Dreams, Dreams, DREAMS!!

It's time to resurrect the "Spirit of God" blog! I'm shamefully neglected it for too long. And what better way than to re-start it than by talking about dreams. Over the last few weeks I have been having an increasing amount of interesting and significant dreams. I am a big fan of the hit TV show "Heroes" and one of the characters I find the most fascinating is Angela Petrelli. She has an ability and that ability is precognitive dreaming;

"Precognitive dreaming is the ability to see the future through dreams".

But this is far more than just pie in the sky. This is purely and clearly biblical. And yet the church has abandoned it and ignored it and despised it at our peril and I cannot understand why. Let's start with Scripture and then I want to detail my dreams. My intent is that as I get dreams I will document them here. So what does the Word of God say about dreams?

Acts 2:17; "And it shall be in the last days' God says, 'That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; ... your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams".

So we can be certain that dreams form part of New Covenant life. But dreams go back further to Old Covenant days also.

Genesis 29:12: "He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it".

What a dream! Deuteronomy 13 carries some warnings that I believe are Old Covenant - and some anti-charismatics wrongly apply to today still. But it is interesting that the verse distinguishes between the two giftings;

Deuteronomy 13:1: "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder ...".

Then of course there was the famous dream during Gideon's assault against Midean:

Judges 7:13: "When Gideon came, behold, a man was relating a dream to his friend. And he said, "Behold, I had a dream; a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat."

The interpretation of that dream? It was even clear to a heathen Mideanite;

Judges 7:14: "His friend replied, "This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand."

Of course the book of Daniel is the famous book of dreams and there are countless ones - even to Nebuchadnezzer the king of Babylon. Daniel's gift in particular was this;

Daniel 1:17: "Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams".

But again - as I said dreams were occuring in the New Testament period. Angels would appear in dreams to warn and to speak. For example;

Matthew 2:13: "An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said; "Get up! Take the Child and His mother to Egypt".

I wonder why in a dream? Angels can appear in the flesh - as Gabriel did to the Virgin Mary. But clearly they can appear in dreams also. There's an interesting account in Acts where I am not quite sure whether it is a dream;

Acts 16:9: "A vision appeared to Paul in the night; a man of Macedonia was standing and saying; "Come over" ... when he had seen the vision ... concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them".

So my question is this - why do New Testament scholars and academics seem to either place dreams and visions in the "closed" category along with most other spiritual gifts or just ignore it? I think that James and Michal Ann Goll have a very useful insight into dreams and why this attitude exists;

"Through dreams God communicates directly with us concerning our destiny as well as the destinies of our families, our nation and our world. Many people today, particularly in the Western culture, never recognise God speaking to them in this way because they have been conditioned by a skeptical and sophisticated society to discount the language of dreams.

Unfortunately this includes many Christian believers also. For many years much of the church in the West had virtually lost dream language as a viable language of the Spirit. Yet within our generation the tide has begun to turn. God is re-awakening His people to the efficacy of dreams in their lives. He is reconnecting us to a vital part of our spiritual heritage that had all but disappeared".

And again;

"Dream language is the mystical language of Heaven. And even though it is a language of mystery and parable, we need to understand that God likes to reveal rather than conceal".

It is my personal belief that God actually is starting to speak more and more through dreams because Western culture particularly makes it exceedingly difficult to set time to be with God alone and in quiet. I try - honestly. But even when I am home alone in my flat there is a phone ringing, a mobile, the internet, neighbours banging. Go up a hill in Birmingham? There are planes flying over head, yobs doing drugs in the bushes (!!!) and so on! So dreams are the perfect forum - we are asleep, we can't move very far and God has got us where He wants us.

In my life I have had a number of very significant dreams which have stuck with me.

1. My call to ministry.

I believe this dream was when God spoke clearly to me and said that I would work for Him somehow. The year was 2001 and it was one of the darkest of my life upto that point. I had gone away to Dublin with some friends to recover from the breakup of my relationship to a guy. Isn't that the grace of God?! Some churches would say I should have been spending months indeed years in penance "repenting". Rather God chose it to speak to me through a dream!

I dreamt that I was walking in Cornwall along a country lane with my former senior pastor Dr Stanley Jebb. And I turned to him and actually gripped his arm and said fervently; "Stanley I MUST preach!".

More of Stanley Jebb later - he appears quite frequently in my dreams and I think God's revealed why.

2. The Tidal Wave - Promises to Come.

I had this dream on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 and it was quite simply a dream of a massive tidal wave speedily approaching the Brighton seafront. I felt God ask during the dream whether we were really prepared for what was coming? We all were praying for revival to come - but were we ready for the devastation that a tidal wave would cause?

I felt that this was partially fulfilled by the awe and wonder and manifest glory at "Together on a Mission 2007" and through Rob's ministry of the Spirit. Partially - but not fully. More's to come!

3. Mind and Matter.

A little more recently I had a dream about Dr Stanley Jebb and Stuart from Big Brother on Tuesday, September 16, 2008. At first I wondered whether this dream was my secret envying of Dr Jebb's incredible mind and razor-sharp logic and Stuart's incredible physique! But God spoke again graciously here.

4. Simon Cowell!

This is a rather amusing and odd one. Isi de Gersigny said at "Glory and Grace" that significant men appearing in dreams often represent God in some form. For her it is her husband Fini. I obviously don't have a husband but I do very much enjoy the TV reality shows like X-Factor and Britain's Got Talent and I greatly admire and like Simon Cowell! As many know he can either be brutally harsh or nice when he likes someone.

In my dreams I have frequently been in company with him and he is always smiling and winking or accepting me.

I hope that means that deep down I am allowing the grace message to sink into my spirit and realise that God is totally and 100% for me and accepting of me and will never reject me!

So my dream last night!

I had a very vivid dream that Pete Day and I were in a massive rolling field and it was dry, dead and barren. There was a water sprinkling system set up across the massive field very similar to the kind that they have in vines where the hoses work their way along wooden structures and gently sprinkle the vegetation. As Pete and I looked at the sprinkling system we noticed that it was broken and the hose had been vandalised and needed to be reconnected.

Dr Stanley Jebb again was present and was speaking to us throughout - and as he spoke - we found ways to fix the water system and instantly the field was lush and fruitful again. Here's what I felt God was saying to me;

Rob Rufus has said frequently that he feels this coming massive move of God needs to come through a theological reformation in the earth - a changing of mind. Christians need to re-orientate themselves from legalism to grace. For me Stanley Jebb represents a teacher. That is what he is! And that seemed to symbolise this truth - that it is the teaching of the grace message that will cause the fruit to spread across the earth and the gospel.

So here's to more dreams and whatever way God wants to speak to me. I'm not sure I would pick dreams to be honest if it were to be a spiritual gift. I'd love to be a healer or a guy with words of knowledge or even better a teacher/preacher. But when God gives gifts they are GOOD gifts and they are given for a reason and I am going to accept and cherish them and use them for the good of His Church if I can!

A Visual Illustration of the Anointing?!

I was at work today and was playing one of the special lamps that they have got there for multi-sensory stimulation of the children in the hospice. I just happened to be touching it rather absently and suddenly looked a bit more closely. Something Rob Rufus said came to my mind about the anointing. He was speaking on Mark 5:26-34 (the woman with the bleeding) and he said;

“I find this passage extraordinary. It is the best passage to demonstrate the transference of the anointing. Anointing is tangible, transferable and can be conducted like electricity. It can flow out of our hands, it can flow through our words, it can super-charge handkerchiefs, Jesus’ clothing, Elijah’s clothing – he threw that coat over Elisha and Elisha got a transference of power and doubled the anointing from then on.

He then went to an open grave and his body rotted till his bones of the prophet were there. Then some people dropped a corpse into the tomb of Elisha and when it touched his dead bones, the body was raised from the dead because there was so much power in the bones of Elisha. We see this throughout Scripture – there is so many examples”

So here is a photograph of the lamp and my hand touching it. Could this be a good visual illustration of what is going on in the spiritual realm?

But how can the anointing flow if we aren't laying hands on people? Are we at least trying to give God the opportunity to work miracles by His mighty Holy Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead flowing through us?

Selected from the Crowd!!

