The Refining Fire
We cannot survive as faithful Christians in the hours to come without the Fire of the Holy Ghost in our midst. The baptism in the Holy Ghost is so important that Jesus told his disciples, who were obviously Believers who were Born Again, to wait in the upper room until the Holy Ghost would come to bring the fire and the power of God!
Jesus knew that as we face the powers of hell in this life we would need the ever-present, indwelling power of the Holy Ghost. The church must be empowered, anointed and full of the Holy Ghost.
While a lot of Christians are satisfied with only doing the first works of repentance and initial salvation, and do not seek the baptism in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance, the time is upon us that there is a great spirit of deception that has been released in the earth and has invaded the church. And without the baptism, the fire, the anointing, and the Gifts of the Spirit in operation, many are being deceived. We need that gift of discerning of spirits in these days.
I’ve watched as many of the denominations that reject the baptism in the Holy Ghost and have kicked him out of their churches have fallen into the trap of deception laid by the devil. Not only the leadership, but the people in the pews no longer adhere to the Word of God, but they adhere to traditions of men and doctrines of devils.
In some so called churches, they’ve even allowed demons, who have the supernatural ability to change their appearance to appear as very persuasive, very charismatic, men and women who claim to be pastors, evangelists, teachers, prophets and preachers, to stand in their pulpits.
These demonic individuals have been empowered by Satan with the power to deceive many as they teach what may sound good, and pleasant to the ear, providing “some new thing” that tickles the mind but doesn’t line up with God’s Word. The power of deception allows them to change and distort the scriptures to support their false, ungodly doctrines; to even deny the virgin birth of Jesus, and to cause many in the church to stop believing in Jesus as the only way of salvation. By appealing to the unrighteous hearts of men they have cast out the presence of the Holy Ghost and created apostate churches.
The church has seen a great falling away in the past few years fulfilling the word of the Lord in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where Paul says, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition…
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Many churches have closed permanently, and many Christians who were once faithful to attend church, have left and refuse to come back because of either wearing a mask, or not wearing a mask, and they can’t agree with the word of God that is based upon the truth, but would rather believe the lies of deception.
Some will never came back because they have been deceived into believing that watching church on TV or the internet is good enough. They forget the word of the Lord that says we are not to forget to assemble ourselves together, and even more as the end approaches. We all need one another, and we need to experience the presence of the Holy Ghost in our midst.
The great deception is here and it’s only going to get far more deceptive than it is right now. The world was deceived as Covid 19 was released as a man-made virus with the capability of not only killing millions of people, but more importantly, hidden within its deception was a “spiritual attack” upon the nations, and upon the church as Satan attempted to silence the voice of preachers and prophets, and plunge many into a faith destroying fear.
Around the world churches closed for a time out of respect and love for our fellowman, trying to be responsible and to wait for a time of healing rather than be a place of spreading even more pain and suffering. Since this was an untraveled road for most pastors and Christians everywhere, we all had to seek the Lord to know what to do, and most of us chose to listen and help stop the spread.
But there came a time, early on, when those who love God and love his Word began to hear the Lord saying, “Don’t succumb to the fear! Be obedient servants and I will be with you! Open your eyes and see the battle that is raging in the spirit and engage in the battle through the Word of God.”
It’s time that God’s army starts marching through the land, preaching and teaching the truth, praying for and expecting revival! We are not called to sit behind closed doors forever. We are called to step out and live by faith!”
In Matthew 24:24, Jesus spoke these words concerning these last days and the time of the Tribulation under the Antichrist’s rule, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”
I’ve often wondered, “How can the very elect be deceived? How can we not see, discern or understand something that is easily seen as fulfillment of Jesus’ warnings and still be deceived into believing the lies?”
These past few years have shown me just how easy it can happen, even to those who Love Jesus, know his Word, and have the Holy Ghost! Just think of how easy the church was brought into the trap along with the rest of the world and then realize that this was only the precursor to what’s really coming.
The time will come where there will be even greater threats, greater and more dangerous times, and fear will be even more rampant than it is now! It can seem to be the right thing to do, and it will be so easy to just give in for a while, but through the power of the Holy Ghost, the truth will be revealed. And when you know the truth, that truth will set you free from the power of the deception.
We are going to have to be full of the Holy Ghost and in close touch with the heart of God through prayer, worship and faithfulness, knowing his voice and hearing no other! Without the enabling power of the Holy Ghost and the fire of God on the inside to burn away the lies and reveal the truth, we will be among those “very elect” who are deceived.
