Unity With Christ – Wallace Articles

07/27/20

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OPEN

I’d like to talk to you today about powerful prayers. Ja 5:16 (NIV), “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” So how is it that we can get to the point where our prayers are like that?

Those of you who have been a part of this ministry for a while have learned about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and how having this brings a lot of effectiveness to your prayers. Those of you who are new to our program and who haven’t yet had this experience may not be understanding what I’m referring to; or perhaps have an inkling that there’s something powerful that can happen, but don’t know what it is or how to get it.

My purpose today is to explain what God has made available to us. And this will be more than just a presentation of basics for beginners, it will tell how even those with years of experience can move into a more powerful relationship.

It will require a bit of explanation and the presentation of new concepts. But those who stay all the way to the end will hear the secret. For those who don’t wish to remain that long, I’ll give the main bullet points now; though I doubt they will be meaningful without the explanation needed to understand them.

First, you must ‘believe’ what God says. [slide: “Believe God] Second, you must become ‘one with Christ’. [“Christ in You”] Third, you must reject ‘Anti-Christ’. [“Spirit of Anti-Christ”] Finally, this takes us back to ‘point one’, “Believe God”. So let’s begin.

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I. BELIEVE GOD

Most Christians are familiar with water baptism and understand it symbolizes their acceptance of Jesus. This ritual is a public declaration of their faith that He forgives all their sins and will take them to Heaven someday. Unfortunately, this is as far as most people go in knowing God.

However, it is possible for our acceptance of God to develop into a living and powerful relationship. The next stage is what we refer to as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (BHS). This means to accept for the Holy Spirit to enter your being and to begin revealing Himself to you.

The Bible refers to the ‘experience’ of the BHS, but it doesn’t use this exact ‘expression’. We can find it mentioned in several verses.

Ti 3:5 (NIV), “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the HS.”

Ac 15:8 (NIV), “God, who knows the heart, showed that He accepted them by giving the HS to them.”

Ac 4:31 (NIV), “They were all filled with the HS and spoke the word of God boldly.”

In addition to baptism with water and baptism with the HS, there is also a brief mention of another experience — ‘Baptism with Fire’. Lk 3:16 (NIV), “John answered them, ‘I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, … He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with Fire.’”

Of this third there is very little description. But I believe it refers to this final stage of growth which I’m describing today. But before we get to that point, I’d like to more fully explain the BHS.

When we accept the HS to live within us, we become restored sons of God. We then have the task of re-learning what that means — what it really means to be a son of God. The HS has promised to help us learn, if we are willing to listen. Jn 14:26 (NIV), “The HS, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things.”

One of the things you must learn is that once the HS comes to live with you and teach you, He gives you a measure of power. Ac 1:8 (NIV), “You will receive power when the HS comes upon you.” You are then to begin using what He gives you in order to develop your relationship with God. As you believe His declaration and act on it you see yourself able to do amazing things. With each success, your confidence grows and your spirituality comes alive.

But at some point, and probably not too long after your new experience begins, there will arise some problems. These will come to interfere with your understanding and even your faith. How you deal with them will determine whether you continue growing into your new status, or whether your revert to your old way of thinking. However, your response is entirely a matter of your choice.

One of the possible issues is that you begin to disbelieve that God is really working through you. Your doubts make you think, “If God is really in me, then I should be feeling a lot more of His power; but I’m not feeling much of anything, so maybe I need to wait for Him to give me more.” This thought is wrong. Wrong!!

Don’t wait to feel the power: Act! Act on the word He’s already given. You don’t know what you have until you begin. You must begin based on the authority of the Word. Jesus gave us all the authority and power needed. But we must believe Him and act on it. The giving of power isn’t waiting for the future : It has already been given. It’s our understanding that hasn’t caught up to reality.

Jesus said of himself, “The Son does what He sees the Father doing.” (Jn 5:19). We too must do the same. We must do what God does, speak what God says, act as He acts. We must be bold enough to make ‘creative declarations’ — healing, resurrecting, delivering, and controlling nature.

Jesus didn’t give us a commission to carry out, then leave us powerless to do it. When He said, “heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons,” He gave what we need to do it. When He said, “move the mountain into the sea,” He gave us what we need to do so. It is only our doubt and disbelief and fear that hold us back.

