Lord. Is this experience going to 'zap' you into Christian perfection? Absolutely not. You have to READ THE WORD! You STILL have to be part of fellowship and lean on the Lord. YOU STILL have to have faith and make Christ part of your DAILY walk, not just a temporal experience. Is this experience necessary to get you to heaven? No. You don't have to speak in tongues to be saved, but friend, if God has something more for you to make your walk here on earth a victorious one instead of a defeated one - wouldn't you be interested in that??? I sure would!

        This journal is for those who are hungry for more of God. I can't make you hungry for God. I can't make you believe this is real. I can't make you believe that this experience is for YOU. I must depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to do all of that. But I pray if nothing else those of you who have not received the baptism in the Holy Ghost will be motivated to learn more about the Holy Ghost and desire the FULLNESS of God in your life. We as the church need ALL OF GOD WE CAN GET!!! The church needs the HOLY GHOST to empower it. The church needs the power of the HOLY GHOST to set captives free. The church needs the HOLY GHOST to deliver it from its own darkness. Hear what I am saying to you. I'm not glorifying an experience nor am I even glorifying the Holy Ghost - He wouldn't take the glory even if I did - because when HE CAME He didn't come to glorify HIMSELF -but He came to GLORIFY CHRIST! The Promise Of The Father and the baptism in the Holy Spirit are one and the same.

John 14:16, 26 -  - And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; [17] 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. [18] I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 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.

John 15:26 -  But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: [27] And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

John 16:13-22  - Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. [14] He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. [15] All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. [16] A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.

        Jesus said the Holy Ghost would:

• Teach us all things

• Bring all things to remembrance

• He will testify of me (Jesus)

• He will not speak of himself

• He will GLORIFY me (JESUS)

            Glory to God. He came to point us to the source of our salvation - the Lord Jesus. He DID not come to give us goose bumps or to put on a show - He came to make the death, burial and resurrection power of Yeshuah REAL to us in these latter days! Glory to God. So come with us now and take a journey to learn more of the PROMISE of the FATHER! HE wants to fill you to overflowing in these last days!

        Jesus' command to the apostles in Acts 1:4 to "wait" for the Promise of the Father is a command to all believers of THIS age as well. The PROMISE OF THE FATHER or the promised Holy Spirit and the baptism IN the Holy Ghost are the same. Yeshuah reminded the apostles that He had spoken of this Spirit baptism on several occasions: ^{(John 7:37-39; John 14:12-17,26; John 15:26; John 16:7-15).}

        Yeshuah said I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem,  until ye be endued with power on high. This was the 54th and last New Testament prophecy  in Luke (Luke 24:49, fulfilled, Acts 2) so it bears noting that Jesus must have been talking about something BIG. I mean the very LAST thing Jesus told the disciples to do before they preached, before they started ministry, before they started Bible schools was to go to Jerusalem and tarry to be ENDUED with power from on HIGH.

        He called this the "PROMISE OF THE FATHER." This was the Spirit baptism that was promised to all believers and something Yeshuah spoke of OFTEN during His earthly ministry:

        Yeshuah told them to tarry, or wait for the enduement of power. In South Georgia English - "DON'T GO ANYWHERE BEFORE YOU RECEIVE THIS IMPORTANT ENDUEMENT OF POWER!" This is what early disciples were told to do to get  the Spirit baptism or the full endowment of power from on high to do the works of Christ. The word "endued with" comes from the Greek: enduo(GSN17460), which means to "put on" (Matthew 27:31; Mark 15:20; Luke  15:22); be clothed with (Mark 15:17; Rev. 1:13); be clothed in (Rev. 15:6; Rev. 19:14); and arrayed in (Acts 12:21). Anyone clothed with this power will be able to  confirm what he preaches, and this is the only normal New Testament program (John  14:12; Mark 16:16-20).

        The POWER Yeshuah spoke of the apostles would receive comes from the Greek: dunamis (GSN-1411), inherent power; the power of reproducing  itself—from which we get the English dynamo. This endowment of power is the same  as receiving the promise of the Father or the promised Holy Spirit in baptismal  measure. Jesus was telling them they would be able to do HIS WORKS once they received this power. Without it - they would NOT be able to! (John 14:12; Mark  16:17-18; Acts 1:4-8).