The church is Satan’s number one target because the church is the only power on earth that has the potential to stop his plans for conquest. But the church is nothing without the baptism in the Holy Ghost! We must have that purifying and refining Fire of the Spirit in us all of the time. The presence of the Holy Ghost gives the anointing that breaks the yoke! Only then will we have the power to “let, or not let” the devil have his way!
This present situation, where all of the freedoms of men are under attack, and the ability to preach the gospel is under siege and even being taken away, with preachers jailed and those who are fighting for freedom from oppressive liberal governments are jailed, is very reminiscent of Hitler’s Germany, and Stalin’s rise to power, and the rise of the Chinese communists.
What comes next can be seen in the holocaust of the murder of 6 million Jews, the death of 60 million under Josef Stalin and the mass murder of 80 million who opposed communism’s takeover in China.
And the worst is yet to come! The Book of Revelation tells us that the Antichrist will declare war on the saints during the Tribulation and there will an innumerable host who will stand upon the glassy sea before the Throne in Heaven who died at the hands of the Antichrist, having come through great tribulation.
Countless Christians will suffer and die during that time of genocide of all who oppose the Antichrist! How many millions can that be? Certainly it will mean all of the Jews and Christians who come to Christ after the rapture of the church! And the Bible says that unless those days should be shortened that no flesh would be saved.
I never thought I would live to see the day when America would be so close to joining the ranks of the totalitarian, socialist and communist governments, but here it is, right at our doorstep! America is being prepared, right along with the rest of the world, for the Rise of the Antichrist and the willful and even joyful acceptance of the Mark of the Beast that will come after the rapture of the church and the Antichrist is given free reign over the earth. All he has to do is promise to fulfill all of the needs and desires for a good life and the whole world will line up to get the “jab” or take the mark and then wear it like a badge of pride.
This present distress is a “wake up call” to the church that we must prepare for a spiritual warfare that has suddenly increased dramatically becoming more intense! This is a new day where normal will never be again, but the times are changing rapidly.
The whole earth is in labor pains, and there is perplexity among the nations, bringing the whole planet into alignment with the prophetic word as the World prepares to accept the Antichrist!
If the signs of the times are everywhere, and things are happening in such a rapid pace, how close can we be to the rapture of the church? As one preacher said, “I’m not looking for the Antichrist; I’m looking for Jesus Christ!”
But if we are really serious about being ready for the rapture then we must get serious about receiving, walking in and being filled with the Holy Ghost so that we may be prepared for what’s coming soon!
There’s no more time for being a lukewarm, half-hearted, pleasure-seeking Christian. We have to get our eyes off of being “better, more prosperous, happier and satisfied citizens of the earth” and focus on being “better, more obedient and purified citizens of heaven”.
Never forget that everything of this earth will be consumed by the purifying Fire of God in the end. Nothing that so many focus their whole lives on having and doing will survive the flames. It will all be lost! The only thing that will count in the end is that which we have committed to Christ and the treasures that we have stored up in heaven! Your very thoughts, intents, works and dreams will all face the purifying fire and only that which has eternal value in the kingdom of God will survive to gain you a reward in eternity!
While we are preparing for the coming of the Lord to catch his Bride away, we must also be ready to release the power of faith and the let the Fire of the Holy Ghost flow through us like that River of Living Water that we spoke about last week.
It’s time for the River to Flow! It’s time for the Fire to Burn! It’s time for the tongues of the Holy Ghost to come forth out of the mouth, the heart, the Spirit of every Christian because Christ is empowering his church to conquer the works of the devil, to lead many souls to Christ and to be the fore-runners of the Second Coming!
The tongues may speak into the hearts of men where we cannot. The Holy Ghost can make each man hear what he is saying while to us it may have an “uncertain” sound, yet we know it’s of God. Just as John the Baptist was the forerunner to Christ over 2000 years ago, so now is the Holy Ghost Filled Church called to be the forerunner of Christ again!
The Fire of God must flow in us, causing us to bring the Light of the gospel, and the Light of Christ to the darkness around us! The Fire of God in us, by the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost burning and shining forth will draw lost souls to Jesus like a bug to a light in the darkness of night!
They will be transformed, saved, purified and Born Again into a new creation in Christ through the purifying Fire of the Spirit. They come to Christ seeking and they’ll leave rejoicing, free from sin and death. And they’ll go out as flames of fire, set on fire by the Holy Ghost, and they will begin to draw others in too.
Lord, I pray that the Purifying Fire of the Holy Ghost does its work in me! Let that purifying Fire sweep through Victory Temple, touching and cleansing everything and everyone here! Let the Fire flow freely in us!
