Sword of the Spirit

A word of Knowledge Stop depicting the Holy Spirit as a dove Luke 3:22 KJV And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. Many people, if not everyone, have misunderstood this verse. They pictured the Holy Spirit coming in the shape of a dove coming down upon Jesus. No, this is not what God is telling us at all.  What purpose does it serve to tell us the Holy Spirit looks like a dove where He obviously does not look like that?  God is not the author of foolishness and  confusion.  We are made in God's image, therefore, God the Holy Spirit's bodily shape is one that resembles that of a man, just as God the Son and God the Father. Now, let us read the verse again slowly: "And the Holy Ghost descended in a BODILY SHAPE like a dove upon him" ...in what bodily shape? It is of course in the shape of a man! And the Holy Ghost DESCENDED in a bodily shape LIKE A...

Experiencing the Holy Spirit  By Andrew Murray  The All Of Sin What is sin? It is separation from God.  Where man is guided by his own will, his own honor, or his own power; where the will, the honor, and the operation of God are not manifested, sin must be at work.  Sin is death and misery because it is a turning away from God to the creature. Sin is in no sense a thing that may exist in man along with other things that are good.  No, as God was once everything, so has sin in fallen man become everything.  It now dominates and penetrates his whole being, even as God should have been allowed to do.  Every part of his nature is corrupt.  We still have our natural existence in God.  All is in sin and under the influence of sin. The all of sin—some small measure of the knowledge of this fact was necessary even at the time of conversion.  This, however, was still very imperfect.  If a Christian is to make progress and become fully convi...

Experiencing the Holy Spirit By Andrew Murray  More of the Spirit It is sad that so many in the church are content with things just as they are. They have no desire to know more of this seeking for the reality of the Spirit‘s power. They point to the present purity of doctrine, to the prevailing earnestness of preaching, to the generous gifts that are made for the maintenance of religious works and the enterprises of philanthropy. They look to the interest manifested in education and missions, and they say that it is better to give God thanks for the good we see around us. Such people would condemn the language of Laodicea and would refuse to say that they were “rich, and increased with goods, and [had] need of nothing” (Rev. 3:17 KJV). Yet there are some traces of this spirit in what they say. They do not consider the command to be filled with the Spirit. They have forgotten the command to prophesy to the Spirit and say, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these s...

Experiencing the Holy Spirit 3 (Excerpts) By Andrew Murray How little the blessing is enjoyed My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. —1 Corinthians 2:4–5 Paul spoke here of two kinds of preaching and two kinds of faith. The spirit of the preacher will determine the faith of the congregation. When the preaching of the Cross is given only in the words of human wisdom, then the faith of the hearers will be in the wisdom of men. When the preaching is in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, the faith of the Christian people will also be firm and strong in the power of God. Preaching in the demonstration of the Spirit will bring the double blessing of power in the Word and in the faith of those who receive that Word. If we desire to know the measure of the working of the Spirit, we must consider the preaching and the faith that ...

Experiencing the Holy Spirit 2 (Excerpts) By Andrew Murray Do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. —Ephesians 5:18 Many Christians think that they already have the Holy Spirit, and that all that is required is to be more faithful in their endeavor to know and to obey Him. They think they are already standing in God‘s grace and that they only need to make a better use of the life they possess. They imagine that they have all that is necessary for continued growth. On the contrary, it is my deep conviction that such souls are in an unhealthy state and that they have need of a healing. Accordingly, just as the first condition for recovery from disease is the knowledge that one is sick, so it is absolutely necessary for them to acknowledge that they do not walk in the fullness of the Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit is indispensable for them if they are to please God in everything.

Experiencing the Holy Spirit 1 Excerpts) By Andrew Murray It is my desire to bring to the children of God the message that there is a twofold Christian life. The one is that in which we experience something of the operations of the Holy Spirit, just as many did under the old covenant, but we do not yet receive Him as the Pentecostal Spirit, as the personal indwelling Guest. On the other hand, there is a more abundant life, in which the indwelling just referred to is known and experienced. When Christians come to fully understand the distinction between these two conditions, they will find the will of God concerning them. Therefore, it is a possible experience for each believer, having confessed the sinfulness and inconsistency that still marks our lives, to dare to hope that the Christian community will once more be restored to its Pentecostal power.  

Waiting On God  By Andrew Murray  For the Promise of the Father Acts1:4. ”He charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father.” In speaking of the saints in Jerusalem at Christ's birth—with Simeon and Anna—we saw how the call to waiting is no less urgent now, though the redemption they waited for has come, than it was then.  We wait for the full revelation in us of what came to them, but what they could scarcely comprehend.  In the same way, it is with waiting for the promise of the Father.  In one sense, the fulfillment can never come again as it came at Pentecost.  In another sense, and that in as deep a reality as with the first disciples, we need to wait daily for the Father to fulfill His promise in us. The Holy Spirit is not a person distinct from the Father in the way two persons on earth are distinct.  The Father and the Spirit are never without or separate from each other.  The Father is always in the S...

https://youtu.be/ES6SD6RVcuo?si=FpFY1xPIzC5d1Nwr 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 KJV Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,  [2] That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.  [3] Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; The "falling away" has already begun...  Time is running out.  Repent and turn not to men nor the traditions of men but onto God. 

This World: Playground or Battleground? (Excerpts) By A. W. Tozer The most critical need of the Church at this moment is men - the right kind of men, bold men.  The talk is that we need revival, that we need a new baptism of the Holy Spirit - and God knows we must have both - but God will not revive mice.  He will not fill rabbits with the Holy Spirit. We languish for men who feel themselves expendable in the warfare of the soul because they have already died to the allurements of this world.  Such men will be free from the compulsions that control weaker men.  They will not be forced to do things by the squeeze of circumstances.  Their only compulsion will come from within - or from above. This kind of freedom is necessary if we are to have prophets in our pulpits again instead of mascots. These free men will serve God and mankind from motives too high to be understood by the rank and file of religious retainers who today shuttle in and out of the sanctuary. Th...