| Referenced: Sensitivity To Angels | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 20 2006, 12:22 AM (316 Views) | |
| Stace4Jesus | Aug 20 2006, 12:22 AM Post #1 |
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Peter Tan http://www.eaglevision.com.my/aw2sensitivity.htm As we look at the ministry of angels, we want to point to two facts that we have to keep at the back of our mind so that we don’t go to extremes. On one extreme are those who don't believe in the work of angels and don't understand how to work with them and don’t realize that there is a way that we can co-operate with them. On the other extreme are those who are so susceptible that they would be immediately deceived if satan were to appear as an angel of light. Now not every being who comes in the light form is necessarily from God. Those who value angels above the importance of the word of God and their devotional prayer life may end up being deceived. There are two warnings in the bible that we need to take heed of. One of them is found in the book of Galatians in chapter one Paul says here about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Galatians 1: 8 but even if angels from heaven preach any other gospels to you than what we have preached to you let him be accursed. Number one bear in mind that angels do not contradict God's word. They cannot come and tell you something that is not in line with the word. And if any being or any appearances come that are not in line with the Word, then we ought to reject them. And in point one we realize that it must be in line with the word of God. All visions, prophecies, dreams, angelic appearances must be in line with the word of God. Secondly in Colossians 2: 18 Let no one defraud you of your reward taking delight in false humility and worship of angels intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind. Secondly we do not worship angels and we do not give them the glorification that is due to Jesus Christ and to God the Father. We just need to give the proper respect that we need to. We do not give them praise and worship at all. That is the other extreme that needs to be avoided. Bear in mind these two points as we look at the ministry of angels. Angels co-operate and work with us and are dependent on our confession and on our prayers. Our words and confession in our prayer are related to work of angels in our life. How important it is to guard our tongue. We are looking at the different aspect on responding to angelic work and ministration. And I want to quote again the testimony from Kenneth E. Hagin and his angelic visitation that he missed. Is it possible that God sent an angel and he missed it? The answer is yes. Some of us think that if God was to send an angel to send a word to us, that we will definitely receive it. No. We may miss it the same way we miss the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit can be speaking to us and we are not paying attention. We may miss it the same way we miss the word. Just as the word is talking to us but we don’t pay attention to the word of God. So likewise with the angels we can miss it too if we don’t learn how to open ourselves to it. We need to be opened but not deceived. We need to be opened but not be imbalanced. And so the Lord Jesus appeared to him together with the angel. And the Lord Jesus said these words to Kenneth E. Hagin. The Lord said to him, "I sent my angel to warn you again when you were out in California because I saw that you haven't listened to the leading of my Spirit and didn't respond to the warning. If you have received it you would have been spared all of this financial troubles. If you had responded to the Holy Spirit than you would have been able to see into the spirit realm by the discerning of spirit you would have seen the angel and he would have delivered his message to you." Then he had another encounter with an angel which he recorded in the same book. He says, "One night as we were all interceding in prayer. I was kneeling on the platform and suddenly Jesus appeared before me. Again an angel stood about three feet behind him. This angel was quite tall. He must have been seven feet tall or more. Jesus began to talk to me about my ministry. Just a short time before this my wife has written to me concerning my sister who was just been told by the doctor that she had cancer of the bladder. I have been praying for my sister interceding for her that night just before the Lord appeared. He said your sister will live and not die. There is no danger of immediate death. He said that she will live another five years and she did. When she died after five years exactly, she did not die from the condition at that time. Her death was caused by something else. After the Lord told me that my sister will live (now here is the word) then every time I look up at the angel, he looked at me as if he was going to say something. But then I would look back to Jesus and the angel wouldn't say anything. Finally I said to the Lord who is this angel and what does he represent. He has a message for you the Lord said." Now Jesus was appearing in a vision. Then he began to talk to the Lord. "But Lord you are here. Why can't you deliver the message?" After all I want it to be scriptural. The Holy Spirit is to be our guide. He is the one that is to give us guidance as well as the word of God. So I said you know that I am a real sticker for the word. Jesus said to him, "Didn't you ever read in the bible when an angel of the Lord came and awaken Peter when he was in jail and in answer to prayer led him out of jail? The angel of the Lord appeared to