The Promise Of The Father Was Sent By Yeshuah Himself, NOT Man

Acts 2:33 - Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

        Peter's message on Pentecost makes it clear that the source of the Holy Spirit is the Lord Jesus Himself. That is why it is so ludicrous for the church to fight against the Holy Spirit - HE COMES FROM YESHUAH! He is PART OF YESHUAH! When Yeshuah went back to glory He went to the Father having been exalted as our PRIEST and KING. His blood purchased us the Holy Spirit so that men could not just be born again but be FILLED with the HOLY GHOST. Some teach that the Holy Spirit's work at conversion is His only work - that is not true. The Holy Spirit's work is JUST BEGINNING at conversion, not stopping, just as much as the Holy Spirit's work during the INFILLING  is not an "end" of our walk with God - but also a beginning.  Peter said "HE HAS SHED FORTH THIS." Glory to God. "THIS" is the PROMISE He gave the apostles prior to His ascension. He told them to tarry in Jerusalem until they be "ENDUED" with power on HIGH.

        Friend, the power of the HOLY GHOST is being shed forth even as I write these words today. HE has not stopped shedding forth His power on earth. Yeshuah has NOT ceased to pour out the gifts of the Spirit on the church. He has NOT selected just a few to receive these gifts but He as given us ALL the opportunity to RECEIVE the fullness of the HOLY GHOST! My Lord I am getting excited as I write this. Yeshuah did not go to Calvary and shed His blood so we as His Church would be divided over the HOLY GHOST. And He didn't go to the cross and shed blood so that men could stand behind pulpits and demean and degrade the very POWER OF HIS GLORY  - THE HOLY GHOST. Hear me preacher, when you spew your unbelief concerning the Holy Spirit to others you are standing up against something bigger than you'd ever dare to consider. You may "think" you know it all about Jesus and what the word says about it - but read the words above - "HE SHED FORTH THIS!" And when you stand in opposition to the moving of the Holy Spirit you are opposing GOD! You may find people who agree with your point of view - that's where we get denominations from. But in the end we had better not worry about whether MAN agrees with us - it will matter what GOD thinks of us. Peter said you NOW see and HEAR. What do you HEAR?

        Well the day the Holy Ghost fell on those gathered on the temple square that morning there was something that was being HEARD! They SPOKE WITH OTHER TONGUES as the SPIRIT OF GOD gave them the utterance. The PROMISE of the Father is a promise you can HEAR and SEE! You can see the results in people being set free, souls saved, bodies healed and captives delivered. The Promise of the Father can set you free lady from your depression. The Promise of the Father can set you free sir from your lying. The Promise of the Father sir will set you free from your dirty jokes and pornography addiction. The Promise of the Father can set you free ma'am from that gossiping tongue and backbiting spirit. The Promise of the Father preacher can change your church from a funeral home on Sunday morning and Sunday night to a place where people are actually ALIVE with something in their hearts more than Saturday night's baseball scores! Dear God help this generation of church goers.

        The powers of darkness parade their power on television each day to our children and youth while the church fights with everything in it to keep the Holy Spirit from moving in His fullness. We will get what we want if we don't cease from this! God will give us exactly what we are seeking - a LIFELESS CHURCH. But if we have a lifeless church then we can be sure of this - our children will be destroyed by the powers of darkness!

        Jesus received from the Father the promise He had given the apostles. And that Promise is available for all those who will RECEIVE it today. It's not about "getting" the Holy Spirit - HE'S ALREADY BEEN GIVEN! It's about RECEIVING! And we will deal with that a little later.
 

The Promise Of The Father Is Available To ALL Who Will Believe

Acts 2:38-41 - Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

        Peter said the promise is to YOU, YOUR CHILDREN, and to all who are afar off. Three classes of people that represent three groups of history - the past, the present and the future. The "you" Peter referred to were those in his day - the past. YOUR CHILDREN - those in the future generations who would follow the ones listening to his sermon. And those who are afar off - THE PRESENT - that's US! Glory to God.

        Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield, a Princeton Seminary professor, popularized the argument that miraculous gifts of the Spirit, including the baptism in the Holy Spirit, went away with the apostles. He taught that these gifts were given only to a few, namely the apostles, and Stephen and Philip. The purpose of these gifts, according to Warfield, was to authenticate the apostles as trustworthy teachers of doctrine. When the apostles died, therefore, the gifts necessarily passed away with them. Warfield wrote in 1918:

It is very clear from the record of the New Testament that the extraordinary charismata were not (after the very first days of the church) the possession of all Christians, but supernatural gifts to a few. These gifts were not the possession of the primitive Christian as such; nor for that matter of the Apostolic Church or the Apostolic age for themselves; they were distinctly for the authentication of the Apostles as the authoritative agents of God in founding the Church. Their function thus confined them to distinctively the Apostolic Church, and they necessarily passed away with it.

        Even today Warfield's modern theological descendants are still arguing the same way. A well-known theologian who teaches in a well-known Texas seminary says this:

"Every example of healing (by the instrumentality of a person) in the book of Acts is performed by an apostle, or an apostle's deputy, and if we go STRICTLY by the Biblical record, the only three deputies who had any involvement in healing were Stephen, Philip and possibly Barnabas if Acts 14:3 includes him. Outside this group there are no "gifted" healing activities actually recorded in Acts or the epistles. In these days of charismatic confusion we need constantly to draw attention to the texts which prove that signs and wonders were peculiar to the apostolic band, and were not bestowed generously."

        That is what is being taught to our young men and women at most Bible colleges in America. Granted, not all Bible colleges are this way but even the ones who teach the fact the gifts are real today seek to control the atmosphere and the way people operate in the gifts. Paul must turn over in his grave to hear the words "in decency and in order,"  quoted so many times in churches to quench the moving of the Holy Ghost today. Friend, when the Holy Ghost starts moving in our services we had better get out of the way and let Him do His work.

       I have news for Mr. Warfield and this other so-called theologian. My nine-year old son has more sense of God than they do because if what he received last week isn't real then I don't know what is. I don't know how these men could look my son in the face and say "what you have received isn't real." You may laugh at that statement but that's exactly what is happening today in most churches. We are convincing people that what they have received isn't real or we are trying to make sure we put a lid on it so it won't offend our rich Protestant friends who don't believe in the power of God.

        I can tell you this. My son is not ashamed of what he received. He raised his little hands in service last Sunday we were together and I heard his precious prayer language for the first time. His dad wept thanking God for baptizing my son in the Holy Ghost. This promise is to YOU and TO YOUR CHILDREN! Parents, God help us. We tear up everything that is Godly and vital to our children's well-being while we applaud and uplift things before our children that will destroy them and send them to hell! We have no problem degrading those we know who speak in tongues but then we'll take our children to the local video store and fill them with violence, hate, rape, murder, sex, lying, corruption and greed - and will spend tons of money doing it. The power we are fighting is the power that will set our children free.

        I will warn you. The Holy Ghost doesn't act on QUE. He doesn't come to our beckon call. He doesn't do things the way we want Him to do them all the time. He doesn't keep things "neat" and "nice" and "proper" all the time. Look at the gospels. Jesus went around healing the sick, casting out devils and making the religious around Him so made they couldn't see straight. I heard a friend of mine recently say that Benny Hinn was "over the top." Benny Hinn may not be perfect but if we will criticize him for being over the top then believe me - we would most certainly criticize JESUS if He were here among us today. Jesus was more than "over the top," JESUS  was THE TOP!!! His methods would not be accepted by most mainline churches today to say the least!

        What do you think most churches would do if someone bound by demons came into our fellowship foaming at the mouth, naked, cutting themselves with needles???? Uh, let's be frank - he wouldn't make it in the front door. But if someone who believes in the power of God lays hand on that person and Jesus delivers Him, we want to start questioning by what power that person was using to heal and deliver. The reason we don't see the supernatural today is not because the PROMISE OF THE FATHER isn't for today - it's our own STINKING UNBELIEF!

