CONTENTS:

• Is your God too small?
• Go buy a Sword
• The reward of persistency
• The completeness of the victory
• Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?

IS YOUR GOD TOO SMALL?

“The God that answereth by fire let him be God.” (I Kings 18:24)

“The people fell on their faces and said, the LORD, He is the God.” Vs. 39

As we are pressed with the nearness of the coming of the Lord and the existing conditions in the church and world, we are deeply concerned that the Lord's people are so indifferent to the situation.

THESE ARE CRISIS DAYS

It is possible that our repeated appeals and cries about the serious and critical situation, may arouse some opposition among church leaders, and members who maybe feel that we are being alarmist. But things are serious and someone must 'blow a trumpet and sound an alarm'.

These are days when we need an ELIJAH, a man called by God to awaken His people and challenge them, and so we repeat his words and challenge.

THE GOD THAT ANSWERS BY FIRE LET HIM BE GOD

There is far too much comfortable, easy going Christianity which does not awaken sinners or bring conviction but merely pleases the enemy, Satan. Empty forms and hollow ceremonies and services are causing many to be lost and there is no evidence of the Miracle working God of Elijah in our midst. Yet, He is not dead; He is alive and waiting to support any man who will step out of the normal formal church organizations and call upon the people of God in Nigeria with Elijah's words.

THE GOD THAT ANSWERS BY FIRE LET HIM BE GOD

Many will say that the days of miracles and such interventions by God are past. That is simply not true. Never have we needed a miraculous intervention more than we do now, with thousands going to hell and never hearing the Gospel that can rescue them.

God is looking today for Elijahs; men who will listen to the call of God in the quietness of their own souls, and who are willing to give up everything. EVERYTHING, and step out with souls aflame, to move among the churches and Christians to awaken them. Is there no man ready in Nigeria who will answer the call of God? Do you think that God will not be able to meet your need and move now as He did with Elijah of old? Is your God too small and unable to move and provide and meet your needs?

Let us read the story of how God called and provided for His servant Elijah in I Kings 17,18, and 19.

God found Elijah from outside the existing religious system. He did not seek him from among the school of prophets (II Kings 2:3), and God evidently told him to warn King Ahab of the approaching punishment because of his failure to follow God. But notice Elijah's bold statement ‘As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, BUT ACCORDING TO MY WORD." He did not say at God's word, but 'At MY WORD'. He knew God would honor his faith and he bravely declared his faith, and God supported him. Chapter 17:1

GOD PROVIDED DAILY FOOD FOR HIS SERVANT

Of course He did; God called him and so God was responsible to provide for him. God did so miraculously, thus building the faith of both Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. Read how God did it in 1 Kings 17.

There are many young men today who have been called of God to step out and preach to the unreached, but who are looking round to find someone who will support them and who will promise and guarantee them a monthly salary. Is that God?

Is your God that small? There is no 'Elijah' faith in that attitude. The God who calls also guarantees to provide and meet ALL our needs. (Phil. 4:19)

God began to teach and train His servant for the great test which lay ahead; the challenge to the assembled powers of darkness on Mt. Carmel. (I Kings 18:19-40) God had to teach His servant that He could provide for him completely and thus win his trust and confidence. God still deals the same way today with those who are willing to serve Him. In these days when money and position seem to be all powerful, then God is seeking men and women who are ready to prove, that Faith in God is more powerful.

It was the simple confiding faith of Elijah which also kept the widow and her son alive; faith sustained them all.

Faith is very contagious. when faith is preached and practiced, then men catch the flame and see the glories ahead. That is why the Lord is speaking to so many young people today, encouraging them to exercise FAITH in Him.

THE GOD THAT ANSWERETH BY FIRE LET HIM BE GOD

It must also be realized that God did not call a group of men nor a committee to deal with the spiritual situation in Israel. He called ONE MAN, and that man was filled with God and was invincible. Men need to believe what God says in His word, instead of trying to analyze every word to find special small points of doctrine. The Gospel which is preached in many churches today is too calculating, too analyzed and too philosophical. No wonder people fail to find God today. But Elijah had just one statement to make.