Another issue that arises is that there are times when we try to do something, but it doesn’t happen. We then immediately start to doubt ourselves, or worse, doubt God. We quickly overlook the ten successes we’ve had and focus in on the one failure. This then grows into a crisis of faith, and we start doubting that we really have authority. Then the next time we pray, we fail again; and don’t connect that failure to our present state of mind. Thus our lack of confidence enters a self-perpetuating downward spiral.

Don’t do this! Yes, it’s easy to say, and hard to do. But you mustn’t allow a failure to lead you to disbelieve God. Instead we must examine the failure, recognize that there are more factors involved than we are allowing for, and ask God to help us understand. Sometimes He gives you an answer, sometimes He doesn’t.

Instead of doubting what God has given you, consider that there is more going on than you’re aware of; and these unknown variables are what caused the failure. Our fault is in thinking of every situation in simplistic terms. There is far more happening than we see. And there is far more to God than we know. So make allowance for your deficiencies and move on.

Another issue is that there are some limitations in what we can do while we are still in training. The BHS makes a lot of power and authority available to us; but it isn’t unlimited at first. We must learn what the power is and how to use it. We must learn its limitations and rules. We must learn what God is like and understand His will. We must learn that everything we seek to do will have consequences: that even as we try to do good, something undesirable might result.

It’s not so easy to be like God as you may think. It takes training, and practice, and experience, and maturity. Once we have done all this, there is the prospect of receiving even more power and authority. But you must work toward that with diligence.

We see this principle illustrated in Jesus’ parable of the money given to invest. (Mt 25:15-30) Three servants were given one, five, and ten talents respectively. They were to invest and improve them, then they would be called to an accounting after a given period. Two of the servants used their talents wisely and caused them to increase; and these both were given much more authority as a reward. But the one who didn’t use his talent found in the end that it was taken from him and he was thrown out. So don’t be like the foolish one. Use what you have the best way you can, and try to improve on it.

Still another issue we have to face is free will. By this I mean the freewill of those for whom we pray. You will find people who come to you and ask that you pray for them to be healed of an affliction; but no matter how hard you try, they don’t get well. You go through every method you know, but without success. The temptation is to wonder what you’re doing wrong. But when dealing with a case like this, the fault isn’t in you.

We have authority over all demons in our territory. It doesn’t matter who they are attacking or why; once I find them in my domain, I have the authority. The same is true for diseases caused by demons. If it is brought into my presence, I can overrule it.

However, there are some diseases introduced by and sustained by human action. These then are subject to the sufferer’s freewill. A human-brought problem can be made worse by a demon, because the initial cause opened a door which gave demons access. But our impact over these types of afflictions is limited. They may not even be aware they’re doing it; it may be their subconscious that’s resisting.

You may be thinking, “Why would someone not want to be healed? That seems crazy.” And yes, if you ask them if they want healing, they will be most affirmative in their request. But when dealing with spiritual matters, people have very strongly held beliefs. Perhaps you’re saying, “But healing is physical, so how does the spiritual have so much effect?” Remember, our power to heal is spiritual in nature; and thus must adhere to the spiritual rules involved.

We find an example of this type of subconscious prejudice interfering with a healing in a story from the Bible. The book 2 Kings, Chapter 5 tells how Naaman of Aram came to Elisha to be healed of leprosy.

Elisha didn’t go out to meet with Naaman; instead he sent his servant out with a message. “Go wash in the Jordan River seven times, and you’ll be healed.” But Naaman didn’t like this directive because it didn’t coincide with his expectations. As a result Naaman left Elisha and was going to refuse to cooperate. If not for the intervention of Naaman’s wise servant, Naaman would have gone home, still covered in leprosy, and angry that this so-called man of God hadn’t helped him.

Verse 11 even tells us what Naaman’s expectation was. “I thought he would come out, call on his God, and wave his hand over the spot; and cure me that way.” Naaman had his own idea of how the healing should be done; so when Elisha’s method didn’t meet Naaman’s beliefs, Naaman was ready to go home still sick, rather than change his thinking.

This same attitude appears today in some of the people who come for healing. You’ll hear things such as, “I don’t like for you to pray so loud; yelling isn’t praying.” Or, “I don’t like for you to pray silently; I want to know what you’re saying.” Or, “It’s blasphemy for you to tell God that He has to heal me. You’re only supposed to ask Him to do it if it’s His will.” Or, “Perhaps God is making me suffer so I can learn something.”

These statements reveal a religious prejudice against spiritual healing that you’ll find very hard to get past. You can’t give someone a blessing they don’t want. Your authority in cases like this is limited by the receiver’s freewill; even if their resistance is subconscious. So be aware that you’ll encounter this from time to time.

