In Power and In the Holy Ghost

1Thessalonians 1:5-6

For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

The power of God comes into our lives through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and is conveyed by the Holy Spirit. It is sound doctrine, but it is also far more: it is the Word of God that releases both the authority and explosive power of the Creator into our world to shape our circumstances. When affliction rises up and we walk in the power of God, the joy of the Lord will overtake us and we can rejoice in the middle of tribulation as the Kingdom of God manifests through us. Thanks be to God, Who fills us with His power, and equips us to walk as witnesses to the risen Christ! As it is written,

Acts 1:8

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

See also It Shall Stand Forever; The Mystery of the Gospel; Spirit, Soul, and Body

Related Scriptures: John 14:12-31; Hebrews 6:1-20; Luke 24:44-53; Acts 1:1-12; Romans 14:1-23; 1Corinthians 15:34-58

Philip Opened His Mouth

Acts 8:32-33

The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

The Lord opened not His mouth in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, and the inward witness of the Holy Spirit would move upon the hearts of men after His resurrection.

Acts 8:34

And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

The prophets foretold of the redemption of mankind by the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, who remained dumb before His shearer. The gift of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit is the bold witness that caused Philip to become the mouth of the Lord.

Acts 8:35

Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

Jesus Christ will not keep silence much longer. As it is written,

Revelation 19:15-16

And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

See also The Two Anointed Ones; From the Four Winds; God Poured Out

Related Scriptures: Acts 8:1-40; Hebrews 9:1-28; Revelation 19:5-16

The Assyrian in My Land

Isaiah 14:25

That I will break the Assyrian in My land, and upon My mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.

The yoke of the Assyrian will be broken by the LORD of hosts, as surely as the evening and the morning fulfill the day. He shall be tread under foot by the Holy One of Israel upon the mountains of Jerusalem. Even now their forces are converging on those mountains ready for the first stage of fulfillment: the Psalm 83 war. The burden of the Assyrian will depart from the shoulders of Judah, and then shall they dwell safely (yashab betach). Witness the pre dawn light of the risen Sun of Righteousness, the King of Glory! Awake, O Jerusalem, for the arm of the Lord shall put on strength. As it is written,

Isaiah 51:9

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

See also Beyond Jordan; Inherit the Holy Mountain; Prayer for Israel: Time of Trouble

Related Scriptures: Isaiah 14:1-32; Isaiah 51:1-23; Psalm 83:1-18

Clouds and Thick Darkness

Deuteronomy 4:11

And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

When the LORD first spoke to Israel from Mount Sinai to deliver the Ten Commandments, He spoke from the midst of clouds and thick darkness. The people trembled at the sight and sound of His splendor, and intreated Moses to speak with Him on their behalf. They could not bear His direct witness. Moses warned them multiple times not to go after foreign gods, according to the Word of the LORD.

Joel 2:2

A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains:...

Soon He will set foot upon a different mount: the Mount of Olives. Those whose hearts have not received the indwelling Holy Spirit will be encompassed by the clouds and thick darkness of judgment for their failure to heed this simple instruction: Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Worship the One True Living God! As it is written,

John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

See also The Lord and Harpazo; Eye To Eye; The Holy Spirit

Related Scriptures: Exodus 19:1-25; Exodus 34:1-35; Hebrews 12:1-29; 2Corinthians 3:1-6; John 14:1-31; Deuteronomy 4:1-20; Joel 2:1-32

Latter and Former Rain

Hosea 6:3

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

During the millennium and beyond we shall know, as we follow on to know Him, for He Who is perfect will be revealed and we shall be changed to perfection. He is the Sun of Righteousness, whose way is prepared as the glorious sunrise. The former and latter rain will usher in the coming of the King of kings and Lord of lords. The Holy Spirit is about to be poured out on all flesh, as a glorious witness of the Prince of Peace for eternity.

See also Beyond Jordan; The Stone Which the Builders Rejected; Jericho Mindset

Related Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 13:9-13; Isaiah 9:1-7; Joel 2:21-32; Malachi 4:1-6

Discern Both Good and Evil

Hebrews 5:14

But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

In the midst of gross darkness, there is Light from the Lord Jesus. He is the Light of the world in the believer, yet in order to perceive light we must fully receive His Word and bear witness to the Light within us. Maturity in Christ begins by exercising the senses of discernment, and continues as one is increasingly able to perceive the fullness of the Light of Jesus Christ within.

See also The Candle of the LORD; Have the Light of Life; What Is the Chaff to the Wheat?

Related Scriptures: Isaiah 60:1-5; John 1:1-18; 1John 2:1-11; Malachi 3:1-18

The Two Anointed Ones

Zechariah 4:14

Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

Two men are currently reserved, before the presence of God Almighty, as witnesses to Jerusalem, Israel, and the whole world during the tribulation. They have spent many centuries in the most excellent glory, held in readiness for their three and one half year testimony to the blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor and power and might of God. One of them is clearly identified as Elijah, and the other I believe to be Enoch. The earth is groaning in anticipation of the spiritual outpouring that is about to occur, in preparation for the return of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

See also The Assyrian In My Land; All Shall Know Him; God Poured Out

Related Scriptures: Revelation 11:3-4; Revelation 7:9-17; Malachi 4:1-6 Romans 8:16-23; Acts 2:14-32; Revelation 19:11-16

Latter and Former Rain

Hosea 6:3

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

During the millennium and beyond we shall know, as we follow on to know Him, for He Who is perfect will be revealed and we shall be changed to perfection. He is the Sun of Righteousness, whose way is prepared as the glorious sunrise. The former and latter rain will usher in the coming of the King of kings and Lord of lords. The Holy Spirit is about to be poured out on all flesh, as a glorious witness of the Prince of Peace for eternity.