I received this wonderful prophecy today from a dear friend of mine who doesn't know much detail about my personal situation, problems or challenges. But it came like a wonderful embrace from the Father!! It was EXACTLY what I needed to hear at this time - particularly answering challenges about acceptance in my family and feeling like I am "never good enough". Isn't Abba awesome?! And isn't this an absolute demonstration of how vital the gift of prophecy is to fight the good fight BY the prophecies given!?

Here it is - it is just too good to keep to myself. I am living in the power of Rob Rufus's recent word; "The Power of Testimony". I passionately believe that as I share what this prophecy did in my life and how it encouraged and blessed me, that same Holy Spirit can do the same in you as you read it and bring the power and encouragement that YOU need if that is the case.

So I pray - be awesomely blessed with power from on high!

"Dan when I read your text about being at the family wedding this weekend and all that you were feeling in light of that time I was reminded of David out in the fields while the other seven were presented and being 'as it were' the forgotten one and I just really felt that I had to tell you;

That you are not the forgotten one, you are not the one that is left outside while all the others are presented, you are not the one to be ashamed of, the one who doesn’t meet the grade – in fact the opposite – you are the special one, the chosen one, the treasured one, the one hand-picked, the one that He is singing over, delighting in, you are the one that He sees and smiles as He recollects those special times with you, those moments away from the busyness, away from the crowd, away from the pressures, those moments when you have been swept away by His compassion, His love, His heart for you, His rejoicing is stepping up a gear – something new is going to break, something new is on the edge of being released in your life and as you hear the voice of your father calling you in from the fields it will be a time of anointing, of commissioning, of calling, of taking you to a higher level – there is so much more for you and it is going to burst forth, there is so much for you that will not be held back by your past, by others, by any mistake you have ever made, there is a banquet laid out in honour of you – yes you!

He is celebrating over the fact that you are His, He is delighting in the fact that you are present. He has not forgotten you, you are not ‘shelved,’ you are not required to meet a certain grade, you are not required to fit a certain mould, you are not to look at your history in despair – but now is the time to look forward, to know expectancy rise in your heart for your Lover is an awesome God, your Lover is the maker, creator, sustainer of the Universe – there is nothing outside of His control, there is nothing that you need that He is unable to provide, there is no situation that you are concerned about that is out of His jurisdiction, there is no heartache that is beyond His healing and no dry area of your life that is beyond the water of His Holy Spirit, there is no circumstance that He cannot break in and alter, there is nothing for Him to fear for He is God so there is nothing for you to fear because He is your Father.

I feel such a sense that you need to bask afresh in your security in Him- He isn’t about to change His mind about loving you, He is not about to alter His opinion or downgrade His love! Be secure Dan because you are a Son, an heir – your inheritance is yours, there is no chance of you being left out, missed out or disinherited. Today is a day for looking up and realising that He is going to take you by the hand and take you forwards and onwards and upwards – you are not destined for the mire, but the mountain top, you are not destined for the sinking sand, but the soaring on the wings of an eagle, you are not destined for being forgotten and left in the field, but for a powerful anointing, for an equipping and a calling that doesn’t start once you obtain a certain level – oh Dan feel His tender heart towards you, His great love for you!".

:-) Yes that was an emoticon! I'm feeling very very loved right now.

Angels are ... EVERYWHERE!!

I had an unusal experience and encounter with God today on a much-needed day off. I have always been challenged and provoked by Rob Rufus's plea that we cannot just live from conference to conference in encountering Him. Rob said;

"If I don't experience the Presence of God daily then I get lonely".

It didn't depress me or condemn me because Rob isn't that kind of teacher. But it did provoke me! Every day I have been waking up wondering if God would reveal Himself to me! This morning was no different. I was blessed by much sleep but didn't wake up feeling particularly heavenly. However my faith was stirred by a message from my dear friend Pete. He wrote this;

"Last night at the end of the service, Malcolm's dad Alasdair, led the closing hymn after he preached (love divine). And when we get to the line "suddenly return and never, never more Thy temples leave" I had a brief glimpse of heaven open and the angels flying over us as we worshipped. It was very brief, but it was so real. The heavens are open!".

I was driving into town after reading that stirring, wonderful encounter and I was listening to the "Glory and Grace Conference" sessions. The amazing prophet Isi de Gersigny sang a prophetic song and a line (that I have heard before) really caught me;

"Light and glory come from the Eternal Throne".

For some reason I found tears running down my face. As I was driving in two thoughts came clearly to me. Firstly I asked God; "Why am I 30 and I am only beginning to see angels? Why is this the first time I have heard from Pete about him seeing angels? What's wrong with us?!". I heard God clearly reply and sound quite amused. He said;

"Son you have only just started to see angels because you haven't really been looking. And secondly you haven't seen them because you didn't think you were worthy. You aren't worthy. But My Son is, and that's the only price required".

I had to sit in the car in the car park for a while and gather myself but as I got up and began to walk through the Bullring Shopping Centre I began to feel that something was different. I hope I can describe this experience. You know how sometimes you can see someone out of the corner of your eye and yet when you turn to look at the person they are gone. Darting away like they were never there? That was my feeling. I was walking through hundreds of shoppers yet had the sense that there were other beings in the shopping centre. Angels were walking through - angels were following some of the shoppers. I could hear the rustling of robes.

I was standing waiting for Scott at one point and looking across a balcony at another cafe and I had the distinct feeling that someone was smiling at me. No mistake. Yet when I looked there was no one there. What to make of all this?! Was I losing my mind?! As I stood there revelling in the Presence of God in that shopping centre, an old charismatic song we used to sing in New Covenant Church in Dunstable came back to my mind. A line was;

"When all things that surround me become shadows in the light of You ... I worship You, I worship You - the reason I live is to worship You".

I felt God impressing on me that the veil between heaven and earth is becoming thin. Angelic manifestations occured in the Bible! Why don't we see them now? Does the fact that we don't see them prove that they are not present or here? Not at all - the problem is ours. The angels are there. But we simply need to look. The angels are ... EVERYWHERE!! I texted Pete and told him all that had happened. I save his texts because there is so much teaching wisdom in them. He replied;

"Well we prayed that God would meet with you today! In Leviticus the priest must go in with blood, "lest he die". But Hebrews says that Jesus has gone in with His own blood so THERE IS NO WRATH. The blood covers the tabernacle (which contains the 10 Commandments - so all the times we have broken the law are covered). So only light and glory come out. The veil protected us before from the fire of God burning us up. Now the veil is torn because it is SAFE for His glory to come out and it is safe for us to go in. No more wrath - only light and glory!".

Please hear what I am saying. I am not bragging of some ridiculous hyper-spirituality or a vivid imagination. I was in a shopping centre for crying out loud! I am trying to raise faith. If God in His grace will show me this - then what will He pour out for us all? Angels are ... EVERYWHERE! Let's start looking because when we see them truly - they will point to Jesus Christ - risen, glorified and exalted!

"Send Revival" by Jesse Phillips

You always can tell that the Spirit of God is moving in a generation when the songwriters start coming forth and I am thrilled to discover that Jesse Phillips (my esteemed pastor-friend from the USA) has written a song - and what better subject than a cry for revival? It is available on You-Tube here;



Here are the lyrics;

"For every flame of love grown dim
And every passion that has died
For every prayer of faith that ceased
Ignite us once again inside
For every vision and godly ambition
Holy Spirit breathe new life

Send Revival
Send Revival
Send revival, Sovereign Lord
How we need You,Spirit, plead with You
Come revive our hearts once more

For every eye that needs to see
For every heart that now must know
For every city, land and place
To which the gospel now must go
And for your mission in this generation
Holy Spirit breathe new life

Come restore our first love
Come renew our hearts
In your time as you choose
We pray for revival".

As we grow older - and 2008 is another year - let's not face the horrendous fact that our love for God chills. Let us see 2008 as a stoking of the fire! Let us see the fires of revival in our hearts, our churches and our countries burn so that the ends of the earth will be covered with the glory of the Lord!

Are You Giving? Are You Receiving?

When Scott wrote his review of "Together on a Mission 2007" he bemoaned the lack of Dave Holden's contribution to the preaching ministry last year. He had a fair point. I love Dave Holden! He is very practical and down-to-earth in the way he imparts truth but that truth is life-changing. I spent a quiet Sunday afternoon re-visiting some of the past "Together on a Mission" DVD's that I have got in my library and was taken by this point.