THE GOD THAT ANSWERETH BY FIRE LET HIM BE GOD

He deliberately challenged the unbelief of the whole nation of Israel, and then the combined powers of evil and darkness. ONE MAN against the powers of darkness and he won.

That is the meaning of the battle on Mount Carmel. It must also be realized that God did not tell Elijah what he should do. God had faith in Elijah and knew he could win.

It was a complete victory for God on Mount Carmel and the powers of darkness failed to produce anything which proved they had the power of Elijah. So it is today. The masses of Nigeria are waiting for a demonstration which proves that God is alive and willing to prove His power for those who trust Him. The masses are waiting to follow the man who is so in touch with God that he can command responses and demonstrate the miraculous. God has not changed and is waiting today for a man; for men and women who will trust Him as Elijah did, and challenge the unbelief of the present body of unbelieving Christendom, and also challenge, without fear, the powers of Satan and darkness and God will never fail him.

The existing powers of darkness in Nigeria today have captured the allegiance of the masses through juju and witchcraft because they can prove the existence of the supernatural, while the church is content with performing ceremonies which deliver few.

GOD ANSWERED BY FIRE

God vindicated His servant. Elijah's name was on everyone's lips; he had proved that God was still willing to be the God of Israel.

Then came the further test for Elijah, a woman (Jezebel), challenged him and what the combined power and forces of the priests of Baal had failed to do, this woman succeeded in doing. She frightened Elijah. He allowed fear of her power and threats to kill him, to make him run away.

THE PROBLEM OF A LOST VISION

Beware of pride and self-pity when God has blessed you. The triumphs of faith are often followed by the challenges which cause us to stumble and then self-pity follows. Self-pity is one of the most dangerous and subtlest of enemies of our spiritual life. Elijah ran away, and he justified his action by blaming God for the threats. Read carefully the story of his flight and meeting with God in I Kings 19.

But God did not forsake His servant in the midst of his testing. He watched over Him, as He still watches over all His servants today; and led him into the place of silence and peace and restoration.

God never rebuked His servant, in spite of all the charges against Him, but God replaced Elijah with Elisha.

May God help us all as His servants, so that we never make the mistake of thinking that we alone have been called to be His servants. God has many whom He can call upon today, but I am also sure that God is calling many young men in Nigeria today, to take up the mantle of Elijah and listen to God and learn the many lessons of FAITH in GOD, which we must all learn thoroughly before He can use us to challenge the unbelief of the churches and the powers of darkness.

God has said that there will be a group of His people who will be as 'Elijahs' in these LAST days, and we are sure that God is preparing them in wilderness places today. To them we speak, listen to the voice of God and let your hearts be humble. But most of all we stress the great need FAITH in the God that answers and provides. We have a GREAT GOD, one who provides who speaks today and who is able to make us victorious.

Elijah was removed from this earth in a strange miraculous manner as we expect the Lord to remove His people soon, but the new Elijahs must first appear who will do the work of God for these days. IS YOUR GOD, THE GOD OF ELIJAH, WHO ANSWERS?

SPECIAL WORD OF THE LORD FOR HIS SERVANTS, IN NIGERIA.

"Faith can make a way; faith can open doors; faith can bring the answers; faith can control all powers and all authorities because GOD IS OVER ALL".

 

GO BUY A SWORD

"He that bath no sword let him sell his cloke and buy one". (Luke 22:36)

"The effeminate (the soft) shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. (I Cor. 6:9-10)

The Christian life is a battle and whosoever would live it must be ready to throw off the cloke and buy a sword, it still demands courage and steadfastness and resolution. It is only the brave and heroic Christian who is going to fight and win in the coming battle. All the calls of the Gospel are calls to battle, to hardship, and sacrifice. Let us as Christians cast away our dreams of ease and buy a sword for battle.

Paul is exposing the fate of those who are 'soft'. We would not dream of classing ease loving Christians with drunkards and revilers and idolaters, yet, the Bible says their doom is the same; “the soft shall not inherit the Kingdom of God."

