By: Gen. Jim – 4/12/25
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit WHEN you believed?” – Acts 19:2, NKJV/NIV/RSV
“Have ye received the Holy Ghost SINCE ye believed?” – Acts 19:2, KJV
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit WHEN you believed [in Jesus as the Christ]?” – Acts 19:2, Living Bible/Amp. Bible
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit WHEN you became believers?” – Acts 19:2, American Trans./New Oxford Annotated Bible
These are just a few Bibles where the question is asked about receiving the Holy Spirit (H.S.) or Holy Ghost. The two words WHEN & SINCE needs attention.
The debate about receiving the H.S. is ongoing: do we receive Him at salvation automatically or, in some cases, after salvation? The debate about the H.S. & the baptism “in” or “of” the H.S. is ongoing.
Following this question, “Did you receive the H.S. WHEN or SINCE you believed?” is answered with, “NO, we have not even heard that there is a H.S.” Some of the believers at Ephesus had been “saved” but had not “received” the H.S. – They had become discipled under John’s ministry, vs.3. The issue is about “baptism”: “Paul said, ‘John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance…’” vs.4. These believers were saved under John’s ministry of repentance, but they had not heard of the baptism of or in the H.S. Vs.5 states that on hearing this, “they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the H.S. came on them, & they spoke in Tongues & prophesied.”, vss.5 & 6.
Some believe that “tongues” were mere human languages, not supernatural. (see my articles at aggressivechristianity.net under “Baptism in the Spirit/Speaking in Tongues (pg.1) where all this is examined). When my wife & I got saved (1971), we also were “baptized” in the H.S. & received the “gift of tongues” (see 1 Cor. 12:10; see also Acts 8:15,16).
[note: The delay of the H.S. is surprising considering that the more common pattern in Acts is an immediate receiving of the Spirit upon belief (see 2:38; 10:44, etc.).
Tongues accompanies the bestowal of the Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:4,11) & at the home of Cornelius (10:46), but not in every case of conversion in Acts (8:17).
Holy Spirit/Baptism
Do all believers (those who have repented of their sins & received forgiveness) receive the Holy Spirit at salvation? This, like I said, is debated. I believe that each repentant sinner receives the Holy Spirit at salvation. Paul wrote: “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man (i.e., man’s spirit), that Christ may dwell in your hearts (spirits) through faith…” – Eph. 3:16,17.
[note: Paul writes: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is IN YOU…” – 2 Cor. 13:5: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; & My Father will love him, & We will come to him & make Our home (abode) with him.” Jn. 14:23.
Read all of Chapter 14 where the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit are mentioned – all 3 will make their abode in the born-again believer.]
Holy Spirit
I have studies on the H.S. (posted), i.e. the work/operation & the Divinity etc. (see Jn. 16:7,8,13. Early Church fathers such as Hermas (A.D. 150), Irenaeus (A.D. 180), Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195), Tertullian (A.D. 197), Origen (A.D. 225), Novation (A.D. 235), Treatise on Re-Baptism (A.D. 257), Victorinus (A.D. 280) wrote about the Holy Spirit’s work & operation.
Athenagoras (A.D. 175), Irenaeus (A.D. 180), Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195), Tertullian (A.D. 210), Origen (A.D. 225), Novatian (A.D. 235) wrote about the Divinity of the H.S.
Baptism with the Holy Spirit
John says in Mt. 3:11, “He who is coming after me is mightier than I… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit & fire.”
Jesus says in Jn. 3:5, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water & the (Holy) Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.”
Do we believe this? Apparently, many do not, for multitudes are mere “Church goers”, never having been saved or baptized with the Holy Spirit. I’ve talked to ministers who have never repented!
Acts 1:4 & 5 states: “… wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which’, He said, ‘you have heard from Me; ‘for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’” Then in vs.8 Jesus says, “But you shall receive Power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” Then the day came – the Day of Pentecost – when the H.S. came “as a rushing Mighty Wind (2:2, Acts). It says divided tongues of fire came and sat upon each of them, & they were all FILLED with the H.S. & began to speak in tongues (vs.4). Did you know that there have been “Christians” & are now that say tongues are of the devil? Well, for sure, there are devilish tongues, as there are unsaved “believers”, but we should never believe tongues have passed away (see my article on this).