See also Beyond Jordan; The Stone Which the Builders Rejected; Jericho Mindset

Related Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 13:9-13; Isaiah 9:1-7; Joel 2:21-32; Malachi 4:1-6

Latter and Former Rain

Hosea 6:3

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

During the millennium and beyond we shall know, as we follow on to know Him, for He Who is perfect will be revealed and we shall be changed to perfection. He is the Sun of Righteousness, whose way is prepared as the glorious sunrise. The former and latter rain will usher in the coming of the King of kings and Lord of lords. The Holy Spirit is about to be poured out on all flesh, as a glorious witness of the Prince of Peace for eternity.

See also Beyond Jordan; The Stone Which the Builders Rejected; Jericho Mindset

Related Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 13:9-13; Isaiah 9:1-7; Joel 2:21-32; Malachi 4:1-6

The Assyrian in My Land

Isaiah 14:25

That I will break the Assyrian in My land, and upon My mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.

The yoke of the Assyrian will be broken by the LORD of hosts, as surely as the evening and the morning fulfill the day. He shall be tread under foot by the Holy One of Israel upon the mountains of Jerusalem. Even now their forces are converging on those mountains ready for the first stage of fulfillment: the Psalm 83 war. The burden of the Assyrian will depart from the shoulders of Judah, and then shall they dwell safely (yashab betach). Witness the pre dawn light of the risen Sun of Righteousness, the King of Glory! Awake, O Jerusalem, for the arm of the Lord shall put on strength. As it is written,

Isaiah 51:9

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

See also Beyond Jordan; Inherit the Holy Mountain; Prayer for Israel: Time of Trouble

Related Scriptures: Isaiah 14:1-32; Isaiah 51:1-23; Psalm 83:1-18

Philip Opened His Mouth

Acts 8:32-33

The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

The Lord opened not His mouth in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, and the inward witness of the Holy Spirit would move upon the hearts of men after His resurrection.

Acts 8:34

And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

The prophets foretold of the redemption of mankind by the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, who remained dumb before His shearer. The gift of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit is the bold witness that caused Philip to become the mouth of the Lord.

Acts 8:35

Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

Jesus Christ will not keep silence much longer. As it is written,

Revelation 19:15-16

And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

See also The Two Anointed Ones; From the Four Winds; Miry Clay

Related Scriptures: Acts 8:1-40; Hebrews 9:1-28; Revelation 19:5-16

Clouds and Thick Darkness

Deuteronomy 4:11

And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

When the LORD first spoke to Israel from Mount Sinai to deliver the Ten Commandments, He spoke from the midst of clouds and thick darkness. The people trembled at the sight and sound of His splendor, and intreated Moses to speak with Him on their behalf. They could not bear His direct witness. Moses warned them multiple times not to go after foreign gods, according to the Word of the LORD.

Joel 2:2

A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains:...

Soon He will set foot upon a different mount: the Mount of Olives. Those whose hearts have not received the indwelling Holy Spirit will be encompassed by the clouds and thick darkness of judgment for their failure to heed this simple instruction: Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Worship the One True Living God! As it is written,

John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

See also The Lord and Harpazo; Eye To Eye; The Holy Spirit

Related Scriptures: Exodus 19:1-25; Exodus 34:1-35; Hebrews 12:1-29; 2Corinthians 3:1-6; John 14:1-31; Deuteronomy 4:1-20; Joel 2:1-32

From the Four Winds

Matthew 24:31

And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

   When the Lord descends from His throne to gather His elect, He will come with a shout; with the voice of the archangel; and with the trump of God. The sound of the trumpet will direct His holy angels to execute the rapture: in a glorious victorious lightning flash iota of time. He will gather believers from the four winds: the four corners of the earth. He will gather the dead and the living elect from the four winds: the four great kingdoms of the fallen world system. He shall gather all saints prior to the tribulation from the four winds: the four dark spiritual principalities that will rise up from the river Euphrates. He will gather His witnesses from the four winds: from the four corners of mankind where He scattered them like seed in the soil of mankind, sown to cause the wheat of His harvest to spring up in His time. First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. Be sober. Be vigilant. Be diligent. The time of the full corn in the ear is upon us, from the four winds; we know not how.

Study verses (four winds): Daniel 7:2; Daniel 8:8; Zechariah 2:6; Mark 13:27; Jeremiah 49:36; Revelation 7:1; Ezekiel 37:9; Daniel 11:4

Relevant Scriptural concepts: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58; Revelation 9:13-21; John 12:23-26; Mark 4:26-29