Philip and gave him direction after the great city wide meeting in Samaria telling him to go down by the way of Gaza. And there you will remember that the Ethiopian eunuch was converted to Christianity and carried the gospel back to Ethiopia. Don't you remember that the angel of the Lord appeared to Paul when he was on board the ship on his way to Rome to appeal his case before Caesar a storm had risen and all the merchandise had been thrown away in an attempt to save the vessel and the passengers. All hope that they should be saved was gone. Paul stood and said I exalt you to be of good cheer for there shall be no lost of any man life among you but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God saying fear not Paul thou must be brought before Caesar and God have give me all of them that sail with you. And the Lord said didn't the angel give Paul the direction. Didn't he have a message for Paul? The Lord reminded me of the time when Paul was praying in the temple of Jerusalem and fell into a trance and saw Jesus who told him make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem (Acts 22:18). Then after Paul was arrested before appealing his case to Caesar the Lord appeared to him one in Jerusalem and told him not to be afraid for he was to bear witness before the kings and authorities. So we see that although Jesus had appeared to Paul and had given him word of comfort and direction, the angel of the Lord also appeared to him and given him direction." By now Kenneth Hagin was very quiet. Seeing this Kenneth Hagin said to the Lord, "Now I understand. Then I look to the angel and said what is it that you have to say to me." And the angel said, "I am sent from God to tell you that the money will come by October and you will have four thousand dollars. So you can set up your own office. Other money will come and you will handle it all yourself. I do not want you to be controlled by someone else. I will speak to you and direct you in your ministry. You will be the head of it not someone else. Not only will you have this four thousand dollars in three months time. But other money will come also for my angels are at work now to cause the money to come." Kenneth Hagin looked up at the angel and said, "What do you mean your angels?" He said, "I am the head over a number of angels." The Lord had also pointed out the scripture, are they not ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation (Heb 1: 14). The Lord said you didn't loose your angel just because you grow up. So here is an interesting story about angels and what they do and how they work. Every single one of us was born with a guardian angel. They are not just fable or myth. We do have our guardian angel including those who are not born again. Every human being born into this planet earth was assigned a guardian angel. Those guardian angels in the bible were called ministering angels. They minister to us. On the top of that there are ministry angels; there are angels over churches, angels over nations etc. There are many divisions and orders of angels. When God calls you to ministry, He usually assigns a ministry angel to work with you. In the book of Revelation chapter two and three, when God delivered the message to apostle John to deliver to His body, He addressed His message to the angel of the church of Ephesus, to the angel of the church of Sardis and etc. It is always addressed to the angel. We have always interpreted it symbolically. We always say the angel could be the pastor of the church. The angel could have been any messenger. I personally believe, now it is scriptural, I personally believe that it is an actual angel who carries the message for the church. And when God has a message for that particular church in Ephesus, He works through the Holy Spirit. He will work through the people there. He also gives to the angel assigned there with some special message to deliver to the church. And there is an angel over every church in town. There is an angel that God assigns over every ministry. Those are reality. The question is how do we work with them? I want to point to the fact that angels speak in the first person. They speak just like a person is prophesying, "I the Lord your God..." That doesn't mean that the person had become God. It just means that the person has become the mouthpiece of God. Now angels speak in the same way. When Moses met God in the wilderness, he met an angel who had a message about God's name and who gave God's instruction. Moses worked with angels. Exodus 3: 2ff And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in the flame of fire in the midst of a bush. So he looked and behold the bush burning with fire but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight why this bush does not burn." So when the Lord saw that he turned aside the Lord called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses," and he said, "Here I am." Now suddenly it looks like God is speaking. It looks like God is in the bush. Let me tell you God was not in the bush. An angel representing God was in the bush. Now the bible has a way of recording things like that. It looks like God was saying it directly. God was saying it indirectly through the angel. And we know the amount of revelation given was tremendous. God revealed His name as I am the I Am. Cross reference to the book of Galatians 3: 19. There is a summary of the revelation that Moses received at the burning bush where he met an angel of God. It was on the Mount of Sinai that Moses began to meet God face to face. Galatians 3:19 What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions till the Seed to come to whom the promise was made. And it was appointed (notice this word) through angels by the hand of the mediator. Now the mediator was Moses. It summarized the work of Moses' primary interaction with angels. Now you see God didn't speak the messages Himself but assigned an angel to deliver them is such a way that it appeared that He Himself is speaking. That is the way the bible records things. For example Moses didn't actually talk directly Pharaoh. But you find that in the bible the arrangement was this between Moses and his brother Aaron. This was the arrangement in Exodus 4: 15, 16. Now you shall speak to him (that is Aaron) and put the words in his mouth and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and I will teach you what you shall do. So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you. And you shall be to him as God. So Aaron was a spokesman. Whatever Moses wants to say he just tells Aaron who would deliver the message for him. And while they were encountering Pharaoh Moses was just standing not saying anything. Aaron was the one who was saying everything. But you read in the encounter between Moses and Pharaoh it looks like Moses was the one doing the talking. Moses said etc. etc. there were many of such incidents. But it was more Aaron doing the talking. Turn to Exodus 6: 29-30 and 7: 1 The Lord spoke to Moses saying I am the Lord. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you. And Moses again said I speak with faltering lips how shall Pharaoh believe in me. So the Lord said to Moses see I have made you as God to Pharaoh and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I have commanded and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh that he set the children of Israel out of this land. Now in all the encounter it looks like Moses was talking directly to Pharaoh but it was not. It was through Aaron. Aaron was an invisible medium. This is the way God does it. When an angel comes, he speaks in the first person. It's like a prophecy. The prophet of God or someone functioning to give a prophecy don't say, "The Lord says..." Sometimes they do say that but sometimes they begin to speak in the first person, "I am the Lord your God..." Now they are not saying that they have become God. But they have become the mouthpieces of God. We need to bear that in mind as we function and work with angels that when they bear a message, they bring that message in the first person. Let me point to the relationship between an angel bearing a message and a prophet bearing a message. There are a lot of similarities that we need to take note of. Deuteronomy 18: 17 ff And the Lord said to me, "What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren and will put my words in his mouth." (Now this is a prophecy about Jesus Christ. You find it fulfilled in the book of Acts. And this same scripture is quoted in the book of Acts.) I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I have commanded him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear my words which he speaks in my name I will require it of him. But the prophet who speaks in my name in which I have not commanded him to speak or he speaks in the name of other gods that prophet shall die. Now in verse 18 it says that we have to hearken to the prophet as he speaks in the name of God and he speaks as a mouthpiece of God. The New Testament did say that when you receive a prophet as a prophet you receive a prophet's reward. When you reject a prophet as a prophet you receive God's judgment and punishment for rejecting the prophet of God. It's important for us to understand the consequences of rejecting a messenger from God. Jesus when he sent his disciples two by two to every city, He tells them that those who receive them receive Him. Those who reject them reject Him. "They don't reject you. They reject Me because you are now representing Me." So that is happening in the church age. Now that also applies to the angels that God sends to work in our midst. Look at the book of Exodus 23 There is also judgment for not paying attention to the message the angel brings. Most of the messages come from the Holy Spirit. But there are some messages that are reserved to be delivered by the angels to our lives. Exodus 23: 20 as He prepares them to cross the land of Canaan, He says, "Behold I sent an Angel before you, to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him (God was warning them. You must be very careful how you treat this angel) and obey His voice. Do not provoke Him for He will not pardon your transgressions, for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey his voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, an adversary to your adversaries. For my Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaaniters and the Hivites and the Jebusites and I will cut them off. Why should God warn them about the angel? He must have been a very special angel sent into their midst. There are different authorities that angels carry. There is a group that is ministering angels. We will look a little bit more at them later in this series. But we need to understand that there is one level of angels who are guardian angels and ministering angels who know our lives from babies. From the time we were babies they were with us and they will continue to be with us until we go back to be with God. But as we acquire different responsibilities and different work from God, different angels are assigned to work together with us. To be continued: |
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| Stace4Jesus | Aug 20 2006, 12:23 AM Post #2 |
