Satan is darkness personified, and cannot function in the light!  All that is necessary to drive away the darkness is to turn on the light! That is why Satan - wise as he is - WILL NOT COME DOWN to this earth to reside in one man (the Antichrist), jeopardizing his entire end-time program, until the Blessed Holy Spirit and the Church of the Living God are gone.

WHY IS THE HOLY SPIRIT & CHURCH OF LIVING, GOING TO BE GONE?

Jesus Christ gave His power and authority to His 12 apostles, 70 disciples, 120 in the Upper Room, and to His Church which consists of all believers: "And the seventy returned again with joy saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name."

He answered: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold I give unto you power (authority) to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." (Luke 10:17-19)

If Jesus told the truth - and we know He did - here is the scenario which could easily happen if the Church were still here, when Satan makes his last big move to rule the entire world: The fact is that God has given us the power to cast out devils, therefore Spirit  filled believers could bind the devil's ability, rendering him powerless to perform his evil acts, since he would be encapsulated within the body of a political leader 'the Antichrist'.

SATAN WOULD NOT TAKE A CHANCE UNTIL THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GONE

SATAN WOULD NOT CHANCE such a move, until the Holy Spirit is out of the way! The 'parousia' opens the door for Satan, the false prophet - who will miss the rapture - and the Antichrist to make their move.

Satan, who is the prince of the power of the air, will then come from his sanctuary in the air - the atmosphere, stratosphere and space - to make his temporary headquarters on the earth! He is now called the 'prince of the power of the air.' (Ephesians 2: 2)

WHAT WILL SATAN - the Prince of Power of the Air Do?

For seven years Satan will terrorize, brutalize, brainwash and deceive those who remain here after the 'harpazo'- the catching away of His blood-washed, Spirit-filled Church . Satan will permanently possess a political ruler who is called the Antichrist in imitation of the infilling of Jesus the Son of God, by the Holy Spirit.

GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE NECESSARY

The 'Gifts of the Holy Spirit' are necessary for evangelism and spiritual warfare, in the life of a vibrant and healthy Church.

There is no substitute for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, in His Body.  The 'Gifts of the Holy Spirit' should be 'mandatory issue' for all 'soldiers of the cross.'

Without the Holy Spirit's anointing, leading and supernatural wisdom, the Church is adrift in a sea of uncertainty and prone to bareness and discouragement.  And even worse, the Church is adrift with error and false teaching without the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

It must offend our Lord, when Christians in general, and Ministers in particular, show such disrespect  that they ignore and marginalize the Holy Spirit, and minimize His empowering spiritual gift.  It must offend our Lord as the Holy Spirit was given to the Church by Christ himself.

The Free Methodist 'Course of Study' states: "The Church cannot accomplish its spiritual mission without the Gifts of the Spirit." Dr. A.B. Simpson, founder of the 'Christian and Missionary Alliance '  wrote: "First Corinthians the twelfth chapter is a pattern for our present day churches."

Billy Graham wrote in his 'Bethelgram', 1981: "We have learnt much about the power of the 'Holy Spirit'. You know, we have looked a bit askance of our Pentecostal brethren because of their emphasis on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

I wonder if one of the secrets of 'Pentecostalists' and the Assemblies of God, cannot be learned by our mainstream churches with the great emphasis on the Holy Spirit.

I want to tell you that I believe that the time is come to give the Holy Spirit His rightful place in our preaching, in our teaching and in our churches: We need to go back and study what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, 'Be filled with the Spirit'."

Dr. A.W. Tozer stated: "It is a sad fact, but nevertheless true, that were the Holy Spirit to be absent from our church services, most of us would never recognize anything different."

Dr. R.A. Torrey, in 'What the Bible Teaches', wrote: "The Baptism with the Holy Spirit is an operation of the Holy Spirit that is distinct from and subsequent and additional to His regenerating work:  An impartation of power, and the one who receives it is fitted for service, not merely for the apostles, not merely for those of the 'Apostolic Age', but for all that are afar off, every believer, in every age of the Church's history.

One of America's greatest soul sinners was D.L. Moody, who founded Moody Tabernacle and won hundreds of thousands for Jesus Christ in the USA and Great Britain.

D.L. Moody stated: "I firmly believe that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and self-seeking and everything that is contrary to God's law, the Holy Ghost will come and fill every corner of our hearts; but if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and self-seeking and pleasure and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God.

Moody continued: "If God were to fill us as we are we would become vain as peacocks. The secret of the Holy Spirit coming in power to the believer is in the individual?s complete surrender to the Savior."