        A Word To My Charismatic Brethren

        I'm writing quite a bit about the denominations that don't believe but I want to talk a bit to those of us who DO. We can boast of the fact we believe but if we seek to quench the moving of the Holy Spirit - IN LIGHT OF KNOWING HE IS REAL - our judgment will be greater! How many Assembly of God churches, Foursquare Churches, Word of Faith, etc. have degenerated into sanctuaries that are so void of the power of God you wouldn't know whether you are in a Baptist church or Methodist church unless the sign said something different on the outside. Friend these things ought not to be. Granted some Charismatics go to extremes in their freedom which is not good but I have found that freedom is better than bondage. Freedom usually gives place to greater abuse but I'll ask you a simple question - would you rather be FREE or in BONDAGE? Paul said for us to not let our freedom be used as a cloak for the flesh but to use that freedom to LOVE one another. But what greater love can we show others than to allow the Holy Spirit to move through our lives and allow His power to touch those who are oppressed and bound by the enemy?

        We're so afraid God is going to take over something that we have control over it kills us. We're so afraid our people are going to be motivated to seek so much more of God that they will not be satisfied with our stale sermons on Sunday any more. We're so afraid our people are going to get a taste of something REAL that they won't want to come back to a dead, lifeless church but will want to find a place where the gifts of the Holy Spirit are practiced and allowed to operate. THE LETTER KILLS but the SPIRIT GIVES LIFE. The promise of the Father is for US today and it has never NOT been for us today.

     
The Promise Of The Father Is Received Through Faith

Gal 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

        You cannot receive the Holy Spirit any other way except through simple child-like faith. To repeat something my son said to me last week - he said, "daddy, I just lifted my hands to heaven; I felt something touch my hands and then I just started speaking in another language, it sounded like Spanish." To a nine-year old - that was what it felt and sounded like. I thought to myself "My Lord, my nine-year-old rebukes me without knowing it." How many times has God wanted to "TOUCH US ON OUR HANDS" but He can't because of our unbelief?

Mark 6:1-6  - And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him. [2] And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? [3] Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. [4] But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. [5] And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. [6] And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

        Friend hear me. Unbelief in the church will cut off the flow of God more than we may care to admit. People die and go to hell because they don't believe in Jesus as their Saviour. But the church DIES too when it ceases to believe in Jesus as their source of POWER and the GIVER of the HOLY GHOST and HIS GIFTS. Those around Jesus at his hometown were "offended" at Him. How many of us are OFFENDED at Him as well? We may say "I'd never be offended" at him but when we stand against what HE DOES - HEAL, DELIVER, EMPOWER and ANOINT - THEN WE ARE OFFENDED AT HIM! The promise of the Father was given to the church for this hour to be a source of deliverance to a hurting and dying world. AND ALL THE WARFIELDS AND HEATHEN SEMINARY TEACHERS IN THE WORLD WILL NEVER STOP THAT. As my good friend Neal Baggett from Cairo, Ga. told me many years ago, "We as individuals can believe and receive or we can doubt and do without!"

        He was MARVELED at their unbelief - and I am sure He is hurt by ours today. He asked His disciples that when He comes to earth the second time would He find "faith on the earth?"

Luke 18:8 - I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

         That's a really good question. It really is. Signs are to follow "them that believe," not them that doubt, disbelieve, constantly deny such possibility and use every excuse of unbelief to evade doing these things. This means literally what it says—"even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). This does not mean that one cannot be saved or get other benefits from God if he cannot do these things, nor does it mean that one is an unbeliever in salvation if he cannot do them. It simply means that he has not attained to faith sufficient to appropriate the benefits promised.

        The Bible gives us five signs that will follow believers: They will:

1. Cast out devils (Mark 16:17; Luke 10:19; Matthew 10:7-8; Matthew 17:20-21; John 14:12)

2. Speak with new tongues (Mark 16:17; Acts 2:4; Acts 10:44-48; Acts 19:1-7; 1 Cor. 12-14; Isaiah 28:11)

3. Take up serpents (^{§ Mark 16:18, note; Luke 10:19; Psalm 91; Acts 28:1-5)}

4. Be Immune From Poisons ^{(§ Mark 16:18, note; Psalm 91; Luke 10:18; 2 Kings 4:41}

5. Heal the Sick  ^{(Mark 16:18; Matthew 10:1-8; Luke 24:49; John 14:12; Acts 1:8):}

        We need to be doing the works of JESUS!