We are not accustomed to class 'softness' with wickedness, yet, the Bible says that the soft shall fail to inherit the Kingdom of God. Ease-loving, self-indulgence, comfort loving Christians are often very nice people. Yet they are in grave peril. The Bible implies that a Christian must be prepared to 'deny’ himself, and take up his cross daily. (Luke 9:23) The Lord would have no man follow Him under the impression that the way will be easy. He told them to sit down and count the cost.

I feel that 'softness' is one of the besetting sins of the Christian church in Nigeria today. We have lots of nice easy going Christians and the Enemy (Satan) is not troubled by them and therefore leaves them to their comfort.

Christianity with many has become 'pietism', a kindly emotion and not a soul gripping faith which Satan must attack and seek to destroy.

The early Church was a brave, venturesome church. It lived dangerously all the time amidst persecutions, arrests, opposition and challenges from religious and civil authorities. Yet, it prospered and grew. They were a group of humble fighters, who were ready to surrender all their goods for the benefit of the Christians anywhere. They had a strong faith that the Kingdom of Heaven was going to be established on sound godly principles and they refused to compromise or allow those principles to be softened.

Worldliness was not allowed; self- seeking was dealt with by the Holy Spirit in a drastic manner: sin was sin and the wages of sin is death no matter who committed it. (Rom. 6:23) Faith that worketh by love will not tolerate 'softness' in anything fundamental and the Holy Spirit will honor those whose hearts are aflame, even if they are sometimes rash and aggressive in the Gospel.

There is no room for comfort today, when so many are perishing and have never heard the Gospel. We are committing a grave sin against God when we sit at ease in ZION (our churches) and allow thousands to pass into Eternity without hearing the Gospel. There is no room for seat warming every Sunday, when we have known the Gospel and the fundamentals of the Bible for many years. The responsibility of taking the Gospel to the unreached in Nigeria ought to make us uncomfortable and restless until we have taken steps to deal with that burden.

Church going is a sin if we regard such attendance as something which we ought to do rather than take the Gospel to others.

There should be no room for devoting our time and money to building houses, businesses here on earth when the time is coming, when we will have to leave it all and give an account of our talents and time to the One who gave His all to save us, so that we could take His Salvation to others.

We are not civil servants, who often work by and are governed by the clock. We do not start or stop work by the clock. Every minute, every day and every hour must be accounted for to God; ‘Redeeming the time’ says the Bible. (Eph. 5:16)

We must just face the terrible fact that we are totally responsible for our time, our money, our talents of education business   and privileges. We will be called upon to give an account to God of what we have done with all these things.

It is better to burn out than rust out. Let us cast aside all 'softness' and thoughts of ease and retirement, and use the remaining days of our life in dedication to God and to taking the Gospel to those in Nigeria who have not yet heard and thus hasten the return of the King.

Nothing else will matter in that day when we see Him and stand before His Throne to be judged on our works, only that which has been done for Him and has cost us our best, will be accepted by Him.

It should not be a question of seeking someone to find us a salary in order to go and preach the Gospel.

It is the Lord Jesus who calls us, and as surely as He calls us, He will know how to provide for us. No man should wait until he is promised a salary before he goes out with the Gospel. For surely, the Lord will never accept as an excuse from us in that day that we did not have a salary and so we could not take the Gospel to others.

Let us put on courage, let us cast aside the cloke, the comfort and the ease and be prepared to enter the conflict in faith in Him who has called us.

When we are ready to put our all on the altar, then God will also be ready to place at our disposal all the money and things the Gospel needs. God is waiting for men and women of FAITH who will move out in FAITH and trust God alone. When He finds us ready then He will also meet our every need.

Christian life for Paul was afflictions in necessities, in distresses, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors. (II Cor. 6:4-5)

THE REWARD OF PERSISTENCY

Read the story of the Syrophenician woman in Matt. 15:21-28

This poor woman had no Bible; she had no promise of deliverance or healing to build her faith; she had no previous experience as a disciple, with no hope of ever being one because she was poor.

AN OUTSIDER - A GENTILE

The Jews looked down upon her with scorn, she was outside the plan of God and could not claim anything. Yet she had a great need; she had a demon possessed daughter and that need drove her into action. She was determined her daughter should be delivered, and she knew that Jesus of Nazareth could deliver her. She came as an outcast, as a sinner without a claim, without any promise of help and God has left this record to encourage all who need His help, no matter how outcast they may feel they are, to have FAITH to claim His help.