It is far too easy to get caught up in the politics of arguing which speaker would be best to speak at a conference but we can forget why conferences are actually of benefit to us. Yes Mark Heath wrote recently that they can be "feasts of the Word" when Mark Driscoll comes to visit. But I prefer to see conferences as Rob Rufus instructed Mobilise in July. They are high points of encountering God - where the opportunity is available to "learn the address of the Holy Spirit". To be able to go back to our homes, towns, cities and nations and remember how we can encounter God in power. Why is that important?

Dave Holden had one answer:



Yes it is vital that we encounter God for our own personal walks with Him. We must get to know Him as "Abba!" - our intimate and loving heavenly Father who has so much to pour out and lavish on us. But we also must get to know Him because there is a lost and needy world out there who are just as desperate to encounter reality. And what greater reality than the Living and awesome God - Creator of the Universe!

Are you receiving the Holy Spirit in power? Are you "be being filled"? If so - are you giving out? Are you ministering the Holy Spirit in power? If not, why not? Am I being filled with the Spirit like a wind filling my sails so I am moving? Am I ministering the Holy Spirit in power? If not, why not?

A Prophecy for all Women who Ever Felt Unloved.

I was driving back from Bristol to Birmingham and was praying and crying for the women who have left comments on the post "Humour versus the Holy Spirit". Not just them - but for the thousands of others I suspect are out there in the Christian world feeling desperate, lonely and unloved. Suddenly God put this song into my mind - "When You Believe" - the beautiful duet sung by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. I am not sure about secular songs being used in the prophetic - but I am prepared to take the risk! I felt a definite tug from the Holy Spirit about this and when I found the song and played it on my IPOD my tears increased. If this word can be taken and be used to set free then truly we will see miracles.

The song is here;



Every word is prophetic to me. I sense behind each word the heart beat of God and of Jesus Christ the true Man. Here's the lyrics;

Many nights we pray
With no proof anyone could hear
And our hearts a hopeful song
We barely understand
Now we are not afraid
Although we know theres much to fear
We were moving mountains long
Before we know we could

There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail
Its hard to kill
Who know what miracle
You can achieve
When you believe
Somehow you will
You will when you believe

In this time of fear
When prayer so often proves in vain
Hope seems like the summer birds
Too swiftly flown away
And now I am standing here
My hearts so full I cant explain
Seeking faith and speaking words
I never thought Id say

They dont always happen when you ask
And its easy to give in to your fear
Ohhhhh
But when youre blinded by your pain
Cant see you way safe through the rain
Thought of a still resilient voice
Says love is very near

There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail

Its hard to kill
Who know what miracle
You can achieve
When you believe
Somehow you will
You will when you believe

I hope this word means something to someone! I dedicate it to all daughters of Zion - my sisters in the faith - who have ever doubted and feared and wept at the dead of night when they thought no one was watching. You are deeply loved on high.

Where Do We Look? The Sand or the Horizon?

I was deeply challenged by Pete's recent post on this blog called; "Waging Warfare By Prophecies Given". I have been thinking and wondering about the methodology of writing prophecies down since Jesse Phillips discussed it here. Obviously I don't want to get into a legalistic desire to blog or to blog prophecies, but I do think there is a lot of value in remembering the prophecies God speaks and gives because if we forget them, then we can't fight a fight by them!

I was walking home from work today (trying to preserve the atmosphere, save petrol money and make time for God in one fell swoop!) and I felt God show me a wave lapping up and down the beach somewhat like this;



And this came to my mind;

"As the wave draws back and another wave swells on the horizon, for a period there is momentary nothingness on the beach. You can become obsessed with the nothingness and can spend your life staring at the wet, damp but drying sand and you can develop theologies of the nothingness ...

Or you can lift up your eyes and look to the horizon where the swell is growing and growing and growing and the wave is coming and coming and coming and will break on the beach, bigger than the last, more powerful than the last and far more wide-reaching than the last.

Where will you look? Will you continue to state at the damp but drying sand? Or will you lift your eyes and look to the coming wave?".

Remembering the Past!

One of the things I love about Rob Rufus's ministry (and Ern Baxter's) was their deep appreciation for the past. Not remembering the past in a sentimental manner believing that any new act or move of God must represent what happened in the past but praising God for what He did then and seizing the anointing of those periods and seeing it add to the glory and Kingdom of God in the present day.

I was thrilled to find this page from the Restoration Magazine 1978 that advertised Celebration Evenings that happened around the United Kingdom during the 1970's and early 80's. You will notice that my home church features - West Street Baptist Church in Dunstable (before it became New Covenant Church). We held regular "All Saints Nights" where guest speakers such as David Mansell, Arthur Wallis, Terry Virgo and Bryn Jones would come and speak. There was also much going on in Brighton.

We don't want to see a "return" to those days of the 1970's. They were a unique time and a unique season and God gave much that is to be appreciated and valued and learnt from. We want MORE!

When Were You Last Filled with the Holy Spirit?

I have decided that I am not very subtle when I enthusiastic about someone! Anyone who's been following the blogs for a while will know that I am benefiting hugely from Rob Rufus's teaching and ministry at the moment! But the Bible does talk about proving all things - being overly cautious and cynical is just as wrong and dangerous as accepting teaching without question at all. I have been re-reading Gordon Fee's marvellous "God's Empowering Presence" in preparation for my trip to Hong Kong and was excited to read his exposition on 2 Corinthians 3. Fee's exposition sounds remarkably Rufus-like!!

Fee starts off by writing;

"Paul begins with a contrast between the respective ministries of the two Covenants with "glory" appearing as the dominant motif".

Glory!! Since encountering Rob Rufus at "Together on a Misson 2006" I must confess my concept of the word "glory" was limited to heaven. How wrong can I be?! Fee goes on to write about the Old Covenant glory;

"It was a glory that could not be seen by the original recipients and was in any case intended to fade away".

I have fallen into the trip before that I believe other Christians have also followed in struggling to come to terms with the Scriptural promise that the New Covenant glory is FAR more glorious than the Old! My relationship with the Holy Spirit is so feeble that I have looked back into history at the Israelites who could see the cloud of glory and have been jealous of them. This is un-Scriptural. Gordon Fee (like Rob Rufus) makes the direct connection between the glory of the New Covenant and the Holy Spirit;

"The glory of the New Covenant continues because it is of the Spirit".

This is why the Holy Spirit is not an optional extra! We must - like Kathryn Kuhlman - get to know Him and get to learn how He talks, moves and works. But above all Gordon Fee - like Rob Rufus - emphasises that the Holy Spirit brings a vital element of freedom to us - the New Covenant believers.

"Thus the Spirit brings freedom, the kind of freedom, that allows God's new covenant people to be, as Moses was, in God's very Presence and there to behold the glory of God".

It is wrong to excuse the lack of God's manifest Presence and develop a theology of His omni-presence as that reason for why He is not manifesting Himself! The whole object of the New Covenant is that the veil has been torn in two and we can "walk boldly into the throne room of heaven!". Yes indeed Jesus has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us - but we cannot deny that throughout the Bible there is a distinct difference between God's ominpresence and His manifest Presence. Let us cry like the prophets; "Oh that You would rend the heavens and come down!".

Finally in the footnote Gordon Fee goes on to make an important note;

"Paul's point throughout remains singular; for the Corinthians now to pick up the Law is to retrogress - in this case to be like the very people who still have veils over their hearts because they lack the freedom of the Spirit".

Again pure-Rufus! Paul does not react to the Corinthian's excess by bringing them back into Law! To make such a transition is to "retrogress". Lacking the freedom of the Spirit is to have a veil over their hearts. We must resist the grace-hating spirits at all costs and ensure that the Holy Spirit has complete freedom to come and do what He will when He will in our churches!

It occured to me after reading this chapter in "God's Empowering Presence" - until we can truly believe 2 Corinthians 3:1-4 - that being in the New Covenant truly IS more glorious than the Old then surely we will to a degree always be stuck in Old Covenant mentality and practice and action. And that's not a good thing. Let's get believing the Bible and encountering the Holy Spirit!

