Holy Ghost Baptism an emphasis
 

Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord coming from the north in his vision in Ezekiel chap 1. From heaven, iow. All of the elaborate description of the "glory of the Lord" follows in that chapter. From that chapter onward, the wheel within the wheel, Christ on the sapphire throne, and eyes all over them and the cherubim are referred to as simply "the glory of the Lord."

One notable aspect is the sound of the wings was the sound of many waters and the voice of the Almighty.

Jesus is seen on the sapphire throne with legs of fire and torso of gold/amber. In Rev 1 we see the same imagery. And HIS VOICE sounded like many waters.

Ezekiel eventually sees that glory leave the temple in chapter 11, and moving to the eastern mountain outside the city. Mount of Olives. Jesus did the same thing in his earthly ministry days before the cross... left the temple in Matt 23 and went to the mount of Olives in Matt 24. In fact, as the glory left the world in Ezekiel 11 from the Mount of Olives, Jesus left the world from that same mountain.

John 1 says Jesus is the glory of the Father.

When Ezekiel saw the glory return in chapter 43, it came back to the temple. Again the sound was the voice of many waters.

In Chapter 47 the glory that was in the temple issued forth a river... the representation of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. No wonder he had the sound of many waters in His voice! In other words, Jesus spoke of the Holy Ghost over and over again before he left this world. And when He came back in Spirit form on the day of Pentecost, and filled the true temple, the church, the RIVERS of living water were shed forth and poured out, river language, and the Spirit flowed through the people into the earth. That was the start of the whole earth being filled with the GLORY of the Lord.

We need to have the voice of many waters, too. Talk Holy Ghost baptism. Preach it. Witness of it. It was HIS FOCUS!!!

I meant this to be inn DEEP WATERS section. Sorry it is in debate.

Re: Holy Ghost Baptism an emphasis
 

Moved it for you!

Re: Holy Ghost Baptism an emphasis
 

Good stuff here Mike, to bad more people cannot grasp this concept. But instead keep talking about physical buildings and physical hills, and physical thrones.

Re: Holy Ghost Baptism an emphasis
 

I agree wholeheartedly.

All that Jesus came and did, was to get people to Pentecost and receive the Holy Spirit. The entire Gospel is the method whereby people can be born from above by the Spirit of God.

I have seen the Holy Spirit de-emphasized in a church setting, and soon enough, new converts get baptized, and don't come up out of the water, receiving the Holy Spirit.

Then it gets said "It's between them and God", which is partly true, except the Book of Acts shows that the church, or least representatives of the church, were always present when someone received the Holy Spirit.

I have heard of people receiving the Holy Spirit all by their lonesome, but the vast majority that I know that have received the Holy Spirit, did so through the unction of God upon the ministry.

The demonstration of the Holy Spirit's power is going to be the only thing that brings revival to the West. Our songs and worship isn't doing it. Our preaching and teaching isn't making it happen, either. Nothing about us Apostolic Pentecostals, generally speaking, in the West, is causing much ado about anything.

And yet, wherever massive revivals are occurring, they all seem to be happening due to a demonstration of the Holy Spirit's power.

Re: Holy Ghost Baptism an emphasis
 

We HAVE the witness in us, and yet . . .

(1) "Faith comes by hearing . . .: but the gospel that saves is being
preached less and less. Denominationalism (which is what the Church
has become) wants debate doctrine; that is, to finish erecting the walls
BEFORE finishing the foundation!

(2) The Lord is still giving man the opportunity to receive eternal life,
and many are still embracing the gospel that saves wherever it is preached...
in spite of our many shortcomings.

"...except a man be born of water and of the Spirit..."

Re: Holy Ghost Baptism an emphasis
 

i am led to say that people are easily led into a place of relative peace, when we are called to wield a sword.
do you have anywhere specific in mind?

Re: Holy Ghost Baptism an emphasis
 

A few things I keep in mind:

1. Nobody gives anyone the Spirit except Jesus.

2. Yet, 'through the laying on of the apostles' hands...' the Spirit is often given.

3. You can't give away what you don't have.

4. Yet, you can't give somebody something they don't genuinely want.

5. And yet again, people often want what they nevertheless fail to exercise faith for.

6. I got the Spirit in the back row of a dead-as-doornails Baptist church, wasn't aware of the 'theological significance' of what happened, I just knew Jesus somehow came inside of me and His Spirit erupted out of me in other languages like an exploding geyser. I was HUNGRY for the Spirit of God, I was determined to be saved, I knew I needed His Spirit, although I had no 'theology of the baptism with the Holy Ghost' at the time. But I had been praying and fasting for about two or three weeks and was DESPERATE TO FIND CHRIST IN REALITY. While there were some 'perceptive effects' when it happened (crying, shaking, could hardly stand, etc) the most profound effects were not 'sensations' but an OVERWHELMING awareness of the love of God, the POWER of God, the NEARNESS of God, and the FACT that this God was none other than Jesus Christ. Looking back, I truly believe that a genuine baptism with the Holy Ghost produces what the Wesleyans call 'entire sanctification' along with what the Pentecostals call 'speaking with tongues' and 'power to serve'.

7. We tend to judge an experience by our own standards: this and that worked for me, so it must work for others too. This and that is what I did, so it is what you must do as well to get what I got. Sometimes this is correct, sometimes this is not correct.

8. I fear a lot of people have 'become Pentecostal' who never actually experienced a genuine Pentecostal baptism with the Holy Ghost. A lot of preachers, churches, teachers, etc seem to make it 'too easy', ie 'just start saying....' or 'just start praising God and let it happen'. People 'speak in tongues' (? sound like it, anyway) but do not seem to experience a definite ENCOUNTER with Christ of any kind. Others just start saying 'hallelujah' over and over until they start stumbling their words and then someone yells 'You got it!' and off they go. So I worry about encouraging a 'false experience' in anyone. (As a result I NEVER tell anyone 'you got it'. If they did, they probably can't help but testify to it, and don't need me to tell them anything. If they didn't, me telling them they did will only confuse things. I also don't tell anyone they did NOT get it unless they testify they did NOT speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.)

9. Some people want and desire all God has for them, but have trouble grasping the concept of 'just receive'. Sometimes I have trouble explaining the concept myself.

10. A lack of urgency seems to be a major hindrance to many. They don't feel an URGENT NEED for God's Spirit, so it's not REALLY a priority for them.

11. Too much urgency ('I might die tonight without God's Spirit! Argh, woe is me!') seems to also be a hindrance to some, they are in fear not faith.

12. I think we have somehow way overcomplicated things, because I don't really see these things being a problem in the book of Acts...

Re: Holy Ghost Baptism an emphasis
 

nice :)

Re: Holy Ghost Baptism an emphasis
 

Brother Blume, you forget about this thread?

Sort of went off track. Lol