There is yet one more problem those with the BHS may face; and this one is the most horrible of all. This is to be led into doing the work of the Enemy while thinking you’re doing the work of God. The Enemy deceives us by presenting our own desires as the will of God.

He knows all about our carnal nature and what our weaknesses are individually. He knows too that those with the HS are trying to learn to be like God, but are still novices in dealing with spiritual matters. So he presents to us things he knows we want, but paints them in such a way as to hide their true nature.

When what we are pursuing resonates deeply with a long-held desire, we identify that goal as our own; not something coming from an external influence. Then, when we are able to justify our goal with some spiritual argument that lets us believe it’s in line with God’s will, we stop questioning it.

Ja 1:14 (RSV), “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.”

Lucifer started out as a righteous being, and had power and authority given to him by God; yet he became corrupted. Likewise, Adam started out righteous, and was given power and authority from God, yet he was led astray. Their positions didn’t protect them from deception. They fell from their place. It would be foolish to think we’re somehow immune to such temptation. So we must remain vigilant, and frequently check our desires with God.

If Lucifer hadn’t entertained certain unholy thoughts and let them develop, then he wouldn’t have found himself desiring something contrary to God’s plan and ended in rebellion. Similarly, it was the indulgence of unrighteous thoughts that led to the weakening of Eve, then Adam. By accepting the thought that you can come up with a better plan than God, you come under the control of Evil.

There are many Biblical examples of people doing what they thought was right, but which was the exact opposite of God’s way.

= (Mt 15:5) Church goers giving the money meant for their parents support to the Temple.

= (Mt 15:3) Giving precedence to what ‘the church’ says over what God says.

= (Mk 11:12-14, 20) Giving testimonies that sound good, but which produce no fruit.

= (Mk 8:31-33) Peter saying, “No, Jesus; don’t sacrifice your life just to fulfill God’s plan.”

Hopefully you can see from this list of potential obstacles to your faith, the importance of keeping your thoughts and desires fixed on learning from the HS; especially when questions arise in your mind about why our power isn’t working as we want it to, or why God isn’t doing what we expect from Him.

God gives us power and authority to help us re-learn what it means to be a restored son of God. We use that new power to do as He does and to come to a clearer understanding of Him and His ways. But with this new position comes the responsibility not to be led astray, as some in the past have been.

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II. CHRIST IN YOU

Now that you accept the idea that the HS is with you and is giving you power to change things, it becomes critically important to understand just what this means.

Many of us struggle with the thought that God is in us. For some, the internal conflict will go on for many years. For others, a form of resolution comes by rationalizing the ideas until they no longer mean what they’re supposed to mean.

To illustrate: God says He will place His Spirit in us. But if we consider very long what the HS is, we are forced to recognize that He too is God. And like Jesus, the HS is the same as God the Father. But here’s a problem; God the Father is all-powerful, mighty, bigger than the Universe, a tremendous radiant light that destroys anything evil which might approach. So how can that be inside me?! Immediately we think, He can’t! Therefore I try to understand it differently.

This is when we start reducing what is in us. We think, God the Father is an unapproachably bright God on a throne in Heaven; but Jesus the Son has diminished himself into a human form that can interact with us safely; and the HS is just an ethereal being, like a ghost, that can’t be seen, but which lightly touches us and whispers to our conscience. Only by rationalizing in this way can we accept even as a concept that God is in us.

But I declare to you today that this rationalized diminishment is false! Furthermore, it is because we choose to believe this idea rather than God’s clearly stated word, that we don’t come into our full status as sons of God.

Since God’s own declarations are so hard to receive, we change them; and thus we change our image of God; and thus we distrust Him. Our ideas of God are wrong: our idea of His nature, of what He can do, of what He really means. What’s worse, God is offended by our wrong ideas of Him because these have been spawned by Satan and by our distrust of what God says we are.

It is wrong to disbelieve God when He tells me I’m already perfect, already holy, already empowered. Jesus made His sacrifice so that you and I could be restored. His sacrifice has been completed, and His gift to us is already ours!

We have been led by Satan to think, “we are sinners and always will be. Even though Jesus died to forgive us and restore us to His original plan, we must not think that He’s already done so; that’s something that may only happen at some future time. For now we must stay humble and not think too highly of ourselves or we might fall into Pride, like Satan.”