So to my original question! Gordon Fee writes of being filled with the Holy Spirit;

"On Ephesians 5:18; Here then is the ultimate imperative in the Pauline corpus - God's people so filled by/with the Spirit's own Presence that they come to know God in all His fullness and reflect the way they live in relationship to one another and God Himself".

As Rob Rufus said there is much MUCH more to being filled with the Holy Spirit than simply being a "half empty cup needing to be filled up to full". The filling of the Holy Spirit means that we can come to know God in all His fullness - His Presence - His glory. When were we last filled with the Spirit!? When did we last allow our sails of faith to be stretched out fully and to feel the wind of the Spirit fill us and take us to places we have never dreamt of!? We don't have to be particularly "holy" or "righteous" to receive Him. As Rob Rufus said - God is looking for yielded vessels not perfect vessels.

Come Holy Spirit!

"Let Your Rain Fall Down" by Kate Simmonds

One of the songs I have been enjoying the most on the new Live Worship CD from "Together on a Misson 2007" was Kate Simmonds powerful song which is a cry for the Presence of God to come manifest itself amongst God's people - it's called "Let Your Rain Fall Down". One of my most vivid memories of singing this (and I think this is when the recording was done) was just after Rob Rufus had spoken to the conference and the Spirit of God was brooding over the conference hall. I found it quite difficult to actually stay standing up (which is a first for me during worship). I wasn't the only one - Scott and Pete did too! But here are the lyrics - if you want to truly experience how powerful it is then go buy the CD!

We Bow Before the Holy One (Let Your Rain Fall Down).

We bow before the Holy One as You meet us in this place,

Here we'll be still know You are God as You meet us in this place,

Abandoned to Your praise, I give my life to Your glory Lord.

Chorus: Let Your rain fall down, let Your rain fall down, let Your rain fall down - on us.

I hear the sound of heavy rain, let Your glory fill this place,

Oh power of heaven fall again, let Your glory fill this place,

This dry and weary land - cries out for Your revival, Mighty God!

God of Elijah send the rain, come and flood this land again,

With your justice and compassion with your hope and restoration,

With Your gospel of salvation come and heal this broken nation!

Let there be a visitation - change us with Your revelation,

With power to capture the attention, to captivate a generation,

Let us see Your glory Lord! Let us see Your glory!

"Face to Face Intimacy with God" by Rob Rufus

While we are waiting for Part 4 of Rob's series on the Holy Spirit ...

Preached on the 5th August 2007 - Isaiah 54.

Condemnation is a very dark demonic thing. No condemnation comes from God (Romans 8:1). We prove from the Scripture that all condemnation comes from the devil.

The most dangerous thing about condemnation is that it de-sensitises you to the Voice of God.

All the righteous anger of God's wrath was finished and poured out on Jesus Christ at the Cross. There is no anger left in God. If we say that God has got a bit of anger left then we are saying that Jesus' death on the Cross was no sufficient and we are blaspheming His sacrifice.

All condemnation is demonic - it is a devilish darkness that comes and it has been so successful in the Church world that the majority of Christians probably haven't heard the inward audible voice of the Good Shepherd even once.

My diagnosis is you don't understand grace and the New Covenant and you are living a mixture of Old and New Covenant. God never condemns you and even when you are feeling condemned, He wants to love you and speak to you. Allow condemnation in and it will confuse your faculties that allow you to hear His voice.

When we were born again it was a New Creation designed so that we can hear His voice and commune with Him. The still small voice of God can often happen while you are brushing your teeth or sitting on the toilet! When condemnation is broken off your life permamently you are entering an adventure where His Presence is upon you so strong that you feel you have hold on bare naked wires full of heavenly voltage. You have received an oath that He will never be angry with you again and never rebuke you again.

"I have sworn never to rebuke you again ... My unfailing love for you will not be shaken".

The symbol of God's peace with Noah was the rainbow. The first thing John saw was a throne and he saw a rainbow encircling the throne. Not 180 degrees like on the earth but 360 degrees. So wherever God looks from His throne He sees the symbol - peace, no judgement, peace, no judgement! Everywhere He looks He sees the symbol that says judgement is over. Then it says that the rainbow resembles an emerald - green. So this rainbow was covered by an emerald colour - a translucent colour over the colour of the rainbow. This colour green resembles something fresh and new. The Hebrew "Fresh" means "Translucent, fresh, green".

In the revelation of grace there is a place for daily fresh oil in the anointing.

When you understand that God has taken an oath never to be angry with you again, then you come into the throne room and you receive grace. Every day you live in a spirit of liberty! God said; "I swear I will never rebuke you again". That word "rebuke" means "condemn". God will never speak to you in a way that will split your personality apart and will divide you or destroy you. Many disintegrated Christians end up going to psychics so desperate are they to get their psyches re-intigrated. The devil comes to you and says; "I am God and I am angry with you". Christians who don't know their New Covenant take that as truth. We cannot boast in ourselves - many many pastors have come apart because they thought they were listening to the voice of God rebuking them for their sin. That sin has been totally rebuked on Jesus and all of the wrath has been poured out and exhausted!

The voice of the Father is always always kind and tender and loving. If you hear a roar, then it is the devil and that roar should be rebuked. My God in heaven took an oath that He will never be angry with me again. That spirit of hostility is not from my Father. We don't need a pastor to counsel me or a psychiatrists to fix me - just remember recovery will come quicker if you stand on the truth of Scripture.

That verse is never saying He will not correct us! There is a big different between correction and condemnation. Your sin has been punished completely on Jesus Christ. Plus God took an oath that He cannot reverse to never be angry again but Hebrews 12 says God disciplines those who He loves.

The corrections and disciplines of God are the most pleasurable experience you can go through.

Get addicted to His voice and His Presence! We have got to hear His voice regularly! "Father - don't go silent on me!". He will sometimes hide Himself temporarily so that we will run to Him. If you do not hear a word like "I love you Rob" and it is silence then pray;

BETTER YOUR CORRECTIONS THAN YOUR SILENCE!!

God doesn't have a culture of confrontation so very seldom will He point out something specific as long as we are pressing on eagerly into His Presence and longing to hear His voice. Jesus loves the Church! When you have a spiritual father they need to be a mentor ahead of you with a proven track record of success with years of stability and experience in these things. There comes a point when a father cannot be a father who teaches you anymore because there comes a time when a son must stand up and become a father himself. You should never have anyone trying to correct you who are jealous of you or don't like you. You need someone who will treat your secrets as safe and will love you unconditionally.

Many Christians are fragile and frightened and scared to be themselves because they have been let down and disciplined by people that didn't really love them and were jealous of them and irritated by them. Many Christians have an orphan spirit because they didn't have a father that would discipline them in true love and help them to grow in grace.

Our heavenly Father will never be angry again.

If this message could get into the 1 billion people who say they are Christians then the Church would be a different place. There would be automatic inner healing and stability in the Body of Christ and it should come from the pulpit, not a thousand courses out there.

(v10) "My unfailing love for you will not be shaken". The Hebrew for "love" means "favour, kindness, fondness, grace towards you". He is saying I will give you preferential treatment. My fondness and My affection to bless you to give you supernatural advantages in life will never be shaken. In the Scriptures, mountains often refer to problems. Yet here it says that the mountains will become level plains and the cry will be "Grace-grace-grace!". With this oath in your heart that God will never be angry and rebuke you again - His unfailing love for you will never change - you can see the mountains facing you be removed.

It is a lie that life is meant to be constant traumas! We are meant to go through whole seasons of peace and joy. While we go through seasons of tests - they are not meant to last your whole life. Speak to your mountains and hills and say "My God says you will be removed but His love will never be shaken"! The New Covenant is a covenant of peace! "Shalom" means "Nothing missing - nothing broken"! There is a constant process where your personality is becoming whole and complete in the New Covenant. In Australian culture you only share marriage problems when you are about to divorce - yet in the church you can be open and free from condemnation.

The Hebrew word "Compassion" literally means a Father fondling His child's hair. He has affection for us His Bride. He has tenderness for us!

I wish all of God's people could live in the full rich reality of this and we would see the full reality of the nations being saved.

The more you are free from condemnation the less you can hear the devil's voice. The more God's voice will come in your life the more you are free from condemnation.

(Hebrews 10).

