Daily Archives: May 5, 2012

Fast And Pray To Remove Sensual Unbelief

05 Saturday May 2012

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Unbelief . . .

And straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief!’ ~ Mark 9:24, KJ21

 

The incident with the “epileptic” boy serves as a sharp contrast between the three chosen disciples’ Mount of Transfiguration mountaintop experience and all of the disciples’ valley frustrations about their inability to heal ALL manner of sickness and disease. In Mark chapter 9, Christ Jesus’ disciples could not heal this “epileptic” boy. For this reason, when the boy’s father confesses to Christ Jesus that he believes yet has unbelief, no doubt because of the disciples’ failure, his confession is presented as a symbol for the root cause of the disciples’ frustration problem.

Christ Jesus’ disciples profess with deep faith their confidence in their Lord to do supernaturally the naturally impossible. However, their own sensual unbelief (a trust in what they ONLY can see, feel, hear, smell, or taste) ends up hardening their hearts (human spirits). As a result, it is their sensual unbelief that keeps their hearts and minds from professing with deep faith that same level of confidence in their own ability to do supernaturally the naturally impossible, even though they have been given the Lord’s power and authority.

Sensual unbelief results from us paying more attention to the physical world and/or our natural senses, or paying more attention to the opinions of others, instead of focusing on the Divine, Supernatural Truth of God. Consequently, we keep looking to Christ Jesus to do for us what He ALREADY has done in us! He has put in us our measure of faith (enough trust in God) and our measure of power and authority (enough dunamis and exousia) to perform miracles, signs, and wonders for others, as well as for ourselves. But, regrettably, our own sensual unbelief (ignorance about or unwillingness to trust) in the supernatural in us hinders us from doing what IS supernaturally possible for us to do, if we ONLY would believe.

Because what we see, feel, hear, smell, or taste often is contrary to the WORD and the promises of God, we then doubt (have sensual unbelief) in our hearts. As our doubt increases, and as our circumstances continue to appear to go against God’s WORD or His promises, we redouble our dependence on or trust in our five senses, or in mankind’s opinions. Moreover, because doubt (sensual unbelief) and faith cannot occupy the same space in our hearts at the same time, our doubting hardened hearts always will cancel out our faith, which is our total trust and belief in the Holy Spirit working through us!

For this last reason, Christ Jesus teaches us on the importance of faith, prayer, and fasting, as their roles in our lives pertain to the removal of our sensual unbelief. That’s right! Contrary to popular opinion, when the disciples ask Christ Jesus why they couldn’t cast out the demonic spirit (cf. Mark 9:28), the Lord’s response, “This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29, KJ21; see also Mark 9:17-29; Matthew 17:14-21; and Luke 9:37-43a), does not refer to His disciples’ need to fast and pray in order to cast out the foul spirit. He tells them that they needed to fast and pray, because that would be the only way for them to remove their sensual unbelief. Their unbelief being the reason for why they could not get rid of the foul spirit is made crystal clear in Matthew 17:20.

Therefore, since Christ Jesus already had given His disciples His power and authority over “…unclean spirits to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease” (Matthew 10:1, KJ21; see also Mark 6:7 and Luke 9:1), these disciples did not fail to heal the boy possessed with that foul spirit of epilepsy, because they had not fasted or prayed before performing what would have been a Divine miracle. They failed at casting out this particular demonic spirit, because of their own sensual UNBELIEF!

Let us then learn to fast and pray whenever we are dealing with our own sensual unbelief so that God will remove that sensual unbelief from our minds, and in so doing, save us from hardening our hearts against the supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit.  AMEN.

Please read my blog entry: Speak To Your Mountains.

Our Intellectual Assent Is Not Enough

05 Saturday May 2012

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Intellectual Assent vs. Committed Heart

…‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ~ John 1:33b, ESV


People seem to overlook the fact that even Christ Jesus did not perform any miracles, signs, or wonders before He received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which happened after John the Baptist baptized Christ Jesus in the Jordan River. When the Dove (the symbol of God’s Holy Spirit) descended from Heaven and came upon Christ Jesus and remained on Him, this predicted “sign” (cf. John 1:33:a) not only determined for John the Baptist that Jesus is the authentic and promised Christ, which the voice from Heaven also declared at Christ Jesus’ water baptism (cf. Matthew 3:17), but also this predicted “sign” proved to us that Christ Jesus also received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

This heavenly sent Dove performed a Fire-filled baptism—He baptized (immersed/submerged) Christ Jesus in God’s Living Water. In other words, it was the Holy Spirit’s baptism that equipped and empowered Christ Jesus for His earthly ministry.

This same Fire-filled baptism is what continually burns away impurities from our souls while supernaturally equipping and empowering us so that we too can fulfill our individually God-given purpose(s) or earthly ministry. For this reason, we should not confuse the indwelling Holy Spirit with the infilling (Baptism) of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s indwelling happens immediately after we are reborn, saved, restored, reconciled, and then justified (presented to God as if we never had sinned). In contrast, the Holy Spirit’s infilling happens ONLY after we are immersed/submerged into the Holy Spirit’s Living Water, which initiates the progressive sanctification process in us (the beginning of that which eventually brings about our permanent change).