The treatise on Re-Baptism (A.D. 257) comments on Acts 1:4,5 / Mt. 3:11: “So John (ref. to Mt. 3:11) made a distinction. For he said that indeed baptized in (or with) water, but that one would come who would baptize in (or with) the Holy Spirit, by the grace & power of God. And they are so baptized by the Spirit’s bestowal & operation… The Lord said in the Gospel: ‘Unless a man is born of water & of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of heaven.’ From this, it is clear that the baptism that alone is profitable is the one where the Holy Spirit can dwell.”
Fire!
Luke also mentions the baptism with the H.S. & FIRE (3:16). The treatise on Re-Baptism comments on 3:16: “John said that we must be baptized in (or with) the H.S. & in fire. Because he said ‘& fire’, … very crafty men seek a way to thereby corrupt & violate… the baptism of holiness… This was similar to the fire that burned in the bush…” (A.D. 257).
The word “fire” in which Jesus used so often (in ref. to Hell Fire in the Gospels), in the Gk. it is “pur” (πῦρ), a prim. word, lit. or fig. (also “pura” (πυρα). “Pur” is used in Lk. 3:16 et al.
Spirit
(ref. to Jn. 3:5,6,8 et al.) The Gk. word for “spirit” is “pneuma” = breath; by anal. or fig., can be a human spirit or the H. Spirit, (see Gk. pneumatikos / see charisma).
Acts describes the coming of the H.S. In 8:15,16 we find John & Peter (vs.14) being sent to Samaria, “who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He dad fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in (water) in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, & they received the Holy Spirit.” (vss.15-17). These were saved souls at Samaria but were not yet baptized with the H.S. So, salvation & receiving the H.S. are 2 distinct experiences. Some are baptized in the Spirit at salvation; others later. (see Acts 10:44,45; 11:15).
To be sure, the Gk. verb that is used in these texts, epipiptō (lit., “to fall upon”) is similar in meaning to other verbs, e.g. eperchesthai (Acts 1:8 = “to come upon”), pimplēnai (Acts 2:4 = “to fill”), or baptizesthai en (Acts 1:5 = “to be baptized in”).
Salvation (by repentance) is a necessary prerequisite for the baptism with the Holy Spirit one can be saved, water baptized & then receive the “infilling”; or one can be saved, receive the Spirit baptism & then be water baptized (as in my case). I do not believe water baptism is a prerequisite for Spirit baptism. Acts 10:44-48 tell us this. In these texts we see the words “who believed” & “the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the Word”: following this came water baptism (vss.47,48).
Peter’s speech: “… Repent (of your sins), & let every one of you be baptized (in water)… & you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” – Acts 2:38. Repentance is always first; following this one can be baptized with the Holy Spirit & later in water or in water then with the Holy Spirit.
The very same Holy Spirit that was with & in Jesus, is the very same Spirit I have. Jesus was led of the Spirit (hēgeto) into the wilderness (Lk. 3:21,22; 4:1,2) & was present with Him all His earthly life (Lk. 4:14,18), even at the cross (Heb. 9:4).
The Holy Spirit is the inner transformer of human lives, giving power & BURNING the HELL out of us!! The Spirit will also constrain (dedemenos) as well as anoint (chriō).
Back to Acts 19:2
“Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?” Another translation uses “when”. The Western text reads, “whether anyone receiving the Holy Spirit.” The question or the contrast is merely between water baptism (vs.3) with & without the gift of the baptism with the Spirit. The baptism of John does not for the author necessarily imply direct or indirect influence from the Baptist, it is his name for Christian water baptism without the Holy Spirit baptism.