Trance? That's New Age - no it's the counterfeit! Peter in Acts 9 fell into a trance and saw a vision in the heavenly realm. The Greek word speaks of "falling into a trance".

Spirit to spirit communication is faster than the speed of light and your thought process is not as fast as the speed of light. When God says "Come up - I want to speak to you" you are not to think we come up on our hands and knees - that is what demon gods demand of their subjects. But God is our Father and wants us to come up and commune in glory and peace and intimacy. Why can't all the people have this? They can! It's God's will! "I am drawing the hungry in now. The casual enquirers are loved but they will not see the glory of God".

The manifestations occur because people of God are pressing into the Presence of God.

As a church we are operating on 10% of our potential because 10% are carrying the faith for our meetings. When 100% are coming in with the faith to encounter God, our lives will never be the same again. Let the glory of God be stronger without Rob Rufus than ever before. If we are built around my personality then close shop. Don't miss a beat with us not being here! Overdo it and go for it! (Hebrews 10:12). When the church rises up in revelation and crushes the devil under our feet then this Scripture will be fulfilled! When that happens then Jesus is coming back shortly!

By one sacrifice He made perfect FOREVER! That's why He can say He will never be angry again! FOREVER He sees us as perfect! "I've just sinned Lord". But you are perfect! Every believer is a priest and holy means nothing to do with laws.

Holiness means your heart is captured with Jesus Christ and you become more like the nature and character of Jesus Christ! The deception the church makes is that God will relate to you on the basis of your law-keeping and holiness. If you think God relates to you on the basis of your holiness then God's relationship with you fluctuates. If that is the case then you are in serious deception. God will always relate to you as if you are perfect forever.

He will never withdraw His covenant of peace from us - this is our inheritance!! There is nothing on earth to hold my attention more than God's glory Presence.

If you don't regularly have His glory Presence then you are agitated and restless and will look for it in drugs, inappropriate sexual behaviour - because there is something within you saying that there is more to life than paying rent, paying bills. You will never be satisified unless you daily encounter God's glory Presence.

God has never stopped talking to you or loving you. Your worst sin will NEVER make Him pull back because it's already been dealt with at the Cross. Nothing in all of creation will make Him pull back but if you jam your airwaves with condemnation then you will think in your mind that He has pulled away.

God sees you as perfect FOREVER!

Rob Rufus - "Knowing the Person of the Holy Spirit" - 3

Here are my notes from the 2nd in Rob Rufus's sermon series - "Knowing the Person of the Holy Spirit - His Names, Titles and Operations". The notes from the first sermon are here and the second sermon is here. I am so thankful to God for the internet that makes it possible for me to follow with City Church International, Hong Kong - this incredible series!! Rob preached this sermon last Sunday on the 23rd September.

"This conference is Glenda's initiative coming from God. As we have travelled the world many leaders have asked to come and stay in our home in Hong Kong and learn about the grace of God and signs and wonders. It is an honour that they want to come - but this conference was birthed to serve the international community. But we are only 3 years old and we are hosting an international community! God will bless us as we serve them. Have sent out 1, 500 letters to Hong Kong church leaders. Hillsong host a conference for 2 weeks every year and doctors and dentist will take time off to drive delegates to the conference. God is calling us to show just such generosity. Let's go over the top with exaggerated kindness to make our international guests to feel welcome. This will be a trigger and a catalyst as we welcome the international community! We want a flood of Cantonese people coming.

I am tired of Christian celebrities and conferences that announce the coming of a guru. God is bringing a seaon where He is using the little people of the Kingdom who don't know what they are doing and have no self-confidence. This is the Kingdom. Once they have had a taste of miracles these people will go for more broken limbs and deaf ears.

"(John 5, 14) Jesus said that the people didn't have to believe Him if they didn't see miracles and just so the Church can stand up to an unbelieving society and say you don't have to believe us if you don't see miracles".

"Your Kingdom is not about knowing concepts and bible academics and cerebral information but Your Kingdom is about divine encounters that translate into doing the ministry of the Lord Jesus".

The apostle Paul didn't come parading his intelligence and academics but came with weakness and fear and trembling. His words were not wise and persuasive but with a demonstration of the power of the Spirit. To make change we must dial down on our enthusiasm for the flesh and increase our dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit. This week I tried to raise someone from the dead - I am happy to report that I failed because that offends me and provokes me because it should be done as a normal practice. Jesus said "Go out ... raise the dead ... freely you have received and freely give". The secret is humility and weakness. Dial down the enthusiasm of the flesh. You tried to make this thing happen. The flesh of man represents human ability. You can't take responsibility for raising the dead - you can't do it - but I can. You dial down the flesh and I will dial up the power of My Spirit.

"The whole theme of Galatians is grace versus law or human flesh versus the supernatural. Whenever you see the word "flesh" in Galatians it means human effort trying to be righteous under the law of God".

But sadly the NIV translated "flesh" as "sinful nature" and it is very misrepresented. The Bible talks of Jesus coming in "flesh" which would then mean He came in "sinful nature". In the book of Galatians it says if you walk in the Spirit you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. If you get to know the nuances of the Spirit then you will not elevate your flesh or dial it up in self-righteousness. In Galatians 6 it talks of "sowing to the flesh ... sowing to the Spirit". Eternal life doesn't mean living forever - we will all live forever either in heaven or hell! (John 17) "This is eternal life ... that you know Him".

"Eternal life means that you have a divine encounter with the living God and that you live with God and know God and hear His voice!".

If you live in the Spirit then you will experience eternal life! Want to talk today about the Holy Spirit in different titles and different Names because His Names reveal different aspects of His character to us. Pull the Word out of me today - have had to walk through intense spiritual opposition today because of this word. It is time to hear this word today. (Galatians 4:6) "Because you are sons God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts that calls out "Abba! Father!". The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of His Son. That means that Spirit causes you to call out "Abba! Father!". It means "Papa!" or "Daddy!".

This isn't an academic doctrinal position but an experience - this is the Spirit of His Son bringing revelation that you are no longer a slave under law. God will no longer disapprove of you but you now have the FULL rights of a son!

Under the law God promises that He will not forget sin. Under grace and New Covenant He promises He will not remember our sins.

The Gospel is a revelation of how right you are with God through Christ Jesus. Jesus identified with you at your worst on the Cross so you can identify with Him at His best at the right hand of the Father.

Faith lives from the invisble realm where we are seated with Christ Jesus.

As you focus on grace there comes a mental peace to your life because grace takes the focus from your unworthiness to Christ's worthiness. It is not just Abba Father but it is a manifestation of the revelation that we have full rights as a son!

These truths are current now! All of that transacted - you move out from Old Covenant thinking into New. This doesn't just get you to heaven but brings mental peace on the earth.

The majority of people in South Africa are there who are mentally damaged and bruised because they were in shame-based churches who preached Old Covenant Law. If we do not preach the good news of the Gospel we are producing mental illness in the Church.

It is an incredible responsibility to preach and teach the Word of God. Much preaching and teaching is dressed up to look like New Covenant teaching but it is Law-based and Old Covenant.

Under the New Covenant if you are sinning currently and your sin stops God's favour on your life then your sin is more powerful than the favour of God.

Romans 5 says where sin abounds grace abounds much more. There are so few miracles in the church because there is so much flesh in the church trying to make you try harder. When the Spirit comes then revelation comes that we are sons with full inheritance. If you think that being holy means keeping the law and go on to break one, then God sees you as breaking every law. You lie and God sees you as not just a liar but an adulterer, an idolater, a murderer. But grace on the other hand sees you as permamently righteous! Grace abounds much more under the New Covenant!

Everywhere you teach this - alarms go off and people say "You are giving people a license to sin". I have checked the church out worldwide. They are sinning without a license! But in legalistic churches people just get better at sinning in secret.

Colossians 2 says we have been made complete in Christ! (2 Corinthians 3:7) - the ministry which brought death came with a fading glory. God has removed the ceremonial law of the 10 Commandments. What was written on tablets of stone? The 10 Commandments! We try so hard to keep the law but break one and we break them all! Try and sustain the flesh and you dial down on the supernatural! The reason the Israelites worshipped the golden calf was because they were self-righteous already. God brought them out of slavery already and announced the law already and told them to keep it fully. If you fully obey all the 10 Commandments the blessings will come! Israel should have said - no! We can't keep them! But they said - everything You say, we will do. So while God wrote the 10 Commandments they were worshipping the idol.