ONLY CHILDREN'S BREAD

She cried unto Jesus, but strangely, met with a rebuke. “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. The Lord tested her faith, tried her determination and she refused to be rebuffed. She knew He knew she could not claim her deliverance by right but she persisted; she worshipped Him.

He tested and rebuffed her again “It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs".

But she still persisted, she felt for her daughter and surrendered her pride and took the place of a dog.

"Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the Master's Table." He could not refuse such faith and determination. "Woman, great is thy faith." That was what Jesus wanted; to develop her faith, her determination to secure deliverance even though it meant she had to take up the position of a dog.

The teaching that only the worthy; only the good and those who have met certain religious standards, can receive the benefits and blessing from God, often prevents needy people from approaching God for their needs. This story refutes that belief. God is willing to respond and move whenever anyone; no matter how unworthy they may appear to be, when they approach Him in faith, persistent faith, especially when it is on behalf of others who cannot help themselves.

It must also be remembered that the disciples had no sympathy for the woman. She was a Gentile and therefore an outcast and not worth their attention. They even asked the Lord to drive her away when the woman refused to listen to their commands. Even today, it is those who ought to be ready to help needy ones who turn a deaf ear because they are too busy and too occupied with business matters.

CRUMBS

She did not get offended when Jesus told her she was not fit to claim the 'children's bread.' She would not be denied. Many would have turned away, many turn away today and listen to leaders who encourage them to bear their sicknesses and troubles with patience and thus they never get through to the Lord Himself, they listen to others. But the Lord Jesus is waiting for every one of us to persist and push our way into His presence and worship Him and claim what is now 'our bread'. We are entitled to 'children's bread' now. It is ours by right - we are His children and therefore it belongs to us. If we will claim it and persist until He gives us our desires.

The doors to the Father's dining room are never closed and healing and deliverance are the ‘children's bread' for all who will come boldly forward and claim it.

Decide NOW to come to Him. Be determined. Set a goal and don't turn back. Be humble and He will reward your persistence.

THE COMPLETENESS OF THE VICTORY

"I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do". (John 11:4)

"It is FINISHED”.  (John 19:3)

"The Lord sat on the right hand of God”. (Mark 16:19)

"The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." (Psa. 110:1, Heb. 1:13)

"Now thanks be unto God, who leads me from place to place in the train of His triumph, to celebrate His triumph." (II Cor. 2:14) 

"Having spoiled principalities and powers, He made an open show of them, triumphing over them." (Col. 2:15)

The Lord Jesus has completely finished the work of redemption once and for all, and nothing needs now to be done to complete it. IT IS COMPLETE and God has accepted that work and He needs not to add anything more. IT IS FINISHED. Shout Hallelujah. let your soul rejoice. The work has been completely ended and FINISHED TO GOD'S satisfaction. There is nothing we can add to it.

The Victory has been won completely and forever. God has completed His program for this Age. The work is done, it is finished. The Lord Jesus is seated on a throne in heaven, having FINISHED THE WORK OF REDEMPTION. AMEN.

All that remains for us, for every man, woman and child, to do is to accept what the Lord Jesus has done for us and to make it our own possession and enjoyment. It was done for us, for every one of us; none excluded.

Now God can offer the benefits of that FINISHED WORK to all the world FREELY and FULLY.

Now God is able to say, "His divine power hath give us ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN UNTO LIFE AND GODLINESS”.  (2 Peter 1:3-4) “ALL THINGS have been secured for us and God is waiting for us to claim what He has provided. God is not going to send Jesus Christ again to do anything. ALL THINGS have been secured and provided.

Many Christians do not realize the extent of this Victory, and so they fail to appropriate the blessing. Many are not sure that it is FINISHED, and try to add something of their own works to try to make it acceptable to God. But God is perfectly satisfied. Let us examine in detail, some of the things which the Lord Jesus has secured for us in this complete victory on the Cross.