But this line of thinking, although it sounds good superficially, is in direct contradiction to what God says about us. It is this disbelieving God, and instead choosing to believe a lie, which puts us into rebellion against God. This so-called humble attitude is in fact choosing to think our ideas are better than God’s. And what is the source of this stand?

We must look instead to what God himself says about us.

Ps 8:4-5. “God made man a little lower than God/Eloim.”

Ps 82:6. “you are gods; you are children of the Most High.”

Jn 10:34. (Jesus speaking). “Know ye not that ye are gods? God said to His people, you are gods.”

To believe God’s own declarations about me, rather than my own thoughts about myself, requires a dramatic and fundamental shift in thinking. Thus, I am no longer a guilty sinner. Neither am I a forgiven sinner. My old self has been put to death and is gone. A new spirit has been placed in me which is a part of God. Christ’s righteousness has been imparted to me; and more than this, a part of His Spirit has been placed in me. I am a part of the Risen Christ! He is in me and I am in Him.

Jesus is seated at the right hand of the mighty God. (Lk 22:69. Ac 7:55. Mk 16:19. He 10:12. He 12:2.) Since I’m in Him and He’s in me, I too am righteous and seated with Him in power. When He speaks, I speak; and when I speak, it’s also Him speaking.

1 Pe 4:11 (NIV), “If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God.”

It isn’t enough to think of what you wish to do, then try to make yourself believe you can do it. You must realize that as you say it, God is also saying it.

When God says you can move a mountain, He isn’t speaking metaphorically; it’s literal. We find this passage in Matthew 17:20, where Jesus says to His disciples, and to us. “Truly, if you have faith, you can say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there’, and it shall move; nothing is impossible for you.”

This isn’t saying that if you believe in yourself hard enough, the mountain will hear you and obey. It’s saying that once you accept that you’re a part of God, once you have faith in that, then when you tell the mountain to move, it’s God ordering it; and the mountain obeys the word of God.

About now perhaps your belief is straining. You may feel that even though I’ve given supporting Bible texts, I must be misapplying them. You may even be thinking, “can you give a concrete example of this from the Bible?” Yes! Yes, I can. Let’s go to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 37.

Ezekiel was taken by God to a large valley, and once there he saw in every direction nothing but dry bones. The bones and skeletons of what had once been a huge army. But they had been dead so long the bones were scattered and brittle.

God asked Ezekiel, “Can these bones live again?” To which Ezekiel replied, “Only You know.” God then said to Ezekiel, “You tell the bones to live again.” Ezekiel may have been credulous, but he obeyed. He said, “Bones, live again!” Then to his surprise, the bones began moving; each attaching to another until skeletons formed. Next flesh and muscle grew over the skeletons, and finally skin. God then said, “Now, tell the Spirit to enter these bodies and give them breath.” So Ezekiel ordered the Spirit to do so; and all the formerly dead bodies came alive.

The first thing that amazes us is that this could even happen. But the part that I find most illustrative is that God told Ezekiel to give the commands. Without this we are wont to think, ‘only God can form bodies out of the dust; only God can give life. But here it’s Ezekiel doing those things. We’re also tempted to say, “But we can’t tell God what He must do!” Yet God specifically said to do exactly that. Next, you may say, “But God said that to Ezekiel. He hasn’t said it to me!” Really? Have you forgotten the Great Commission? Didn’t Jesus tell us, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, and move mountains.” It is not disrespectful to do what God says; rather, it’s sinful to refuse Him.

In order to complete our restoration to full sonship and come into possession of the full power God has made available, we must come into full acceptance of His word. It’s not enough to just mentally assent to the concept as a principle. We must accept it as our reality. But this is easier said than done; because our doubts work against us. And this takes us into our next topic.

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III. SPIRIT OF ANTI-CHRIST

The thought that a great and powerful God could possibly be dwelling inside causes our mind to rebel; especially when it’s said that this presence is more than just an intangible essence.

We can, barely, accept the idea that something from God is within, or at least nearby; because that explains how He can know everything we do, and even what we think and feel. “But to think that the being we refer to as ‘the Father’, the terrible being that’s so majestic and holy that anything less than perfect is instantly destroyed; this God can’t possibly be within us. If so, why haven’t I been vaporized? Besides, why would He want to have any part of me?”

“Yes, I know you can say the righteousness of Jesus is protecting me from destruction; and you can say He’s interested in me because I’m His creation, and also one of the creatures He paid so much to redeem. But still … the thought that He is there with all His power is blasphemous. Then to say that He identifies with me, and wants me to identify with Him, is absolutely inconceivable!”