Please don't tell me law-keeping makes you holy. It doesn't. It makes you self-righteous.

The New Covenant starts in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost and they came down from the Upper Room drunk they were so full of God! The people down below had done something worst than a golden calf! They had crucified the Lord of glory yet got saved that very same day! Who could wipe out the 10 Commandments? God could. Colossians 2:14 - God cancelled the written code of the rules against you and nailed it to the Cross, triumphing over principalities and powers at the Cross!

When the Church preaches the Law to God's people, it re-arms a disarmed devil and gives condemnation rule in the Church again and cripples the working of the supernatural in the Church.

The Law was given (Galatians 3:23) to expose self-righteousness and to show them how unholy they were. People can see that the Law is standard exposing arrogance and pride and must throw ourselves on the New Covenant and the grace of God in Christ Jesus. People can sit and hear the message of grace but it's controversial because legalistic people ALWAYS want to bully and dominate people who are in grace. Pride says we can't embrace the message of grace because it looks like we have been wrong. That is being a Pharisee. They claimed they studied the Scriptures about the coming Messiah and yet He stood in front of them and because He was different they rejected Him. They were men of the letter - cerebral men. When you have the living Word of the Living Spirit - when something new shows up you have never seen before and it is God, you seize it. If it is a counterfeit then you can reject it and know it straight away. But if you live as a slave to religious systems you will worry and fret.

Look for the phrase; "Full rights as sons". (Galatians 4:1) "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying Abba ... you are also an heir ...". Don't have a heart for religious calenders. Every day is a day to walk with God.

The first sign of legalism is that you lose your joy. What has happened to all your joy? The hardest thing as a preacher is to stir joy within a legalist.

Ishmael was born by ordinary means but Isaac was born by the power of God. Haggi and Sarah represent the two Covenants. The Covenant wrote on Mount Sinai produces slaves but the Covenant Sarah represents produces free men and free women. Who is your Mother? Romans 7 says we were married to the Law but then died to the Law! Some Christians commit spiritual adultary and go from the Law to Sarah. They don't know which one they belong to. Who is your Mother?! Haggi or Sarah? Even people of grace can be barren sometimes - you can have famine in the middle of favour. You are allowed to be joyful in barrenness!

Legalistic people love to dominate, control, elevate themselves as elitist and they love titles and control. They hate people of grace. They always point out your failures and your shortfalls and hate anything that encourages and uplifts.

Jesus the great High Priest wore ordinary clothes and let people call Him "Jesus". I am Rob. Not Pastor Rob or Rev Rob. That's why millions are leading institutional churches. But millions are gathering under the banner of grace. Don't be discouraged at the millions who are leaving.

It's better to be in the Caves of Adullum in David's Army than under Saul's legalistic rule.

The slavewoman's son will never share in the freewoman's inheritance. Kick the controlling spirit of witchcraft out! Get rid of condemnation! You are born under grace and have full rights as sons! Freedom! You don't need titles to be important but signs and wonders and the voice and Presence of God! What does the name Isaac mean? We are not children of the slave woman but the free woman! "Stand firm and do not let yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery". The yoke of slavery is the Law! We have churches around the world desperate for freedom but feel burdened by their sins. Everyone sins in this room! I don't encourage that - but even when you sin, you are STILL a son of God!

My obedience or disobedience does not make me righteous or unrighteous - my righteousness depends on the righteousness of the One Christ Jesus! Grace provides God's gift of righteousness!

The Law says "Do - do - do" to earn God's favour but grace says "It's DONE - you HAVE God's favour!".

Isaac means "Laughter". What is Sarah? Grace! What did grace give birth to? LAUGHTER! When the Toronto Blessing hit the earth, why did the majority of the Church call it blasphemy or evil? Why is joy frowned upon by most of the Church? Because they are children of Haggi. They felt elite because their failure to laugh is proof of their zealousness for God. Rather they are children of the slavewoman. When grace and Abraham got together they gave birth to laughter! What happens when you truly get a revelation of the grace of God? Laughter and joy will be birthed in your life!

Some teach that even if you don't have it now, just keep praising and He will give it to you. Error. Law - law - flesh - flesh! You have it NOW! You are not praising as a work of the flesh to earn it. You have it NOW! You are not praising to earn something! Maybe we have barrenness in our lives. Children - relationships - finance - husbands or wives.

When barrenness goes on in an area of our lives for a long time and are living in grace and believing in grace, yet grace doesn't seem to produce results, the temptation is to go back and try through the law to produce fruit. NO! If you are living in grace and haven't seen the signs and wonders in your life yet and are tempted to go back to a works programme of prayer and fasting and behavioural modification programmes you will drive yourself into insantity and become a religious nutter.

It is not your prayer and fasting that produces the supernatural in your life but rather your INHERITANCE in your life and one day you lay your hand on someone and miracles take place not because you have earned it but because of who your Father is.

(John 14:12) "I pray the Father and He will send you the Comforter who will abide with you forever". How many people can spend 9 hours in their prayer closet every day of the week? If that's what it takes to produce miracles then it is reserved for a few lucky full time guys. That's a works programme so that the Body of Christ will refer to gurus seeking them for themselves and what they do to earn the miracles.

Our heart in this church is to produce the Priesthood of every believer to run with the freedom of the New Covenant! Hong Kong needs it!

There are millions of God's people under the control of manipulating leaders who have taught the law and put them under such confusion and slavery and when they hear the light of grace and freedom and it is too much for those damaged souls and so they creep back into their pitholes of slavery. As a leader I need to be very patient and love and care for the people and bring them gently out into the glorious freedom and light of the Holy Spirit.

Don't come under the Law in trying to be free from the Law. The only One who can help you be free from the Law is the Spirit of His Son.

Revival For a Mission!!

As I understand church history much of the charismatic movement came under fire for promoting an introspective theology that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was a personal experience for a personal encounter with a personal God. That's partly true - but everything within me - my heroes such as Ern Baxter and Rob Rufus and Terry Virgo all argue that there is more to it than that. I was tremendously encouraged recently in reading a book called "Revive Us Again!" - this was a book published by Harvestime and edited by David Matthew with contributions from Bryn and Keri Jones, Terry Virgo, Arthur Wallis and David Mansell. It was David Mansell's chapter that thrilled me the most - in the chapter he presented a wonderful portrait of the Kingdom of God.

The book is out of print sadly - so here is the chapter reproduced;

"A radical goal for radical Christians" by David Mansell

"If future revival is not to run up a cul-de-sac we will need to be more radical than our predecessors".

We are looking praying and working for world revival. Anything less falls short of God's intention. Anything less would fail to bring in the kingdom and bring back the King. It would be a tragedy if this generation passed into history leaving behind only a memory and anothher book as an epitaph to a revival that came and went. The main point of Jesus' last words to His disciples and the apostolic preaching in the early chapters of Acts was an explanation of how God intended the Pentecost revival, which brought the church to birth, to progress.

Revival would lead to greater revival. Beginning at Jerualem, the fire would spread first to Judea, then to Samaria and then to the remotest part of the earth (Acts 1:8). The outpouring of the Spirit would be like the latter rain that swells the grain ready for harvest. There would be times and seasons, each time of refreshing rain being followed by another. Season would follow season just as spring would follow summer would follow winter and all would find their destiny in the autumn harvest. Through these seasons of testimony to the Lord Jesus in all the earth, together with times of refreshing from heaven, God would restore to His people all that the prophets had promised.

A time of repentance, turning to the Lord, refreshing and restoration would engulf the entire world so that God could send the Christ, the anointed King from heaven to claim His inheritance (Acts 3:19-21).

A Call for Radical Christians.

The story of revival is both thrilling and sad. Thrilling to see what God can do when He breaks into people's lives, sad to see how every wave of revival so far has finally spent its energy on the beach of religious self-interest.

Where future revival leads will depend very much on where we want it to lead. If it is to bring God's purpose for this world to it's appointed conclusion, we will need to be more radical than our predecessors.