R.A. Torrey, a close associate of D.L Moody, was stopped by a friend on his way to a convention, who said: "I see you are to speak on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Tell the people not to pray for the Holy Spirit." Torrey replied: "I shall certainly not tell them that, for Jesus said": "How much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him." (Luke 11: 13)

G.H.C. MacGregor writes: "God will fill us with His Spirit. Upon the contrite, penitent, waiting, obedient soul there will fall ' as there fell at Pentecost' the gift of the Holy Ghost. Victory over sin, impossible before, will become possible. Sin shall not have dominion over us, because He has cured it, and in Him we are more than conquerors.

TO RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT YOU NEED TO HAVE A STRONG HUNGER FOR GOD

Our greatest need is a deep longing and intense hunger and thirst after God and His spiritual graces and gifts! Catherine Booth, wife of the famous General of the Salvation Army, shares her understanding of this crucial fact: "God never gives the gift of the Holy Spirit  to any human soul who has not come to that point where he would sell all he had to obtain it."

Jonathan Goforth, one of the world's great missionaries, declared: "Nothing can clothe with victorious might but the baptism of the Holy Ghost and with fire, and no one can possess such a baptism, without knowing it."

F.B. Meyer wrote: "The Pentecostal fullness, the enduement of power, the baptism of fire, are all within our reach. Let us be inspired with a holy ambition to get all that our God is willing to bestow."

England's renowned Baptist preacher, C.H. Spurgeon admonished his thousands of parishioners: "Let us not be satisfied with the sip that saves, but let us go onto the baptism which buries the flesh and raises us in the likeness of the risen Lord: Even the baptism into the Holy Ghost and into fire which makes us spiritual and sets us all on flame with zeal for the glory of God."

Dutch Reformed Theologian Andrew Murray exhorted: "Brother, what we need is to pray in the name of Christ, to ask that we may receive that our joy may be full for the BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST."

Noted Bible scholar A.J. Gordon, insisted that the 'Baptism of the Holy Spirit' is a definite experience, subsequent to conversion: "It seems clear from the Scriptures that it is still the duty and privilege of believers to receive the Holy Spirit by a conscious, definite act of appropriating faith, just as they received Jesus Christ."

Scottish Evangelist John MacNeil, once remarked: "Full salvation consists in receiving the promise of the Spirit in addition to being justified."

The renowned Baptist preacher, Vance Havner noted: "There is something lacking among Bible Christians today. If you are aware of it, I need not describe it: if you are not aware of it, you would not understand it if I did describe it. You may call it the 'filling of the Spirit', full surrender, consecration, the victorious life, revival. Whatever it is, most of us haven't it."

WHY THE LACK OF SPIRITUAL POWER?  IT WAS AS IF SATAN HAD BLINDED THE EYES OF 'CHURCH LEADERS'  TO RENDER THE CHURCH INEFFECTIVE

I was well aware of God's healing power - because of my mother's dramatic healing in Norway , even though I was raised in the Evangelical Lutheran Church.  I was unaware, however, of the Pentecostal experience of Martin Luther, the great reformer and founder of our church.

That I learned later, as I discerned 'the lack of spiritual power' in most churches and the almost non - existence of the Holy Spirit's presence in divine worship services! It was as though Satan had blinded the eyes of 'Church leaders' through an invisible, yet real, unholy conspiracy to render the Church ineffective.

And Satan was doing a good job, as our nation was plunging into modernism, materialism and the post Christian era.  Churches were emptying through wholesale backsliding and apostasy, due to a dearth in the area of prayer, witnessing, soul winning and missions.

The very heart of the Church was becoming terminally ill, and the greatest battles being fought were not against Satan, sin, and evil, but against the very Word of God - the Holy Bible and the doctrines of the Church.

And the bulk of this diabolical evil was coming from within the Church.   Schools of Theology were on a campaign to brainwash thousands of impressionable and earnest young men and women with Satan's poison, against the veracity of the Bible and the authority of Jesus Christ! A fifth column, if you please, was hijacking through so-called higher criticism - Christian Seminaries, Bible Colleges and Churches, for their own sinister, sensual and humanistic purposes.

I came to the conclusion, that two wrong things had been committed: First, Church leaders had usurped the power and authority that belonged to the HOLY SPIRIT.  Church leaders had taken this power and authority that belonged to the Holy Spirit and placed it into human hands. 

They had rejected the authority of the Holy Spirit as the ONLY true representative of Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church (Ephesians 5: 23; Col.1: 18) 

Secondly, The Church leaders had rejected the Word of God, which the Holy Spirit Himself had anointed.

Jesus Christ, Who is the head of the Church, (Ephesians 4:15) sent the Blessed Holy Spirit to teach, lead, guide, correct, encourage and work with the very Word of God and through His Church (John 14,15,16; 1 Corinthians 12: 1,7,28,31; 14: 1) And unfortunately, there has been deep disloyalty to and infraction against Him by a large segment of Church leadership, world-wide.