Yet, this is exactly what He says of us, and of Himself. Ps 82:6, “You are gods, you are children of the Most High.” Jn 17:26, “Father, may they be one with us as we are one with each other.” Jesus not only says we’re His children, and are gods, He also says He wants to have a unified identity with us.

So, what makes us resist the idea so strongly? You might say, it’s the desire to be humble. “God likes for us to not be too proud; right? That’s a sin.” Or you might say, “to exalt yourself to be near God is rebellion; that what Lucifer did which caused his fall. Anything like that must be avoided at all costs.”

Well, I have a different explanation. I submit that the thing which causes us to reject the idea, despite God’s word on it, is what’s called the ‘Spirit of Anti-Christ’. Yes, the Spirit of Anti-Christ! The spirit which says, “Christ in His full power isn’t here in my flesh!”

I realize that up until now you’ve only ever heard a different interpretation of what the antichrist is. But I’d like to suggest that the explanation you’ve heard is only one possible interpretation. It’s entirely conceivable that a different interpretation can be just as valid.

The traditional view is that the Bible verses are referring to a religious organization, and the leader of that organization, and to what he and his followers will do in the last days. I suggest that those very same verses could also be understood to mean our individual rejection of the idea that God could live in us in His full power.

There are only four verses which mention the antichrist; and all are by the Apostle John.

1Jn 2:18 (NIV), “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”

1Jn 2:22 (NIV), “Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist — denying the Father and the Son.”

1Jn 4:3 (NIV), “… but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”

2Jn 1:7 (NIV), “I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

These are all talking about denying Jesus and His work. Let’s first examine the historical application. We as Christians believe that God the Son came to this world, took on human form, and completed a work of redemption on our behalf; so we could be restored to the position He created us for.

There is a spirit of denial among the enemies of God that says God did not live on Earth as a man. One form of this denial is that God did not truly take on human nature He remained divine. Another form is to say Jesus was a good man, even a prophet, but He wasn’t truly God. It’s the same denial, just coming at the question from different directions — That God did not come to live as a human.

The Apostle John spoke of this disbelief entering the churches of the first century. Disbelievers went around the churches spreading the two forms of denial I just mentioned. Unfortunately, they convinced many of the new Christians. But it’s also appropriate to apply John’s texts to our day because they make reference to ‘the last days’; and we believe that refers to our present times.

So, how might we apply the warning that there is coming to our churches today a spirit which denies that Jesus will come in the flesh? Could it be understood to mean that Jesus will again appear on Earth as an individual human? And there will be people going around denying that it’s really Jesus? Perhaps that’s a possible interpretation, but it’s not what I hold.

Then could it be referring to a denial that the Spirit of Jesus will come and live within the flesh of any who are willing to receive Him? And that there will be people who say it’s not possible for God the Son to come into our flesh?

Let’s read the verses again with this idea in mind, and see if it fits.

1Jn 2:18 (NIV), “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”

1Jn 2:22 (NIV), “Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist — denying the Father and the Son.”

1Jn 4:3 (NIV), “… but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”

2Jn 1:7 (NIV), “I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

The verses tell us that ‘the spirit of anti-Christ’ denies that Jesus comes in the flesh. Yes, they initially refer to Jesus’ embodiment on Earth 2000 years ago. But they also have a second application today, in preparation for His Second Coming. The second application is His manifestation within us, in power, by means of the BHS and then Baptism by Fire, in order to restore us to our rightful position.

In order to come into full unity with Christ we must consciously reject the Spirit of Anti-Christ. We must suppress every doubt which arises, every temptation to minimize what we’ve received. We must allow the Spirit of Christ within us to open our understanding of His nature in us.

To put it in terms of the great cosmic battle between Jesus and Satan — the Sprit of Anti-Christ is trying to take the place of the Spirit of Christ within our hearts and minds. Recognize what it is you’re facing, so that you may more effectively deal with it. The Spirit of AC is trying to displace the Spirit of Christ.

Ro 6:16. “To whomsoever you submit yourselves to obey, his servants you are.”

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CLOSE

Now we’ve seen the steps involved in our restoration to sons of God with full power. We’ve also made the decision that we’re willing to do whatever we must in cooperation with the Holy Spirit to complete our transformation. So it’s time to go back to step one and step two, and see where we still need work. Step One: Believe God about all He says He’s given us. Step Two: Come into clearer understanding of what ‘He in You’ means.