Revival is like a flood. It will not run in the channels cut by our preferences, prejudices and traditions. When it comes, it overwhealms, invades, takes over and sweeps away all that lies before it. It is no use preparing a way for the Lord by prayer and humbling ourselves if, when He comes, He finds the route full of road-blocks and diversions to protect our private lives, personal hobby-horses and denominational entrenchments. God will never revive a fence.

He will never revive what He has sentenced to die.

In revival there is a dying as well as a bringing to birth. The chaff burns while the wheat is gathered into the barn. Being radical is not an end in itself; it is allowing God to do with us what He likes, when He likes and as often as He likes.

Being radical is removing now what God will remove, and doing now what God Himself will do when He breaks in with revival.

What are we waiting for? If we really want what revival will surely bring to the world, why not let it begin in us today?

Divine Breakthrough.

I once read in a church report on a two-week evangelistic outreach; "Nobody was saved but the saints were encouraged". The revival we are looking for will do more than encourage the saints! A glance at an atlas of world religion shows that after two thousand years of gospel preaching, billions are still totally unaffected. The Bible tells us to expect the following areas of breakthrough in revival;

1. The Gospel Preached.

The gospel will be preached worldwide in such a way as to challenge every ideology, expose every false religion and undermine every society based on evil, corruption and injustice. In their place will arise the community of the redeemed, having the glory of God.

Justice, love and racial harmony will spring like a fountain from hearts washed clean by the blood of Jesus and empowered by the abiding Presence of the Holy Spirit.

2. True Unity.

Unity of those who truly own Jesus as Lord will be a prominent feature. No ecumenism, no compromise, no cosmetic gestures, just one heart, one mind and one soul for Jesus.

3. Outpouring on Israel.

There will be a mighty outpouring of the Spirit on the nation of Israel. It's magnitude and effect on the world are described as "life from the dead" (Romans 11:5).

4. Islamic Nations Turn to Christ.

Isaiah prophesied that "In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egpyt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord God Almighty will bless them saying, 'Blessed by Egypt My people, Assyria my handiwork and Israel my inheritance" (Isaiah 19:23-25).

5. Demonic Powers Overthrown.

Again it was Isaiah who prophesied, "In that day the Lord will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below" (Isaiah 24:21). Demons achieve their evil ends by controlling the hearts of men in general (John 13:27) and kings in particular (Daniel 10:13). They are the powers of this dark world, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms against whom we stand (Ephesians 6:12). They control the whole world system (Ephesians 2:2, Revelation 18:2, 23). "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet" says Paul (Romans 16:20). The power of the Holy Spirit is the power to drive out evil spirits (Matthew 10:1, Mark 16:17). The evidence of the release from demonic strongholds will be striking. The whole realm of the occult will be exposed and lives set free from its snare. Heathen will be released from superstition to turn to Christ.

Society will be dramatically influenced. Drunkenness, addiction, homosexuality, fornication, blasphemy, greed, injustice and arrogance will be dealt a mighty blow as the spirit of repentance moves from community to community, town to town and nation to nation.

6. Nations Turning to Christ.

The Bible envisages times of national breaking in of God's Spirit (for example Zechariah 12:11 - 13:2). In the days of Jonah the entire city of Ninevah turned to the Lord (Jonah 3:1-10). Again we read in Acts 9:35 "All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw (Aeneas, the paralytic man who had been healed) and turned to the Lord".

Imagine the social impact; everyone in the town born again! Imagine this happening in nations throughout the world!

The Presence of God.

"Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down" prayed the prophet (Isaiah 64:1).

Revival is the coming of God Himself.

The prophet is sent only to prepare the way for the Lord to Presence Himself personally among His people - a Presence that will achieve what the ministry can never achieve, be it ever so anointed. Luke observes that in the early days of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 'everyone was filled with awe' (Acts 2:43). This has characterised every revival since. 'The Holy Ghost descended on us; not indeed as a 'rushing, mighty wind' yet as the gentle zephry till it filled the whole place. So powerful was the influence that none of us could speak for some minutes. We all gave vent to our feelings in floods of joyful tears'

When God draws near, there is a deep sense of the reality of divine things and a need to be right with God, a seriousness yet a lightness of spirit that overwhealms the heart. Such awareness is experienced not only in meetings but also in the street, driving in the car or in a resturant. Suddenly God draws near, and one is almost overpowered with the awareness of it. When revival comes, we expect this Presence to abide on every heart and in every home where Christ is owned as Lord. So powerful is the effect of this divine Presence that sinners are seized with conviction and converted to Christ.

Angelic Appearances.

The Bible speaks of 'signs and wonders'. Sometimes these were miracles of healing while at other times the veil was drawn back so that what is normally invisible to the natural eye became visible; angels appeared. Angelic appearances and heavnly singing occur in times of revival. In the 1859 revival Evan Jones describes a meeting in which; "A heavenly sound was heard in the song of praise ... the song of praise continued for more than forty minutes without interuption'.

The same phenomenon occured at the Dales Bible Week in 1977. On several evenings after the meeting was over and the auditorium vacated and locked up for the night, heavenly singing was heard coming from the building at two or three o clock in the morning. This was not only reported by those on site; people living in the houses near the site complained about the singing in the early hours of the morning!

During the same week there were several angelic appearances, particularly to the young. One six-year old boy lost in the crowd and anxiously awaited by his parents suddenly turned up full of smiles. When asked how he found his way, he replied 'Oh a nice ghost in a shiny coat showed me the way'.

During a time of testimony another lad of six was asked what he enjoyed most about the Bible Week. He replied; "I liked it best when all the angels came and flew around the children's meeting playing their trumpets and praising God".

Realising Our Destiny.

Destiny implies destination. To speak of ourselves as a people of destiny we must know where we are going. Duncan Campbell wrote, "How many today are really prepared to face the stark fact that we have been outmanoevered by the strategy of hell because we have tried to meet the enemy on human levels by human strategy? In this we may have succeeded in making people church-concious, mission-concious or even crusade-concious without making them God-concious".

Our destiny is to bring God-conciousness to a God-oblivious world and we do it best when we stop trying too hard and are concious only of the Presence of God abiding with us.

When John the Baptist cried, "Look the Lamb of God" it was not to make a dramatic point in his sermon but because he saw Jesus literally approaching" (John 1:29). "Look ... I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" cried Stephen as full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God. God Himself had opened heaven and broken in to make the final appeal! The hearers were cut to the heart as they found themselves standing in the presence of a man standing in the Presence of God.

The Lewis revival in north-west Scotland saw this same drawing power of God's Presence among His people. As the little group seeking revival experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit in the middle of the night they opened the door of the building where they were meeting to discover that a crowd had gathered. God had brought conviction of sin upon the townspeople one by one and each made his way from his bed to the place of prayer to seek the Lord.

Revival will lead us to the fulfillment of our destiny - and all creation waits in eager expectation for this time when the sons of God will be revealed (Romans 8:19).

Rob Rufus - "Knowing the Person of the Holy Spirit" 2

Here are my notes from the 2nd in Rob Rufus's sermon series - "Knowing the Person of the Holy Spirit - His Names, Titles and Operations". The notes from the first sermon are here. I know that I am not the cautious type and verge on the waxing lyrical about anything that excites me - but I am not underestimating how the first sermon has changed my life and my relationship with God. Once again I am typing notes as I listen.

"The enemy wants us to focus on what God hasn't done instead of what God HAS done".

Lying spirits want to use behaviour modification to change externally instead of changing the heart and that is a religious spirit.

"Why does that which started in revival end up in most churches end up defending and protecting their brand of religion? Church history shows us that what starts in life ends in death all too often".

The transformation of your heart is the greatest legacy of the prophetic statement to come of external transformation. God says; "Tell the people they have changed!". Should we try and make others conform to what we want them to be? No!

"Condemnation is a lie from the devil - if you believe that lie even though there is NO condemnation, then condemnation will become an illegitimate reality in your life because you lend credibility to a lie".

80% of the mornings I wake up, the thing that gets me out of bed is the fact that the Holy Spirit wants to fellowship with me today. Personhood does not refer to having a body but having intelligence, a will. Those people who seek Him only for the power will be disappointed - when you seek Him for Who He is then you will have much power in your life - but it is a fruit of knowing Him as a Person.