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For example, let says this church. There is an angel assigned over this church. And I will have to be sensitive to the angel whom God sends in our midst to work in this church. There is an angel assigned to a ministry. If God calls you to a ministry, He will assign an angel to your ministry to help you, besides giving you the Holy Spirit. And you need to learn to work with your angel. If these things were automatic why should God tell them to beware of the angel and to hearken to his voice? Obviously there is a human responsibility in how we respond to them. And obviously if we don't respond to them as we saw some of the incidences here in Hagin's visions, if he didn't respond to them he would have missed the whole message and got into trouble. It is interesting that we need to respond when God wants to give a message through the angel. And that is the part and the reason for this series. Because as I have said God has an angelic visitation on ministries and our lives are being built around that besides the Holy Spirit work. One of the messages that God gave me to teach this series says that He had sent His angels (He didn't specify which part probably different category) to speak to some of us. And we are not responding to them nor are we yielding to the Holy Spirit or opening ourselves to them, we could be missing some of our greatest opportunities to receive some of God's best plans for our lives. And that is the reason why we teach this series in order to teach us how to respond and how to recognize the work of angels and the messages that they carry and what they are trying to do in our life. Now we know the word of God. We know the Holy Spirit but we know there is as part of our life that belongs to the angels who work with us and are working to establish us in different areas. We need to recognize that and open ourselves to that for them to have a freedom to work with us. And we will summarize that in a few points in how to respond to the work of the angels. Bear in mind that you cannot make them to appear to you or speak to you whenever you like. It has to be in God's perfect will. And they will not obey our whims and fancies. But when you are living in the perfect will of God, the Holy Spirit can come upon your life and you can begin to speak God's word with an anointing and it will cause an angelic initiation in your life. We want to talk about the fact that when God began to move by His angels in our life, or when an angel comes and brings a message for us to hearken, they are usually supplementing the work of the Holy Spirit. Angels never replace the work of the Holy Spirit. The prime work that God does in our lives is through the Holy Spirit. They supplement the work of the Holy Spirit. We need that as humans because we tend not to obey at the first prompting. It takes time to train us to obey His every prompting. And so He supplements it with the work of angels. And when the angels have a message for us, it is not necessary that you will see them. Some of us could be missing it if we are not trained in this area. And that is why we are teaching in this area. When there is an angelic visitation, how do we respond? Or when we sense that it was an angelic visitation, how do we respond? Remember the first two points that we raised earlier. It must be in line with the word and you don't worship angels. They have their place and you don't go to that extreme. So how do we respond? Acknowledge the Angel's Presence Number one to acknowledge their presence. When you reject their presence, they will not give you any other message. If you doubt their presence it also prevents them from giving you the message. A lot of people are doubters when it comes to the spiritual realm. It is every much like the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit gives you a gift and you doubt the gift, the gift becomes inoperational in your life. It doesn't matter what kind of gift. But if the Holy Spirit gives you something in your life and you start doubting it, it will grieve the Holy Spirit and it will cease working in your life in those areas. But if we recognize that those are gifts given by the Holy Spirit, you honor what the Holy Spirit gives you. And you put it in its proper place. Then the Holy Spirit will make use of it more frequently and teach you how to operate those gifts more accurately. The angels want you to recognize them. Number one, acknowledge your angel. But you may say, "How do I know if it is not the devil?" Basically you will know by the presence. If you can't tell by the presence then probably it is not time yet for a real visitation. Because if the devil comes there will be a sense of evil and a sense of fear and there is a lack of the presence of God. If the presence of fear is not there, and you felt the presence of God there, the love of God is there, the joy of God is there, the Holy Spirit within you confirms and you still say, "Who are you?" It will be no wonder that the angel doesn't want to work and doesn't want to give the message.It requires faith on your part for the angels to work. Once you work with them for a while, they know you are confident of their work and they know you recognize them. We need to number one acknowledge them, acknowledge who they are. What does that acknowledging the angels imply Exodus 3: 2 The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in the midst of the bush. So he looked and behold the bush burn with fire and the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said I will now turn aside and see this great