Reference: Ephesians 3:1-7
We are told by the apostle Paul that inthe last days perilous times would come when men will have a form of godlinessbut deny the power of God no matter how much they confess to be of God andclaiming to teach and preach his word.
We are also told by the apostle Peter inhis second epistle (II Peter 2:1) that as there were false prophets among the people inNoah's day there would also be false teachers in our day who would bring inwhat he called damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that brought them. Haveyou ever considered just how these people would actually deny the Lord whenthey yet seem to be teachers of the word of God?
Although there are thousands of preachersand teachers in the land today confessing to be of God and proclaiming whatthey believe to be the word of God of the gospel, they are yet very much guiltyof denying the Lord just like the apostle Peter and Paul said that they would.Now you may wonder how they will deny the Lord and yet seem to teach and preachthe gospel. These false confessing preachers will deny the Lord by theirfailure to realize what the power of God is and how this power is whattransforms the believer into the kingdom of God making them an entirely newcreation in Christ Jesus.
Although the many preachers in the worldtoday will seem to stress a lot of emphesis on the power of the gospel, theyare ignorant of the fact that it's the very gospel that is to be preached thatwill be the power of God to transform the life of the believer and not justsaying that they possess the Holy Spirit in their heart and lives.
The average preacher today has been led tothink and believe that possessing the Holy Spirit is what makes them a child ofGod and possessing a power to manifest the spiritual gifts mentioned in God'sword of the Bible. What the religious leaders in the world today are actuallydoing is by-passing the gospel and placing all emphesis on the reception of theHoly Spirit and not realizing that the receiving of the Holy Spirit is only thebeginning of God's redeeming plan of salvation for mankind.
The receiving the Holy Ghost does not makea person a new creation in Christ or a born again child of God like it'scommonly believed by most religious groups today. The power of God is the"preached gospel" and not just the Holy Ghost in itself. Mantoday is being deceived in a way where the very gospel of Christ is beingdenied, but of course the average person can't see this fact simply becauseSatan has blinded the minds of most people today. Paul said if this gospel behid it is hid from them that are lost. Satan has blinded man from the truth ofthe gospel. The truth of the gospel in which man is being blinded from is thefact that it's the power of the preached word of God that will transforma believer into Christ's image making them a new creature and not justpossessing the Spirit of God in their heart. If a person truly possesses theHoly Spirit in their heart then I am quite sure that he will absolutely leadthat individual into the truth just like Jesus said he would do in John 16:13.
There are some preachers today saying thatit's possible for a person to possess the Holy Spirit in their life by hismanifesting himself in great miraculous works and yet at the same time they maybe ignorant of the Christ life. To believe this would actually be denying thevery work of the Holy Spirit as the word of God reveals it.
The word of God says that the Holy Ghostwill lead and guide us into all truth, but if a person is void of truth thenit's an evident fact that the Holy Spirit is not in that person. If the HolySpirit is in a person then he absolutely will lead them into truth or else theBible would be in error on this subject.
Believing that the Holy Spirit can bemanifested through a person in great signs and wonders and at the same time theperson can be ignorant of the Christ life is in reality denying the power ofGod as Paul said in his epistle of secondTimothy the third chapter. The reason whythese preachers will say and teach this is simply because they have beendeceived by Satan thinking that the Holy Ghost is received in the same manneras on the day of Pentecost.
Of course there are just as many (if notmore) preachers being deceived who are not Pentecostal in doctrine. ThePentecostal believers of today are being deceived by their thinking that theHoly Ghost is received as in accord with Acts2:4 with the speaking in othertongues as the initial evidence. The early disciples did of course receive theinfilling of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and they did speak inother tongues, but the truth of the tongues is not being accepted in the Pentecostalmovements as the word of God reveals it. The point where they are beingdeceived is the fact that the preaching of the word is the power of God untoour salvation and not the receiving of the Holy Ghost.
The non-Pentecostals are being deceived atthis very point also. The early apostle were used of God to preach and revealthe whole counsel of God, and it is this counsel of God (called the gospel ofChrist) that makes us partakers of the very same Spirit and the very samepromises of God as were the children of Israel. We become partakers of thepromises of Christ by the gospel, but it seems that very few canunderstand what this actually means.
What this actually means is that we becomea partaker of Christ through the preached word and not in the same manner asthe early apostles were. By this I mean that God does not give the gift of theHoly Ghost as being manifested in the same manner as on the day of Pentecost,but yet it's the very same Spirit that we become partakers of as did the apostles.
Most people today (and especially thePentecostal movements) are actually in their deceived state thinking they arereceiving the Holy Ghost like the apostles did in Bible days of the book ofActs just as if we have no Bible in existence. The early apostles did receivethe Holy Ghost and manifested the works recorded in Acts, but what people arebeing deceived from today and in times past is the fact that we becomepartakers of the body of Christ through and by faith in the gospel, which is God'spower to do this very thing.
The truth of the matter in a nutshell issaying we, by faith in what God's word says and reveals, become children of Godin a progressive manner as we walk in the light of truth revealed to us by theHoly Spirit. It's all a work of faith of which the Holy Spirit is the authorof....