You will never hear the Father or Jesus Christ speak in your heart without the Holy Spirit. Most Christians have a false Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Bible. You can know the Bible back to front but it won't help you unless you know the One who breathed it. Many people say to me, "Rob I have never heard God speak". What they are telling me is that they do not know the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives inside your re-born spirit. The devil speaks to your head and tells you to do stupid things.

The Holy Spirit is so awesome and lovely - He is just like Jesus in His nature. The Holy Spirit provides the power to administrate the plan of the Father. Every good gift comes from the Father through the Son's sacrifice at the Cross. It must come through Him but you can only receive it if you know the Holy Spirit.

"Under the Old Covenant if you touched a leper then you were unclean. Under the New Covenant if you touch a leper then they are healed".

Demon power that promises you much always comes with a price tag that will mean without a doubt that you will end up being destroyed. Around the world where people are listening to the voice of God -

"I have never known such a hunger for the authentic supernatural of God today in my 30 years as a Christian".

The new generation represented by young men in their 20's and 30's are seeing arms growing and miracles happening!

A new generation is rising in the earth saying; "We know there is a power encounter coming" and that generation will stand on Mount Carmel like Elijah and call down - not right doctrine, not right theology - but fire from heaven.

The disciples walked and talked with the Master Coach - Jesus Christ - every day and showed them the miraculous. They did it and they failed and He helped them. Every single day they walked with the Top Coach in the Universe yet they still made mistakes! For 3 and a half years they got taught on signs and wonders. Yet it was on the Day of Pentecost that they could finally step out in faith and see it happen.

I get 30 hours a year with you. Don't let the spirit of disillusionment kick in because we haven't raised the dead yet. We are in the New Covenant era. The Gospels were under the Law. People say that Jesus was preaching the New Covenant then they need to cut hands off and pull eyes out. He was preaching the Law at it's highest level to convict the Pharisees of their self-righteousness. He was introducing the coming of the New Covenant. When the Day of Pentecost came - that was the beginning of the New Covenant!

"Recently in Brighton, I went to 4, 500 people who were in a disposition and ready to respond. Most of them were leaders and they had been crying out to God for years. They lifted their sails and it was the easiest thing in the world!".

You can get stuff off CD's but you can never replace being in the room when the anointing is in the room. Isi de Gersigny (who will be speaking at our Glory and Grace Conference) goes up to heaven regularly and sees things in the Spirit. I want you to be exposed to her so that we can lift our level - lift our standard. Let's be so aware of what the Holy Spirit does that we can discern His movings. You can be in a move of the Holy Spirit but if you don't lift your sails and be being filled with the Spirit then you won't move.

"God wants to give us new sails - faith that you fan out in the glory of God - that we can fan out and receive the blowing of the Holy Spirit".

"A yachtsman is hunting the wind and constantly making sure his sails are at the right angle so he catches the wind".

We pray "Come Holy Spirit - blow" but we don't realise He is blowing 24 hours a day! We need to extend our faith and catch Him. Your life may be without form or void and has no shape but the Holy Spirit of God is hovering over every believer and when God says "Let there be light" - the Holy Spirit leaps into action and brings form and beauty. (Romans 8:14) "Led by the Spirit of God they are Sons of God".

"You can all the gifts and talents in the earth but if the wind does not blow on your talents then your talents will only take you as far as human ability. Human ability can take you as far as the moon but it can't raise the dead or open blind eyes or death ears or mend marriages".

Light can have healing properties! Laser light can do surgery. The Spirit of God seperates light from darkness. The Spirit of the Lord comes on us and we can stand there with a feeling of complete failure and then He comes and it all changes! If an unsaved person resists the Holy Spirit pulling them to the Saviour then they can never be forgiven because the Holy Spirit leads people to the Saviour! That is blaspheming the Holy Spirit - but the day you give in to the Holy Spirit and allow yourself to be led to the Saviour, you are forgiven. The Holy Spirit is indeed with you all the time but that isn't the issue!

"The issue is are you lifting your sails so the Holy Spirit can blow upon those outstretched sails of faith?"

The Spirit came on Gideon and this weak man who was hiding took an army of 300 and defeated the Mideanites. Don't take on insurmountable odds until He is moving in that way! Pick your battles! When the Spirit of the Lord comes then the trumpets can be blown and lights can be shone. There are a lot of Christians today in graves because they thought they could boss the devil around without the Spirit of the Lord. (Isaiah 59, 2 Cor 3:17).

"How do we know a church has got their sails up and are open to the moving of the Spirit? We can know that in seconds of walking in if that church is filled with a whole load of self-concious people who are critical, analytical, cerebral, formal and conservative and frightened of men then I know that we have got the operating of a religious demon here that has lied to these people and they have leant credibility to the lies and empowered those lies because they are believing a lying spirit and they are not operating in the Spirit of the Lord because where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty".

Open your eyes and think about average churches and what goes on in their Sundays! Some are brilliant - the Spirit of the Lord is moving all over the earth today - but for some they are so loyal and faithful that they won't admit that there is a control spirit here. You can't do cartwheels there and you can't do a thing!

"You will never get miracles in a conservative, formal atmosphere because people are too self-concious to be God-concious for the God of miracles to do things. But where the Spirit of the Lord is - there is freedom! There is liberty!"

The Spirit of the Lord is blowing on our sails and when He blows on our sails He raises the standard to the enemy! We can blow a trumpet and overcome insurmountable objects!

"We were created with a destiny to invade the realm of the impossible and demonstrate that all things are possible to them that believe! We were called to challenge these things!".

The mystery and the tenderness of the nature of God in the Trinity is an awesome truth. There is tenderness in the Trinity. The Father refers to the Spirit as "My Spirit". (Joel 2:28). "I will pour out My Spirit on ALL flesh". This dear Person has not yet been poured out on all flesh. On the Day of Pentecost Peter stood up and showed the 120 and the 3000 that received the Holy Spirit. 3000 are in the Kingdom of Heaven because the Father poured out His Spirit on them.

"The Day of Pentecost wasn't "all flesh" - it was 3000 but the day is coming when ALL FLESH will receive this pouring out of the Spirit and billions will come into the Kingdom of God".

The Greek word for "pour" is a word that a lover would use for their lover. "Pour out all my affections upon you". In the last days God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh. (Zech 4:5). "By My Spirit says the Lord of hosts". We can't win China by ourselves - but by My Spirit it can be done. Your Spirit can do all things. The Spirit of the Living God (2 Cor 3:3). We are a letter from Christ in the earth not with ink but by the Spirit of the Living God. That letter says something to the world! The Corinthians got things wrong but Paul says that they were a letter from Christ! "Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on me".

The Power of the Most High. We will see this in Luke 1:34-35. "You will be with child who you will call Jesus". Mary said "How will this be?". The angel replied; "The power of the Most High will overshadow you". The Most High God will bring His power to overshadow Mary and she would conceive.

"The power of the Most High will come on us and in the womb of our spirit we will see dreams and visions conceived. We will see millions and millions of people saved. We will see stadiums packed with people. We were raised to bring a revolution in the earth. The power of the Most High will come on us and effect the social climate of Hong Kong - prisons, education, the poor, China! Nations!".

"Church is not just a church sitting in a building but a people called to change society - "Let Your Kingdom Come - Let Heaven come into the earth realm". The only way that can be done is through the Holy Spirit".

Christians want to be equipped to do the job. One can coach us every day and He is called the Holy Spirit. He can coach us like Jesus coached the 12 disciples.

"The more miracles you get - the more dissatisfied you are going to be! What is a miracle? A miracle is a sign to the earth that we aren't just good people. The Gospel isn't about making bad people good but dead people alive. When you see cancers disappear and dead people get up then the world know that you are operating with something that is transcendent above the natural order. The reality of God cannot be dismissed!".

Society need a line drawn in the sand and they have to make a choice. Let your heart be naked before the Holy Spirit. The trouble with Adam and Eve eating from the tree - a cherubim came and stood before the tree of life and would not allow them to enter.

"You cannot enter the cloud of glory if you are self-righteous".

The reality of the Cross means I am righteous in the Father's eyes for ever and ever and my disobedience cannot disqualify the eternal sacrifice of the Son of God. The Father wants to give new sails here and take away old rigid canvas! We need new sails that capture the wind more effectively. Cry out to God for new sails of faith today!