Muzzle The Dog And Pluck The Chicken

Isaiah 8:19  And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? 

20  To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 

Let this admonish us to beware of people who preach their experience if their experience does not match up to the Word or the law and testimony as Isaiah puts it. Their prophecies should also be clear and 100% precise, not vague or fail. A true prophet is not in training. He is ordained by God and fully equipped with the message to be delivered.

1 Corinthians 14:23  If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

How much more so, if you are barking like dog, clucking like a chicken, hissing like a snake or appear to be having convulsions or a person in a chair being levitated and spun around? All of those actions have been said to be manifestations of the Spirit. That kind of stuff is confusion to me so how would an unbeliever see it? They would say you are mad or crazy and I would have to say Amen.

1 Corinthians 14:32  And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. 

33  For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Some folks might say they had no choice, but the Word says that the spirit of the prophets are subject to the prophets. Hence, if three prophets have spoken you cannot just jump up and start talking because Paul said three at the max. You cannot just jump up and speak in tongues in the middle of a message. I heard David Wilkerson tell a man in a kind way that he needed to stop when he did that.

Acts 4:31  And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

What is a proper example of what manifests with the Spirit moves a person? Look at Acts 2 when they hit the street preaching with boldness in the power of the Holy Ghost. Look at this verse. Other instances of the Spirit moving someone include Phillip being led to speak to the Ethiopian or Peter being told to go see Cornelius resulting in conversions. Other times being filled caused people to not being able to argue against the wisdom that was spoken and to note that ignorant men spoke with boldness because they had been with Jesus.

If you are Spirit-filled, but not evangelizing or speaking the Word boldly in some capacity then I would question how full you are. Are you treating the Holy Spirit like some sideshow act that puts on an exciting act at ten, two and four? Are you looking to Him to lead you into truth and holiness or looking for a tour of Heaven so you can kiss God’s face and maybe bring home an angel feather as a souvenir? Do you want gold dust or your face or oil dripping from your fingers instead of the oil of gladness in your heart that will draw people to you so you can give them a reason of the hope that lies within you? Are you only using the Holy Spirit to bless you or are you allowing Him to use you to bless others? Are you looking for some out of control experience looking like you are drunk or crazy or to be so in control by Him that you are more sober than you ever been so that you can walk circumspectly and redeem the time for the days are evil? We need fresh oil in our hearts, not dripping from our fingers. We need to be refined like gold to get the dross out of us, not gold dust dropping on us.

It may be exciting, but if the manifestation only entertains and not changes us making us useful to the world as a Kingdom Ambassador then it is not matching biblical manifestations of the Spirit and is vain folly we need to avoid. Maranatha!