Q. How far does this correspond with the picutre of the Baptist in the Synoptic Gospels? there also he preaches repentance, but “the One who was to come after him” is pictured rather as a stem judge who will “gather the wheat into His granary, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable FIRE!” (Lk. 3:17 (“fire” / Gk. “pur” (lit. or fig.). The same Gk. word is used in vs.16, “… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit & FIRE!” The difference is, Lk. 3:16 is fig., whereas 3:17 is lit. (see Mt. 3:11,12; Mk. 1:7,8, Jn. 3:5 = “born of water (baptism) & the Spirit (salvation/Spirit baptism?).
The baptism of “Fire” (Lk. 3:16) is to PURIFY the repentant sinner/new believer. Both 16 & 17 imply separation, i.e. the H.S. will lead the believe into separating from all that is impure (thoughts, words, actions); the “fire” in vs.17 speaks of burning up the chaff – the winnowing fork is used to SEPARATE the wheat from the chaff: wheat = righteous / chaff = wicked. Both 16 & 17 imply judgment on the bad, evil, wicked. The Holy Spirit wants to BURN the HELL out of us NOW so at Judgment Day we will not face His wrath.
“For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” -Acts. 1:5. This verse is speaking to believers in the faith. They already had Jesus; “And when He (Jesus) had said (i.e. “I also send you,” Jn. 20:21), “He then breathed on them, & said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.”, vs.22.
Was Jesus speaking of 2 different experiences? That word “breathed” / “emphusaō” means to “impart or import”. The time between Jesus breathing on the 10 (in Jerusalem), where He breathed on them & they received the Holy Spirit & the Day of Pentecost, I’m not sure. On this Day it says the Holy Spirit came with “tongues as of fire” (Acts 2:3). Both Jn. 20:21 & Acts 2:1-3 speaks of the Holy Spirit and the BIG question asked by Paul, “Have ye received the Holy Spirit since ye believed?” (speaking to the believers at Ephesus).
Are you confused yet? Are we seeing two experiences? One, when receiving the Holy Spirit at salvation (“… be strengthened with might (power) through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in you hearts through faith…” (Eph. 3:16,17. Here the Holy Spirit & Christ dwell in the hearts of the believers). But in Acts 19:2 we find believers never hearing of the Holy Spirit. After these believers were re-baptized (Acts 19:4,5), they received the Spirit Baptism & spoke in tongues (supernatural). The “laying on of hands” (19:6 – see 6:6) usually symbolizes the bestowal of the H.S. (see also 8:17).
Some Gk. mss. read: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit having believed?” Some take this to mean that the people in 19:2 had not believed in Jesus Christ, but rather in the repentance that John had preached (vv.3-5). According Mt. 3:1,2, repentant sinners received Jesus, for John was preaching about Christ, vs.3. The confusion lies in the fact that the Holy Spirit comes into the person at salvation (repentance); the baptism with the Holy Spirit comes either at the same time or at a later time. Acts 19 discusses baptism, water in John’s & its counterpart, Spirit baptism (as seen in Lk. 3:16; Acts 1:5 states, “For John baptized with water, but in a few days your will be baptized WITH the Holy Spirit.” [note: this is the 5th time the phrase “baptized WITH the Holy Spirit” occurs in the N.T.] see Mt. 3:11 = “Holy Spirit & fire”; Mk. 1:8 = “will baptize you WITH the Holy Spirit”; Lk. 3:16 = “baptize you WITH the Holy Spirit & fire”; Jn. 1:33 = “this is He who baptizes WITH the Holy Spirit” In each one of these texts, Jesus is said to be the ONE performing the baptism. Water & Fire = opposites.
Acts 1:5, “ye shall be baptized WITH the Holy Ghost,” the Codex Bezae reads: “ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost,” as does other versions. John’s water baptism (I believe was full immersion in water (see “baptism” at the end of this article). John baptized with water, which was a sign of penitence, in ref. to the remission of sin; but Christ baptizes WITH the Holy Spirit, for the destruction of sin, the illumination of the mind, & the consolation of the heart (Spirit). John’s was in reference to the spiritual kingdom; but Christ established & maintained that Kingdom. The Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit (baptism) illuminates, regenerates, refines, & purifies the heart (human spirit). Some believe in “sprinkling”, others in “immersion”.