THE COMPLETENESS OF SALVATION

The Lord Jesus Christ died for all the world. (2 Cor. 5:15) Everyone can benefit by His Victory on the Cross. He died for ALL, and He died for you and me, each of us individually. All our sins have been atoned for, forever. God says He will forget them when we claim His forgiveness. (Isa. 43: 25) My sins and yours too if you have claimed Jesus' death as your sacrifice; have been forgiven and forgotten completely; and forever, by God.

In addition, God has given us a new life new desires, a new nature, new relationships with God Himself and also with our neighbors. All believers have been fully and completely justified before God as though they had never sinned. The death of Jesus Christ and His resurrection has enabled God to sanctify His people (all who claim Jesus Christ as their Savior).

They are made holy and useful to God again. Many Christians today are rejoicing daily because of all these blessings they can enjoy because HE HAS FINISHED THE WORK COMPLETELY.

Have you claimed your own Salvation? Claim it NOW. 

Pray with me - "Thank   you Lord Jesus for your finished work of salvation and I here and now ask for pardon for all my sins and wickedness and claim your pardon for them all.  Thank you Lord Jesus... Amen.

THE COMPLETED WORK OF HEALING, AND DELIVERANCE

"Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, sicknesses”. (Matt. 8:17, Isa. 53:4)

"He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities and with His stripes, we are healed" (Isa. 53:5) "His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, by whose stripes ye were healed”. (I Peter 2:24)

The victory of Calvary included healing and deliverance and the Lord Jesus has completely finished the work of our healing. Salvation is the great inclusive word which includes not only forgiveness from sin, but also SAFETY, DELIVERANCE, HEALING, Soundness and preservation.

By His Victory the Lord Jesus has recovered all that man lost in the Garden of Eden. "Then I restored that which I took not away" (Psa. 69:4) Who forgiveth ALL thine iniquities: Who healeth ALL thy diseases”. (Psa. 103:3)

The Lord Jesus has done it all at Calvary. IT IS FINISHED. There is no need now to remain in sickness any more than we are expected to remain in sin. This is the deliverance God desires you to enjoy because it has already been secured. God told His people, "I am the Lord that healeth thee" (Exod. 15:26). And if three million people could believe it and enjoy it, and find perfect health and strength under the law, then so can we, who live under grace and know of the Victory of Calvary.

Every believer should rejoice in the knowledge that the Lord Jesus has been MADE SICK for him and we should no longer accept sickness as being the will of God. Healing is in the ATONEMENT. Claim your portion now. Let us pray.

"Thank you Lord Jesus for being my sickness Bearer and I am thankful there is no need now for me to bare my sickness. I claim now the promise of healing for my body ...NOW, by faith in thy word. I command all sickness and symptoms to be destroyed in Jesus Christ’s Name I have prayed." Amen.

THE COMPLETENESS OF THE VICTORY OVER SATAN

Satan has been defeated completely by the Lord Jesus. "Now said the Lord Jesus, as He went to the Cross, "shall the prince of this world be cast out." (John 12:31) "the prince of this world hath been judged." (John 16:11)

The Apostle Paul, speaking of the victory at Calvary, stated, "He stripped off from Himself principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in His Cross." (Col. 2:15)

Calvary was Christ's victory over the Devil on our behalf, and because of what He did there, we are set free from the bondage of Satan.

Now the Lord Jesus can freely say to all His believers, "Behold, I give you power, over all the power of the enemy”.  (Luke 10:19) Satan would like us to believe that he is still all powerful. But he has been defeated once and for all, for all of us. Satan does not want us to claim this victory but HE IS A DEFEATED FOE and has no authority, other than what we give him to govern or rule us. But we must claim this victory. You should claim it daily with this prayer.

"Thank you Lord Jesus for your complete victory over Satan and I am here and now claiming that victory as my own victory and I rebuke Satan and order him, in your name, to cease trying to claim me again as his servant. I claim my freedom NOW...Amen, in Jesus' Name.”

THE COMPETENESS OF THE VICTORY FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW CONCEPT OF POWER AND AUTHORITY

Now only has the Lord Jesus redeemed us, defeated Satan for us but also provided the Holy Spirit to live in us and with us daily, so that we may enjoy His power and His authority. The Holy spirit brings a new system of rule into our lives; being governed by the spirit instead of by human wisdom and intellect and system.