Although the Holy Spirit’s baptism can occur at the moment we receive salvation, the Bible clearly teaches that having the indwelling Holy Spirit to infill us is a separate experience from our redemption experience, and, thus, could come much later in our Christian walk. That’s right! Receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is not automatic, nor is this Baptism unavoidable—it can be ignored, avoided. Therefore, it is entirely possible to be a believer in Christ Jesus without having received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, as seen in the Samaritans’ lives (cf. Acts 8:5-17) and in the lives of John the Baptist’s disciples; the ones the apostle Paul meets in Ephesus (cf. Acts 19:1-7). Then too, it is absolutely feasible that there will be some believers who will live their entire Christian lives without ever receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit!

The bottom line is this truth: In order to receive the Holy Spirit’s baptism, we must realize that our intellectual assent is NOT enough. Intellectual assent also is not enough to receive regeneration (rebirth; being born again from above). Intellectual assent also is not enough to receive salvation. Intellectual assent also is not enough to receive progressive sanctification.

Put different, the biblical definition of faith, and by extension the definition of belief, is NOT: knowing and affirming truth, with the exception of being obedient to God’s Divine Truth. However, the definition of intellectual assent IS: knowing and affirming truth, with the exception of being obedient to God’s Divine Truth. Intellectual assent also is defined as follows: a decision made in our minds that lacks the full commitment of our hearts (human spirits). Thus, if we are accepting God’s Holy Spirit Baptism to be true only in theory (mentally comprehending this supernatural event), or accepting our need to be Holy Spirit baptized with exceptions, like not wanting to speak in tongues, then we never will be prepared to receive His Baptism.

Our preparation, therefore, involves receiving a Holy Spirit revelation about His infilling (about what it means to be Holy Spirit baptized), and our preparation involves receiving a genuine God-given desire (having the right motive) to be Holy Spirit infilled. Furthermore, before we even can have the right desire for being Holy Spirit baptized, we first would need to have a fully surrendered life in Christ Jesus, and we would need to have a disciplined prayer life. 

Resurrected From Spiritual Death To Spiritual Life

05 Saturday May 2012

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Spiritual Rebirth

Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice. ~ John 5:28, ESV

  

We know that God’s Holy Spirit is the Living Water—our constant flowing source of Divine Revelation (illuminator of God’s WORD), our constant flowing source of spiritual wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and spiritual gifts, and our constant flowing source of Christ Jesus’ power, authority, and anointing. In view of this knowledge, there should be no doubt that this Living Water additionally not only continually cleanses us from all manner of defilement but also initially makes us spiritually alive.

Even though, for the most part, we indirectly hear Christ Jesus’ voice speak to us (like from off the Bible’s pages that we read, and/or from out of the mouths of Bible teachers, preachers, and disciplers), Christ Jesus first had to speak to us, indirectly or directly, before we ever could be resurrected from out of our spiritual graves (the state of being spiritually dead to God). In actuality, according to God’s written and preached Word, our Father sovereignly decided that, after His Grace and the Power of His Holy Spirit worked together to influence a positive response from us to the read or preached Word, His Grace and the Power of His Holy Spirit would work together to perform a preliminary spiritual baptism in us so that we could be resurrected from spiritual death, or separation from God.

In other words, no matter when we respond favorably to either the written or the preached Word of God, the Divine Truth is that our positive response is because of God’s Grace and His Holy Spirit’s Power. That’s right! It is because of God’s Grace and the Power of His Holy Spirit that God allows His Holy Spirit to influence our receptivity of the read, preached, and/or taught WORD of God, which is the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Furthermore, it is because of this initial act of God’s Grace and Power that His Grace and His Holy Spirit’s Power next work together to breathe life into us, again, only this time it is the “new” life that is being breathed into our spiritually dead human spirits. God, in essence, is regenerating sinners’ spirits—we are being born again from Heaven.

No one can feel this new birth while it is happening, and no one can do anything to make this new birth happen. Put differently, regeneration (rebirth; being born again from above) is solely the work of God’s Grace and the Power of His Holy Spirit.

Subsequently, the teamwork of God’s Grace and His Holy Spirit’s Power also involves giving us our measure of faith, as well as influencing our spiritual hearing (understanding), our spiritual receiving, and our spiritual trusting in our Lord’s voice, which is calling us, either directly or indirectly, unto repentance, salvation, discipleship, and sanctification. Now even though there has been much written about whether or not believers actually could hear Father God or Christ Jesus’ audible voice, the Divine Truth is that very soon, Christ Jesus will speak and His direct audible voice will be heard clearly by every one of His deceased disciples.

When He speaks to His deceased disciples with His direct audible voice, His voice will be calling them from their graves. He will be resurrecting all of the centuries of the dead in Christ saints from their physical graves (from the places on this Earth where their physical bodies were buried, no matter if they were buried in the ground, at sea, placed in mausoleums, or put in urns).  As it was with Lazarus who arose from his grave when Christ Jesus cried out to him with a LOUD voice, “…Lazarus, come forth…” (John 11:43), the dead in Christ will arise from their physical graves, wherever those graves might be, as soon as these dead in Christ hear their Bridegroom’s shout (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:16)!

However, there still will be another resurrection. The centuries of people who have rejected Christ Jesus’ call to repentance and salvation also will be “called” out of their graves to be judged and then thrown into the Lake of Fire (cf. Revelation 20:11-15). Their fate is why every believer should use most of the time he or she has left on this Earth to pant after the Living Water (to draw closer to Christ Jesus), to pay attention to His voice, to answer  “yes, Lord,” and to do God’s Perfect Will. In other words, we never can turn a deaf ear to God’s Divine Truth or His Perfect Will, because if we do, then the next time we hear Christ Jesus’ voice might be when He says to depart from Him, because He doesn’t know us (cf. Matthew 7:21-23)!