Gospel at Samaria
When Philip took the Gospel to Samaria, we are told that the Samaritans believed & were baptized; but they did not at once receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:12,16), i.e., they were not at once baptized WITH the Holy Spirit. The “baptism” WITH the Spirit is explicitly mentioned at the conversion of Cornelius & family. The “gift” of the Spirit, which was given even as Peter was preaching (10:44), is identified as the “baptism WITH the Spirit” (Acts 11:16); but it did not require that laying on of hands (a good source is G.W.H. Lampe in Peake’s Commentary, 1962, p.897).
Prof. G.D. Fee, in his A Theology of the N.T., writes: “We may say that there is a Jewish Pentecost, a Samaritan Pentecost, & a Gentile Pentecost.” These 3 groups received the “baptism WITH the Holy Spirit” Some see this as a “second work of grace” after saving faith. This I believe.
1 Cor. 12:13 says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and were all made to drink of one Spirit.” So, the “Spirit baptism” is the act of the Holy Spirit joining together into a spiritual unity people of diverse racial extractions & diverse social backgrounds so that they form the “Body of Christ” – the N.T. Ekklesia. There are many good sources on this subject, and there are some not-so-good sources as well.
The “Filling”
During the late 1960s & all of the 1970s, the outpouring/infilling was in full operation. Even dry, Spiritless churches were receiving this Spirit baptism. It spread all around the world. We received salvation in 1971 at Seeley Lake, MT. (Dec. 6th). My wife received Christ when she repented; she, at the same time was baptized WITH the Holy Spirit & spoke in tongues. As for me, I received Christ at the same time but received the Holy Spirit/tongues several weeks later at a prayer meeting with several old ladies. They laid hands on my head & I too received the baptism.
Weeks after this we went to Missoula, Montana to be baptized in water (which was the river; huge chunks of ice were floating downstream, for the Chinook wind warmed up the state. Talk about cold water! I thought I would freeze (baptism is symbolic of putting the old life to DEATH!!!).
Sadly, the Charismatic Movement (it was called) began to fade (in the 1980s), for it had become commercialized for profit & fame. We remember the PTL Club, the 700 Club, the Trinity Broadcasting Network – all promoted this “Movement”, plus hundreds of other Church organizations & denominations. Now we hardly ever hear anything about the Charismatic Movement.
So…
The Baptism WITH the Holy Spirit & WITH fire has been debated over & over. One thing the Holy Spirit will do, if allowed in the believer, it will purge out / burn out what is carnal/sinful & refine / make perfect (i.e., mature) “the believer’s life (see my articles on the Baptism, pg.1, at aggressivechristianity.net.) [note: one needs to study “Pneuma” / “Spirit” in the O.T. – râah yahweh = God’s power; “Pneuma” in the N.T.: Both Matthew (1:18) & Luke (1:35) attribute the birth of Jesus to the creative power of the Holy Spirit; All of the Gospels relate the baptism of Jesus & the descent of the H.S. like a dove. John 1:32 says, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, & He (the Holy Spirit) remained upon Him (Jesus).” Vs.33 says that the “Spirit remaining on Him.” In Jn. 3:34 it says, “For He whom God has sent speaks the Words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure,” meaning the Holy Spirit was inside Jesus. We also find the Holy Spirit lighting upon believers; other times He is within.
Check this Scripture out: “He who believes (same as salvation) in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” -Jn. 7:38 NKJV.
Q. Is this Scripture speaking of Jesus = “out of His belly (or heart) shall flow rivers of living water”? Verse 39 answers the question: “But this spoke of he of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.”
In any case, it is Jesus, not he who believes in Him, who is the source of living water (see Jn. 4:10 for proof).
“Living Water” is an allusion to the gift of the Spirit, which could come after the “glorification” – i.e., Crucifixion/Resurrection (Jn. 12:16,23; 13:31) – of Jesus (16:7; 20:22).
Spirit
Spirit in Scripture can also mean “wind” (Jn. 3:8; Acts 2:2; 4:31; (7:38,39 = “water”). “Water” can mean Spirit (Living Waters) or water baptism. “Fire” also reps. “Spirit”.