The Holy Spirit is now the Governor of the people of God on earth. He indwells them and gives them power to live for God. He leads and guides and gives us power to carry out the work of God. Earthly systems and power are no longer necessary for the child of God. Now the Holy Spirit uses men who have been saved, against the enemy, and to bring salvation and deliverance to mankind all over the world. This is God's new system of power and authority for these days.

We are brought into the Kingdom by the Holy Spirit's power and He alone can control us in (hat Kingdom and bring to pass the Will of God in our lives. Therefore, the command, "Be filled with the Spirit". (Eph. 5:18)

Every Christian needs the fullness of the Holy Spirit, whom the Lord Jesus sent from Heaven after He had completed the work on Calvary, so that His work could be confined and made available to all men. Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? (Acts 19:2) You can receive HIM now if you believe and accept Him. Let us pray:

"Thank you Lord for sending the Holy Spirit into the world so that we might be filled with the same power as You received and I want the Holy Spirit to fill me completely NOW. I here and now open my heart and self to Him and ask Him to fill me fully... and use me for your glory...In Jesus' Name, I ask. Amen.

A NEW KINGDOM HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED ON EARTH

The Lord Jesus has established the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Satan's kingdom of darkness, death and evil has been defeated, although not yet destroyed (that will soon be accomplished), and an entirely new system of government has been set out with new laws.

Those who have been born again have been brought into that Kingdom (John 3:3); and the Lord Jesus said that the kingdom is come unto you because He could cast out the evil spirits which governed the old kingdom. (Matt. 12:28)   In Matthew 13, we have 7 parables dealing with the establishment of that Kingdom and the Lord Jesus taught His disciples to pray. “Thy Kingdom come… on earth, as it is in Heaven”.

That Kingdom was restarted by the Lord Jesus when He defeated Satan at the Cross and we can now enjoy the blessings of that Kingdom even before the Lord Himself returns to set it up fully on earth again.

THESE VICTORIES MUST BE APPROPRIATED BY US

The Lord Jesus has FINISHED the work, and Satan, death and the grave has been brought to naught and no longer have any power over Him. The Victory is secured in an absolute sense, and will never need to be repeated.

But we have to enter into that victory progressively ourselves, and make that victory our own possession daily. We have to appropriate it daily, and fully, individually. This is why we so often do not realize the benefits of that victory. Our full possession of the victory tarries because of our inability to occupy, because of lack of capacity, because of spiritual immaturity. God told the Israelites, "I will not drive them out from before thee in one year...by little and little I will drive them out”. (Exod. 23:29-30) "until thou be increased”.

So often we pray and appeal to the Lord for mastery over the forces of evil, and we hope that the Lord is going to interfere with a mighty exercise of power to bring us the victory. We must correct that attitude. The Victory has already been accomplished and it now remains for us to make that victory ours too We are to possess His victory.

We should pray for enlargement, for power and grace to claim the victory. There must be a daily claiming of the fruit of His Victory, in salvation, in healing, over Satan and for the establishment of His Kingdom. It is a daily battle, a daily appropriation of a victory already secured for us.

ARE YOU FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Our Lord said to His disciples just before He returned to Heaven….

"Behold, I send yon the promise of My Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high". (Luke 24:49)

These same disciples had been told that their names had been written in heaven. (Luke 10:17-20) yet, they still needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit before they could do the work of God properly. It was to Peter, James and John; Apostles that the Lord spoke, as well as to Mary, His Mother and the rest of about 120. If they needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit before they could start witnessing properly, then so do we.

If we are to be effective witnesses unto the Lord Jesus Christ, it is absolutely essential that we be filled with the holy spirit. (Eph. 5:18)

In John 7:37-39, Jesus said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water". IF ANY MAN; that means you and I. It means every disciple and witness of Jesus.

The power the disciples received on the Day of Pentecost was the same power the same Holy Spirit, that filled the Lord Jesus Himself, because the Lord was sending out His disciples to do the very same work and it was "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord" (Zech. 4:6) that the work could be done.