sight why the bush does not burn. Now it includes turning away from natural things. He turned aside from what he was doing to see this bush burning. Acknowledging the angel's presence involves giving him your full attention. Turning aside from whatever that is taking your attention and giving it your full attention. There is a spiritual law called the law of focusing. Like when you look at something it becomes more detailed. It's just like you could be passing a lot of scenery and you are not really paying any attention. But then when you focus on this plant and you began to see its condition, you begin to pay attention. It is the principle of focusing. And when you don't put aside those things and focus on what God is bringing to your attention you may loose it. Sometimes it is just a telephone ringing. There is no message yet but the telephone is ringing. You got to pick it up. You got to pay attention and focus. Picking it up is like paying attention to those things. Sometimes in the spirit world you could be praying. And as you are praying your attention is drawn towards something. Your mind and your will have a free choice. You could choose not to be drawn towards that. The bush could be burning and you could choose not to be drawn towards that. You may loose it. He wants you to turn aside and focus you attention on that something He has drawn you to. There is something that catches our attention first and we need to focus on this thing. You acknowledge by turning aside and paying attention to whatever is catching your mind. And God gives you a free choice. You want to take this call. If you respond then He would respond. Now how did Moses respond? As he drew near to the burning bush, the Lord called out from the burning bush, "Moses, Moses." After that there are many responses possible. One of the possible responses is to run. To some of you as you walk by a tree and the tree call you, you may wonder, "Who was that?" You may respond differently. You could run away or you could find out what is that. Somehow Moses responded, "Here I am." He doesn't even know who is there. But whoever that was knew him. If you walk by a bush and the bush called you by name my advice is to go near and find out. Say, "Yes here I am." Because how many people know your personal name. Some may think it might be the devil hiding behind the bush trying to trap you. Why should the devil trap you? If you hear your name being called it is always that whoever call you by name knows you. If you are in a supermarket and some stranger calls you, you don't challenge them, you respond. Yet because they are invisible we don't respond the same way. If a human being call you by name you don't challenge them first, you respond first to find out. In the same you should give them the same respect when they call you by name. Don't be afraid if you go near and find it is a devil. Point your finger at him and say, In Jesus' Name, I command you, devil, come out and do not disturb people." But usually it is the manifestation of God in your life. And our response should be: "Here I am." The angel may not make himself visible to our eyes. All we may receive is an audible call. If anybody calls you by your name better acknowledge that and find out what is that. And Moses said in Exodus 3 The voice in the bush says Moses, Moses, he said here I am. Now he is waiting for Moses to respond. There is another case I the bible in the book of First Samuel. God calling Samuel and he didn't recognize that it was God and there was no continuation until he recognized. First Samuel 3: 4 Samuel was sleeping. In verse four the Lord called Samuel and Samuel thought it was Eli. And he went to Eli and said why do you call me. And Eli said I didn't call you, go back to sleep. Then verse six the Lord called again. And Samuel went to Eli and said you called me. He said I did not call my son lay down. Then the Lord called the third time. Again he went to Eli and said what do you want. And he didn't realize that the Lord was trying to call him. And the next time you must acknowledge the Lord. The next time when He calls you, you must say, "Speak, Lord for your servant is here. Here I am what do you wish to speak to me?" If you take the position of pride, the angels do not like that. They have their place. And some of us may say, "We are born again, the redeemed of the Lord." Look at it this way, even if you are born again redeemed of the Lord, anyone small or big, rich or poor who comes with a message from God, we would have to listen. Whether we are senior pastors, whether we have a title before our names, if anyone comes, even if a young boy prophesies, if it is the Lord, we got to recognize that is the Lord speaking. We don't approach the angel arrogantly and say, Yes what do you want to speak? Or what do you want to give?" We don't approach them that way. Now don't treat your angels that way. Too many of us have the teaching until it is so imbalanced, that we know our position in God so well and have been blessed with the Blood covenant in a different way from them that we put the angels so low, even though they have great authority and great might and power. But when they carry the message of God, they are coming in the place of God. If you reject them you reject God. If you despise them you despise God. You put them down on them you put God down. He is using the angels as His vessels. Don't treat them that way. Acknowledging them means to turn aside from everything else to give them undivided attention. We respond to angels with our lips and with our hearts and saying, "Here I am." Not in a questioning