How quickly we progress through the stages is only limited by ourselves. How willingly do we accept the changes God requires? Or how stubbornly do we hold onto our own ideas? Our experiences with God are individualized according to the limits we impose on Him and ourselves. It’s up to us.

God tells me He has put Himself in me. (1Co 6:19). I must believe Him about this. Then, as I do so, as I begin working with the Spirit in me, and start accessing His power, I must watch out for the pitfalls of faith and the temptations of self interest that will come; and guard against them.

Sometimes we think, “God can do anything, but He won’t choose to do this.” Other times we think, “God could do this, but I can’t; and He’s not here, or He’s not listening to me.” We also may say, “I tried, but failed; so I can’t try again until I know what went wrong.” Reject all of these doubts.

Alternatively, once you receive the BHS and begin to see miracles happen at your command, there will arise the temptation to let your imagination run free with all the things you’d like to do. This isn’t good! Not everything you might think to do is actually God’s will; despite your strenuous efforts to portray them as such. (e.g.: “I’m sure it’s within God’s plan that I should become a millionaire.”) (Nice try!)

Trying to work contrary to God’s will usually fails. But if we’ve convinced ourself that it is God’s will, we then place the blame in the wrong place. So in addition to being wrong about what God wants, we’re wrong about why it failed.

Then as more and more attempts fail, we become discouraged or even disillusioned with God. Yet all along the fault has been in our expectations of how the power can be used. Empowerment demands strict attentiveness to God’s leading.

II.

God says He places His Spirit in us. Think about what this means; and don’t try to minimize it. God has placed a part of Himself in me! Furthermore, He knows what part of Himself that is; and He decided on it long before He did it. That’s what is meant by the verse in Je 1:5, “Before you were born, I knew you.” Part of Him is in me, and He still identifies with it. Now He wants me to get to know “Him in me” and to begin identifying with Him. I must come to believe : My spirit IS the Holy Spirit! Only as I understand this will I have access to power.

Belief in this concept as a theory is not enough. We must accept it as “Reality”. We must believe it despite any failures we may experience. These happen due to other factors unknown to us; not due to our fault. We must understand God better — What He is, What He does. We must understand ourselves better — My spirit IS the Holy Spirit. I’m a part of God, He’s a part of me. This is our greatest challenge: identifying with God!

Co 3:1-2 (NIV), “Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

This verse explains the steps in the process of our transformation into restored sons of God. At first our faith was produced in our minds through the claiming of Bible promises. Next our faith was born in our hearts through the manifestation of the Holy Spirit and Healing Power. Now our faith must be born in our spirit through identifying with the Spirit of Jesus.

These three stages are marked by three baptisms. First, we show we have accepted Jesus by baptism in water. Next, we show our acceptance of the Holy Spirit through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Finally, we show unity with the Father by receiving the Baptism of Fire.

Perhaps you’re one of the few who can say, “But I already believe this. That guy isn’t saying anything I haven’t heard before.” My response to that is, “Are you glowing with God’s presence in you?” If the answer to that is still ‘no’, then you’re not united with Him fully enough. When we know God as He means us to, we’ll shine with His presence within.

III.

The Spirit of Anti-Christ says Christ is not ‘actually’ in our bodies. But Jesus said of Himself that He sends His Spirit to be in us. Jesus is looking to manifest His presence on Earth again; this time in each of us individually. This Second Pentecost, this Latter Rain, this Baptism with Fire, is to prepare Earth for End Time Events. But the Enemy of Man is also sending out a spirit which makes people disbelieve in Jesus’ appearance.

Christ is here, in my flesh; and He will be in anyone willing to receive Him. But you must know that He is there: and even more, you must unite with Him and identify with Him. We must comply with Jesus’ prayer, “May they be one with us.” (Jn 17:21). Knowing the part of God that is in us, and uniting with it, is what gives us power.

At the beginning of this talk I mentioned that at the end I would tell you the secret to powerful prayers. We come to it at last. The Secret! It’s found in the writings of Apostle Paul; considered by many to be the smartest of the apostles. He is also the one who was taken to Heaven, at least in vision, and given knowledge of many of the secrets of God. Although much of what he learned he was forbidden to tell, he did share with us at least one thing. It’s found in Co 1:27; reading from the New Living Translation. “This is the secret: Christ lives in you!”

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Bible texts cited from:
King James Version (KJV), Cambridge University Press
New International Version (NIV), Biblica/Zondervan
New Living Translation (NLT), Tyndale House
Revised Standard Version (RSV), Natl. Council of Churches of Christ