PROBING THE HISTORICAL RECORD

In his Pentecostal message, St. Peter stated unequivocally: "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 far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts 2: 38 ,39)

THEOPHILUS, writing circa 170 A.D. states that the word 'Christian' comes from the Greek word for oil (chrism) which means 'anointed one'. The reason for that, was because Christ's followers were anointed with the Holy Spirit, he declared.

TERTULLIAN, who lived in the second century, wrote: "The Baptized, when they came up out of the bath, are anointed with the holy oil, and then the hand is laid upon them with the invocation of the Holy Spirit."  Again he notes: "In baptism we do not receive the Holy Ghost, but being cleansed we are disposed for the Holy Spirit under the hand of the minister."

This chain-of-events is similar to that practiced by the
Early Church . After the great revival conducted by Phillip in Samaria - where multitudes were saved and baptized in water - and many were miraculously healed and delivered from demon powers, Peter and John were sent to lay their hands on them so that they might receive the Holy Ghost.

Peter and John prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost (for as yet He was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) "Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost." (Acts 8:4)

URBAN the First, one of the earliest bishops of Rome , circa 225 A.D. stated: "All faithful people ought to receive the Holy Spirit by imposition of the bishop's hands after baptism."

CYPRIAN, writing at about the same time, reported on how Church officials prayed for new converts after their baptism in water, to be filled with the Holy Spirit: "The faithful in Samaria had already obtained baptism; only that which was wanting, Peter and John supplied, by prayer and imposition of hands, to the end the Holy Ghost might be outpoured upon them.

He notes: "Which (the Holy Spirit) also is amongst ourselves, when they which be already baptized are brought to the rulers of the church to obtain by our prayer and imposition of hands the Holy Ghost."

EUSUBIOUS, an Early Church historian from the third century records an incident of one NOVATIUS, who was baptized while he was ill, but did not receive prayer to receive the Holy Ghost. On this account writes Eusebius, Novatius was censured by the Bishop of Rome.

HOLY GHOST BAPTISM: GOD'S SEAL ON BELIEVERS

PACIANUS, who died in 390 A.D. recorded these words:
"In baptism our sins are cleansed, in confirmation the Spirit is poured upon us."

GREGORY, in circa 370 A.D. wrote thusly concerning the 'laying on of hands': "We therefore call it a seal or signature, as being a guard and custody to us, and a sign of the Lord's dominion over us."

RAVANUS MAURUS, as late as 800 A.D. wrote about the anointing service to receive the Holy Spirit: "In baptism the baptized was anointed on the top of the head, in confirmation on the forehead; by that was signified that the Holy Ghost was preparing a habitation for Himself."

ST. PAUL wrote: "In Whom (Christ) 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."  (Ephesians 1: 13, 14)

The Bible teaches three things: First, when a sinner receives the 'word of truth' and believes the gospel message of God's great salvation, the blood of Jesus Christ immediately cleanses that soul and makes him ready for Heaven! He is born again and a new creation in Christ Jesus! (John 3: 3, 7; 1 Corinthians 5:17)

Second, when that new convert in Christ reaches out by faith and has hands laid upon him or is anointed with oil in Jesus'  name, our Lord Himself will baptize that person in the Holy Ghost and fire! (Luke 3: 16)

Third, every believer that is filled with the Blessed Holy Spirit is SEALED by God, UNTIL the day He calls us Home to Himself. The Blessed Holy Spirit guarantees our salvation! He personally is the guarantor of our salvation! The Baptism of the Holy Ghost is the earnest (DOWN PAYMENT) of our inheritance in Glory, paid for by Christ Jesus! It is just a taste of what Heaven will be like; a little bit of Heaven to go to Heaven in.

St. Paul declares: "ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise until the redemption of the purchased possession." What is he talking about? What or who is the purchased possession? Hang on to your seatbelts  WE ARE THE PURCHASED POSSESSION.

"What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own  For ye are bought with a price."(1 Cor.6: 19, 20); "Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men."(1 Cor.7: 23);

"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God , which He hath purchased with His own blood." (Act 20:28)

SATAN STEALS THE WORD

Jesus said:  "Hearken; Behold a sower went out to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.  And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:

But when the sun was up, it was scorched: and because it had no root, it withered away.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred." (Mark 4: 3-8).

In this parable, Jesus made it plain that when the Word of God is sown, immediately the devil comes to steal the Word. (verse 15) Our Lord stated that Satan came to 'steal, kill and destroy'. (John 10:10)

The seed that was sown on STONY GROUND speaks of those "who have heard the Word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward when affliction or persecution ariseth for the Word's sake, immediately they are offended." (verse 18,19)

The seed sown AMONG THORNS refers to: "such as hear the Word, and the cares of this world, And the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful." (v.18,19)

And finally, the seed that fell on GOOD GROUND are: "such as hear the Word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirty fold, some sixty, and some an hundred." (v. 20)

JESUS DOESN'T RECOGNIZE those who receive the Word with gladness, but fall away or those who hear the Word and become unfruitful because of the cares, pleasures and lusts of this world, as GENUINE BELIEVER.