way but in receptive way which involves a submissive position. Do we have to take submissive position? Yes we do. Even among human beings, when people carry the word of the Lord we respect them. In the same way in Exodus 23 points to the angel warning again. Exodus 23: 21 Beware of him and obey his voice. do not provoke him for he will not pardon your transgression for my name is in him. He is talking about a very powerful angel. That is a warning about obeying the angel's voice and instructions. Now in what position did Joshua take when he saw his angel? In the book of Joshua 5: 13-15 And it came to pass, when Joshua was near Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and he looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries? So He said, "No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come. Immediately Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped. (Now although it said worshipped, he didn't worship the angel; he was worshiping God.) And said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?" Then the Commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, "Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so. Look he takes a submissive position. Although Joshua was now the head of his people replacing Moses, we need to have a healthy respect and healthy working relationship with the angel. Let them take their place when they are bringing forth the word from the Lord. You always take a position of submission. When William Branham worked with his angel, he took a position of submission. In the end there was co-operation. We can be friendly but we must know where each person's place is. Even David understood the place that the angels have in his life. In the book of First Chronicles 21: 15-16 And God send an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the Lord looked and relented of the disaster and said to the angel who was destroying, "It is enough; now restrain your hand." And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Then David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. David was a powerful military leader and king. When he saw the angel of the Lord he fell down on his face. Acknowledge means to turn aside, to respond and to submit to the message. And that is our relationship when angels carry a message of God. That is why I have to mention the first two points earlier. There is a relationship we have but we don't go to worship angels. And that explains why when God send some of His angels to give us a message we don't receive it. We doubt, we question, we are in unbelief. And the angels find it very hard to communicate to us. We need to have a vital living relationship with these spirit beings whom God has assigned to work together with us. Number one acknowledge, three sub-points there, turn aside, respond and submit. Yielding to the Holy Spirit The second is to yield to the Holy Spirit. The reason for this is angels and you are communicating through the person of the Holy Spirit. There is no contact possible in the spirit world without the Holy Spirit. So at the same time in our life we must be yielding to the Spirit and learn how to yield to the Spirit. There is a way we yield to the Spirit of God. Lets look at Ephesians 5 talking about the filling of the Spirit or the Spirit controlling our life. Ephesians 5: 18-19 Do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice how he confessed being filled with the Spirit as being drunk. There is a relationship there. See when someone is drunk, intoxicated by natural wine, they don't walk in a straight line. And people who are partially drunk tend to yield to a lot of their temptations because their resistance has been lowered down. Wine lowers a person's resistance. And we need to realize the effects of alcohol on people. Now I want to illustrate it in a specific way. When we yield to the Spirit of God, we allow Him to take control and help us to flow. Some who worship God allow their hands to flow in various ways. What are they doing? You are yielding to the Spirit as you sense it. And you learn how to yield to Him. You learn how to flow with Him. And sometimes in our life as we worship God there is a desire to do certain things. Sometimes when there is such a good joy and you really want to lift the joy and dance, why don't you? You didn't yield. You say if God want me to dance He will lift my feet. Really? If God wants you to speak in tongues, He will move your tongue then, which He doesn't. He will only intensify the desire and the longing to do it and the joy to do it. And the moment you yield it is easy. So that is the way that you yield to the Spirit of God. I don't mean that you make it up. It has to be real from inside. Yet at the same time it won't come out until we yield. It is the same with laughter. Sometimes people laugh because others laugh. Laughter is contagious. Sometimes it is from the inside wanting to come out, and then you try to prevent it. When you do you make more funny faces. It's better to let go and just enjoy it. The problem is when you let go you can become a bit drunk. Sometimes you when you pray when there is a heavy anointing of God, you could feel like your legs vibrating and your hands shaking. When there is a real heavy anointing of God sometimes you could feel those things coming up. Your voice goes up and down accordingly. And your feeling goes up and down accordingly. And your hands and body vibrate as you pray in the spirit. That is a part of yielding to the Spirit of God. So we learn how to yield to the Spirit of God. We learn how to give way. It's like a surrendered stage. It