The baptism itself is a divine purifying, an anointing, bestowing on believers a divine illumination, filling them with faith, and love, with peace and POWER, so that their words are sharp in the hearts of God's enemies, "quick and powerful like a two-edged sword." (Heb. 4:12)

This is an indispensable qualification of a successful ministry and it is necessary for every one of the Lord's witnesses to seek this mighty power in an infilling daily. Without the direct teaching of the Holy Spirit, a man will never make much progress in preaching the Gospel. The only effective way to preach the Gospel is "with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven" (I Peter 1:12)

THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES POWER TO LIVE A HOLY LIFE

"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye THROUGH THE SPIRIT do mortify the deeds of the body; ye shall live”. (Rom. 8:13)

Many Christians, who have just accepted the Lord as Saviour but have not been filled with the Holy Spirit, live a very unsteady life. They are 'up' one day and 'down' the next. They are trying to live a Christian life in their own power and strength and that is impossible.

What has been started by the Holy Spirit cannot be continued by the flesh. (Gal. 5:16) Every part of your being must be fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit so that He can control you and lead you and use you. You can never be fully satisfied as a Christian until you have

been filled with the Holy Spirit and then your life will be one of continuous victory and witness. Then the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in your life, “Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith, temperance". (Gal. 5:19-24)

THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES POWER FOR SERVICE

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye must be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”. (Acts 1:8)

Peter and John found this to be true when they went down to the revival in Samaria, and they then prayed for the new converts, not that they might be saved, because they had already accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour, but "that they might receive the Holy Spirit." (Acts 8:5-17)

This was some time after the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples and we find that again in Acts 10:19, the Holy Spirit was poured out. So there was more than one 'outpouring' of the Holy Spirit.

So today, God is moving again, and He is moving by His Spirit. The Gospel is being preached all over Nigeria and many are seeking the Lord for His peace and salvation, and He is meeting their needs. But they too, like the early disciples, need also to be filled with the same Holy Spirit, so that they can go out and witness to the world.

There is no need to try to make yourself fit for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You cannot do that anymore than you can make yourself fit for salvation. Just seek the Lord and ask Him to reveal all that is wrong in your life, and then ask for His power and strength to put it out of your lives and then ask Him to fulfil His promise to fill you with His Spirit so that you can serve Him fully and then leave the rest in His; God's hands. He will and must fulfil His own Word. You must never dictate how He will do it or when or where. He knows what to do, and He knows your need.

But there must be more than a mere prayer request, "If any man thirst, let him come". You must be really thirsty, really determined for the Holy Spirit. The disciples had to wait ten days in prayer, to show their obedience and determination and the Lord will test your own determination before He gives you this previous Gift of the Holy Spirit.

Also we must never think that when He has filled us with the Holy Spirit that we do not need anything more; we shall need a fresh 'infilling' DAILY and we must also submit ourselves daily for Him to work through us so that the Lord Jesus may be glorified.

We encourage all Christians to seek the Lord for His Promised Gift of the Holy Spirit and to keep on claiming until He fulfils His promise. Then He will help you to live for JESUS.

FISHERS OF MEN

A SPECIAL MESSAGE TO ALL YOUNG CHRISTIANS, ALL OVER NIGERIA IN ALL CHURCHES AND GROUPS.

The Lord Jesus has called YOU to “COME UNTO ME, I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).

Now that you have answered that call, the Lord Jesus calls again; “GO I will make you FISHERS OF MEN” (Luke 5:10).

All born again Christians are now ‘slaves’ of JESUS CHRIST. He is the Master and has the right to your TALENTS, TIME, MONEY.

Every Nigerian Christian MUST be a soul-winner, especially young Christians. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW

1. Gather your Christian friends and colleagues and FORM A SOULWINNER’S CLUB. Details of this new, wonderful, dynamic soul winning outreach scheme will soon be published in H.O.L.D.
2. Gather regularly as a SOULWINNER’S CLUB. For prayer and planning of possible local activities.
3. SEND details of your local group to H.O.L.D. Box 113, Ilesha so that we can send you literature and news of other groups in Nigeria.