Interestingly, our Lord also separates believers such as hear the Word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit - into three groups: some thirty fold, some sixty and some an hundred.

Jesus is adamant that we bring forth fruit. There is no excuse why we should not do so! JESUS DESIRES FRUIT in His followers! He stated: "I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He PURGETH it, that it may bring forth more fruit."

"Abide in Me  and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." (John 15: 1-6)

JESUS PLACES BELIEVERS IN THREE CATEGORIES:  30% - 60% & 100%

Jesus places believers in three categories: thirty percent, sixty percent and one hundred percent! The famous American Evangelist, D.L. Moody said: "The FIRST CLASS, are those who got to Calvary and there got life. They believed on the Son and were saved, and there they rested satisfied. They did not seek anything higher.  You might safely say, I think, without exaggeration, that 19 out of 20 Christians' have just got life and have settled down, and have not sought for power."

The SECOND CLASS, Moody calls, a better class of Christian  ' asserting' the secret of the Holy Spirit's coming in power to the believer is the individual's complete surrender to the Saviour. And we do not need to wait upon God to do something for us. He is waiting for us to yield ourselves to Him.  Moody points to John 7: 37,38, where we read: "out of whose belly (innermost being) shall flow rivers of living water."  He says: "This is the BEST CLASS; this is the kind of Christian we ought to be."

A number of years ago, Rev. Ray Brubaker of  'Good News Behind The News', wrote the article, 'God's Message to This Generation', in which he gave his personal testimony of being miraculously healed and filled with the Holy Spirit! He quotes great preachers- many of whom I have referred to in this book - who have been used of God, because they were empowered through the infilling of the Blessed Holy Spirit.

PENTECOST: ONLY A SPECIMEN DAY

He says: As Moody stated, 'Pentecost was only a specimen day' . Moody calls attention to the fact that for thirty years our Lord lived in obscurity in Nazareth . Then, there came a day when we read where Jesus was 'full of the Holy Ghost.'  Coming back to Nazareth after His victorious encounter over Satan, in the wilderness we read where He entered the temple and read from Isaiah "the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me." From thence, 'for three years we find Him preaching the kingdom of God , casting out devils and raising the dead'.

MOODY concludes: "If the Son of God has got to be anointed, do not His disciples need it, and shall we not seek it, and shall we barely rest with conversion".

When there were those who took exception to Moody's reference to receiving the Holy Spirit, or his messages on the baptism of the Spirit, TORREY relates how Moody would reply: "Why will they split hairs? Why don't they see that this is just the one thing that they themselves need?"

GOOD POINT, MOODY! We will follow your advice, as well as that of other great leaders of the Church! In a German Church history, Sauer's 'History of the Christian Church', vol. 3, page 406 we read: "Doctor Martin Luther was a prophet, evangelist, speaker in tongues, interpreter, and in one person, endowed with all the gifts of the Spirit."

In Luther's Works, concerning prophecy, he says, "If you wish to prophesy, do it in such a way that it does not go beyond faith so that your prophesying can be in harmony with the peculiar quality of faith". He goes on to write that "one may prophesy new things but not things that go beyond the bounds of faith". (Oswald nd. 25: 444-451)

Martin Luther was a great man of faith and used greatly in the healing ministry of our Lord! In 'Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel', we read the personal letter of Martin Luther.

Luther's detractors asked the great reformer: "Where will you be when the whole world is against you"  the Pope, the Emperor, the Nobles, the Bishops, the people? Where will you be then, Martin Luther?

The Reformer smiled and answered: "Then, as now, I will be in the hands of God!"  He was a great power for God during the dark days of the Middle Ages! I never fully understood how one man - standing alone - could change the course of the world by standing up to a corrupt, evil and perverted religious system that was pretending to be the Body of Christ on earth.

One day I read where Luther stated: "I live as though Jesus Christ died yesterday, arose today and is coming again tomorrow!"  Then, I understood his heart. He was sold out to God and lived only to do His will. He feared neither the 'Bloody old Vatican Wolf ' or the Emperor of Rome! He was radical In his prayers to God and in his declaration of the Gospel, and spoke directly from his heart.

I learned what Luther's 'Philosophy of Ministry' really was when he said: "I live as though Jesus Christ died yesterday, arose today and is coming again tomorrow!"

The Gospel of Christ was a reality in his life! He believed in and communicated with the RISEN CHRIST, instead groveling around in the dust of history, with higher critics who were stuck on the 'The Historical Jesus' aspect of theology! He didn't suffer fools gladly and he didn't play Church. He lived the Gospel every day, like St. Paul who stated: "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Phil.1: 21)

"Come unto ME, all ye who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)