is not a passive state of mind. It is a very active state of mind when it is surrendered. If you don't pray in tongue long enough your mind takes over. If you pray in tongue in long hours you find your whole body began to respond. These are ways that you are filling yourself and yielding to the Spirit. Let Him flow through to do whatever He wants in your life. Paul says do not be drunk with wine, natural wine, but be drunk in the Holy Spirit. And a lot of us are not drunk enough in the Holy Spirit. We are too rational. We allow the Holy Spirit to control up to a certain point. Then my mind wants to be in absolute control. Our minds have never brought us closer to God before and it never will after. Our mind is only an instrument for us to submit to the Spirit for understanding to come. We have never come to know God because of our minds. We came to know God because of the experience of Jesus Christ in our life. And we will never go closer to God just through our minds. It will be through the Spirit filling us and renewing our mind. So be drunk with the Spirit. And it is those who are filled with the Spirit that respond to the spirit world easier when God manifest. Paul says be drunk with the Spirit. He says yield to the Spirit of God; allow Him to fill your life. The angels you acknowledge but you need to yield to the Spirit of God. Yielding has various qualities. Number one filling and drunkenness. A sense of surrender to him whatever subjective feelings those are. If you are one of those when you pray your mind think too much your mind is not submitted yet. You see your mind will hinder what the angel speaks if your mind is not submitted. When the angel has a message your mind is too questioning and critical. The angel knows it and he would not give that message. So that is why we need to be completely submerged in the Spirit and let our mind is submissive. When you pray in tongue, the first few minutes your mind may tell you a lot of things. You keep on praying until your mind is quiet. That is the state where the feeling or drunkenness in the Spirit is taking place. The second is the consciousness of the presence of God. As you meditate on the presence of God on your inside, the anointing in you responds. Let me point to Luke 24. See when the angel is speaking it is not just an external message. Your inward witness will confirm everything that God does. And we have to be sensitive to our inward witness in our life. Luke 24 The two disciples on the way to Emmaus. They were with Jesus all along the way. Although they didn't recognize Him because their eyes were closed to it, later they did recognize that it was Jesus and He vanished from their sight (verse thirty one). In Luke 24: 32 They said to one another, "Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" Did not our hearts burn within us? Now that ties you to First John 2: 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, that is true, and is not a lie, just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. So there is a consciousness of God that you yield to. And every time you yield to the presence of God on your inside and you meditate, it has an effect on your physical body and of your mind. In whatever way it flows in your life, just let it flow. For some of you your hands began to feel warm. And we Christians need to learn to yield to the presence of God from our inside. Some of you have sickness on your body that you have been praying for. And you have been trying to get healing. If you only realize that the key is not a struggle but rest in God and just allow the Spirit from your inside to reach out and touch you, you will get your healing. It is more a yielding than a grabbing. When you are yielding, you are not trying to see some angels. You are just yielding to your anointing within. And it takes you wherever it wants. There is a consciousness of the presence of God on your inside. Praise and Worship And thirdly, we offer the sacrifices of praise. We need to worship. In the Old Testament they had to give the sacrifices and that enhance the work of the angels in their lives. In the New Testament our sacrifices are the sacrifices of our lips and of our worship to God. So when the angel of God is visiting you and giving you a message, you need to be in an attitude of praise and worship to God. The consciousness of the presence of God is on your inside so that the gifts of the Spirit can work in your life. And one of the gifts is the discerning of the spirits. If God sees it fit He will let it operate through your life. Number one, acknowledge the angels presence. Number two, yield to the Holy Spirit. And there are three sub-points we talked about yielding to the Holy Spirit. And all those things will bring you to a readiness for the angels to work a message especially for your life. Like Mary she says be unto me according to your word. She took that submissive position. Look at Luke 1: 30-35 Do not be afraid Mary for you have found favour with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son which you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man? The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. To summarize the attitude of Mary, it was about the yielding to the Holy Spirit. If you struggle to get a message you don't get it. But if you rest in God and you worship God the message just sort of float to you. So that is the same position you must be in. Not a position of struggle but a position of rest. And you will very easily receive the message that the angel delivers. |
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3:41 AM Jul 11