Now don’t be filled with fear when the purifying comes!
It doesn’t always feel so good while it’s burning, but it surely is wonderful when it’s work is done.
The purifying means that heat is applied, that pressure is coming, that impurities are going to rise to the surface that must be skimmed off, that you must be poured out like molten gold into the image that God has already designed for you to become. You must be set aside to be a vessel that is ready for use in the Lords House, to do a work for him!
The Fire of the Holy Ghost will shine the Light of Truth upon everything in your life! Perhaps it will bring the revelation and conviction for secret sin. Maybe the Fire of the Holy Ghost will call for casting off some of the things of the world that you are holding on to so tightly. The Fire will lead us into making a greater dedication and a greater commitment to the work that is set before us. The purifying fire may force you to make greater steps of faith, to step out and obey God in ways that you’ve never done before!
The Refining Fire of the Holy Ghost will bring the testing of your faith according to 1 Peter 1:17, That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
The removing of our impurities by Holy Ghost Fire is to bring us to a place that we reflect Christ in our life. That when people look at our lives, our actions, our words, they don’t see us, but they see Him! We want to be Jesus to the world! For that to happen we need to be like gold refined by fire, and in order to be refined we need the fire of the Holy Ghost in us.
The time is come that we all need to seek for the infilling baptism in the Holy Ghost and fire! We can’t just be satisfied with playing Christian. We can’t be satisfied with human effort alone – we need Jesus and the power of the Holy Ghost in us, empowering us to do a work for God!
The Spirit of Revival is in our midst. Have you noticed that God is bringing new faces into our midst? It may only be a few right now, but the flood gates are about to open and people are going to come seeking for answers, and we will give them Jesus! There are great revivals breaking forth in California, and there are 500 church leaders getting ready for a Holy Ghost breakout in New York with miracles and the preaching of the gospel to many thousands.
We need to be full of the Holy Ghost in order to teach them, lead them and disciple them. We don’t need man’s programs, our methods of entertaining, or our ideas on how to build a church. We need the anointing, purifying fire of the Holy Ghost! God will build his church; and he wants to use us as builders working with him.
In the Book of Malachi the Word of the Lord proclaims that there is coming a messenger from God to prepare Israel for the coming of Jesus as their Messiah. As I read this I am convinced that this same message is being sent to the church so that we can prepare the way in the hearts of men for the Rapture and the Second Coming through the Fire of the Holy Ghost!
Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
Malachi 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
The sons of Levi, the tribe from which come the priesthood that served in the temple, represent the church in our day, for we are all called to be priests.
1 Peter 2:9 says, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”
The Fire of the Holy Ghost comes to us a refiner and purifier, purging us and making us pure as gold and silver so that we may offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God as we lead many to Christ.
Get ready to be peculiar, different, even laughed at for being a purified child of God! Get ready to step out and witness like you’ve never done before! Get ready to be a priest of the royal family of God and tell others about Jesus! Let the Fire burn in you!
I have only one more passage of scripture to read. It’s found in Acts chapter 19.
Acts 19:1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,
Acts 19:2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
Acts 19:3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.
Acts 19:4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
Acts 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
This is where many in the church are right now. They are Believers! They are trying to be obedient to the word of God that they know. They have repented of sin and been Born Again.
But just as it was that day in Ephesus, they hadn’t gone far enough. There was much more of God to experience. Unlike those disciples, most of us have heard of the Holy Ghost, but never really understood it or sought after it.
Let me tell you that Believing on Jesus is wonderful. Being Born Again is beyond great! But why stop there? Why not go all the way? Why not receive the Baptism in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues?
That’s where the purifying process continues! That’s where the power and anointing comes! And its free to any who want it!
If you have never received the baptism in the Holy Ghost and Fire; or if you’ve not felt that Fire in a long time and you need a refreshing, I invite you to the altar right now!
The Holy Ghost is here RIGHT NOW and the Purifying Fire is going to fall! Do you want it? Now is the time to come. We will lay hands on you, just like Paul did, and I know that the rest will happen too!
The days of tarrying are over. In these last days, God is bringing forth revivals, miracles, signs and wonders quickly for the time of his coming is nearer, even at the door, and what God is doing is a “Quick Work”, full of the Life and the Fire.
We are all here in one mind and one accord. And the wind of the Spirit, the Ruach Hakodesh, is blowing and filling the room right now. And THE Tongues of FIRE OF THE HOLY GHOST WILL Flash through this room and rest upon the heads of all who want him. AND THAT HOLY FIRE WILL BEGIN TO PURIFY US AND PREPARE US FOR WHATEVER MAY COME!