The Promise Of The Father Is Called The Holy Spirit Of Promise

Eph 1:13-14 - In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
 

        Paul said that AFTER we had heard the word of truth that we were SEALED with the Holy Spirit of PROMISE. In other words the work of the Holy Spirit just began in our hearts and lives. The Spirit of God has many offices and many works in the life of the believer. To state it again, we are not in any way insinuating that a person has to speak in tongues or prophesy to be saved. The Holy Spirit is the EARNEST of our Inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the PRAISE of His glory. In common language- He's going to PERFECT us!! He's going to do a work in us so great that when we are presented to the Father we are going to be presented FAULTLESS. He is working on His workmanship right now!

        Our lack of patience with others is very evident sometime - but the Lord's patience with us is not easily understood in human terms. The Lord is not in the microwave religion business. The work He does inside of us is eternal and it carries with it an eternal prize - THE GLORY OF GOD. But if we are constantly fighting this power within us and not allowing the Holy Ghost free reign in our hearts and lives - where do you think that will eventually lead us on this journey? I can tell you this one thing - it will NOT lead us to the abundant life Yeshuah spoke about. (And abundant life is not necessarily a life full of pleasures and money - missionaries on mission fields who struggle to eat can have the abundant life of Yeshuah in their hearts even though they don't have great riches) Our lives don't belong to us anymore - our lives belong to HIM.

The Promise Of The Father Is The Anointing We Must Have In These Last Days

I Jn 2:25-27 - And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abides in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
 

        Yeshuah equates the promise here in John's epistle with eternal life. Some may read that and say "oh no, I have to have the anointing to be saved." Again, being saved has very little to do with what I'm talking about in this journal. Many Christians will go to heaven but they will go saddened when they see what their lives could have accomplished for Yeshuah had they been anointed with the HOLY SPIRIT and baptized in HIS POWER.  John said that the ANOINTING (THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER) ABIDES in us and that we don't need any man to teach us. That is not a call for us to do away with Bible teachers. It's a call for the church of the last days to be endued with so much power of God that no matter what ANY man tries to say to us or teach us we will be so in tune with the SPIRIT OF GOD we will not be "seduced" and led astray.

        In that vein - our eternal destiny IS tied into the PROMISE OF THE FATHER. We need the HOLY GHOST to survive in this hour. We need so much of the HOLY SPIRIT that words cannot express that to you any stronger than I have in this journal. I'm not a "Holy-Ghost" expert and believe me there are not any out there even if they claim they are. I can tell you this. I know He is REAL today and His power is real today. I know that the baptism in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues is a VALID experience FOR TODAY and FOR YOU! You need this promise! You need this anointing. You need to have a prayer language known only to you and God. One reason Satan fights this anointing so much is that he can't interfere with your prayer life when you are praying in tongues! DID YOU KNOW THAT? Some do, and they still don't pray in tongues like they should.

        That's another journal for another time. I encourage you to hear the words of Jesus - BE ENDUED WITH POWER FROM ON HIGH in these last days. With all the Bible preaching and teaching on this subject you'd think there would be no need for this type message but there are many out there who have NEVER received the baptism in the HOLY GHOST. This experience is real today and it's for you! We encourage you to read our other journals listed below on speaking in tongues and prophecy. They will help you and encourage you. Praise God for the PROMISE OF THE FATHER! HE'S REAL!!!!! We are going to talk about this promise and the relation of the Holy Spirit to the coming harvest in a future journal. God bless.

Father in the name of Yeshuah, I pray for those reading this journal right now that they will be endued with power from on high. I pray something we have written has quickened a heart and they have seen their need to be baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues. I thank you that the power of God that resides in the hearts of many who are reading this already will become real to others. Father forgive us who HAVE received this precious anointing for taking it for granted and NOT praying in tongues constantly building ourselves up in our most holy faith. Forgive us for our apathy towards the gifts of the Spirit. Forgive us for no laying hands on the sick so they will recover. Forgive us for not casting out devils and walking in deliverance as the Holy Ghost has been put inside of us to make real. Anoint us afresh and shake us free from our apathy and unbelief here in America. In Yeshuah's name! AMEN.