The word “Spirit” or “Holy Spirit” is spoken of under various titles in the N.T. = Spirit (Mt. 22:43); Eternal Spirit (Heb. 9:14); Mt. 4:1 = the Spirit; Holy Spirit (Mt. 1:18); the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19); the Spirit of promise (Eph. 1:13); Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:11); the Spirit of our God (1 Cor. 6:11); the Spirit of glory & of God (1 Pet. 4:14); the Spirit of your Father (Mt. 10:20); the Spirit of His Son (Gal. 4:6); Spirit of (the) Lord (Acts 8:39); the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:17); Spirit of Christ (Phil. 1:19); the Spirit of adoption (Rom. 8:15); the Spirit of truth (Jn. 14:17); the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2); the Spirit of grace (Heb. 10:29).
[note: The use or absence of the article in the orig. where the H.S is spoken of cannot always be decided by grammatical rules, nor can the presence of absence of the article alone determine whether the ref. is to the H.S., e.g., Mt. 22:43 (the article is used in Mt. 12:36); Acts 4:25, R.V. (absent in some texts); 19:2,6; Rom. 14:17; 1 Cor. 2:4; Gal. 5:25; 1 Pet. 1:2. Sometimes the absence is to be accounted for by the fact that “Pneuma” (Gk. “Spirit”) (like “Theos”_ is substantially a proper name, e.g., Jn. 7:39. As a general rule the article is present where the subject of the teaching is the Personality of the Holy Spirit, e.g., Jn. 14:26, where He is spoken of in distinction from the Father & the Son.].
In Gal. 4:29 the phrase “after the Spirit”, signifies ‘by supernatural power’, in contrast to “after the flesh”, i.e., ‘by natural power’, & the ref. must be to the Holy Spirit; so in Gal. 5:17.
The Full Title
The full title with the article before both “pneuma” & “hagios” (the “resumptive” use of the article), lit., ‘the Spirit the Holy’, stresses the character of the Person, e.g., Mt. 12:32; Mk. 3:29; 12:36; 13:11; Lk. 2:26; 10:21 (R.V.); In. 14:26; Acts 1:16; 5:3; 7:51; 10:44,47; 13:2; 15:28; 19:6; 20:23,28; 21:11; 28:25; Eph. 4:30; Heb. 3:7; 9:8; & 10:15.
Personality
The personality of the Holy Spirit is emphasized at the expense of strict grammatical procedure in Jn. 14:26; 15:26; 16:8,13,14, where the emphatic pronoun (Gk.) “ekeinos”, “He”, is used of Him in the masculine, whereas the noun “pneuma” is neuter in Gk., while the corresponding word in Aramaic, the language in which the Lord (probably) spoke, is feminine (rûchâ, see Hebrew rûach). The rendering “itself” in Rom. 8:16,26, due to the Gk. gender (scholars tell us), is corrected to “Himself” in the R.V.
The subject of the Holy Spirit in the N.T. may be considered as to His Divine attributes; His distinct Personality in the Godhead; His operation in connection with Jesus the Christ in His birth, life, baptism, & death; His operations in the world; in the Ekklesia; His having been sent at Pentecost (50) by the Father & by Christ Jesus; His operations in the believer; in local ekklesias; His operations in the production of Holy Scripture, i.e. the Word; His work/war in the world, etc.
[note: one can look up the adj. (Gk.) pneumatikos (spiritual) = always connotes the ideas of invisibility & of power: the adverb (Gk.) pneumatikōs, occurs in 1 Cor. 2:14; Rev. 11:8 (some mss. have it in 1 Cor. 2:13). In Rom. 8:6, the R.V. rightly renders the noun “pneuma” “the mind of the spirit”, A.V., “spiritual mind”.
Baptize/Baptism
In finishing this article I want to define/explain baptism.
Nouns:
1) Baptissma/ βάπτισμα, (Gk.), baptism, consisting of the process of full immersion, submersion & emergence (from baptō, “to dip”), is used a) John’s baptism, b) Christian baptism, c) of the overwhelming afflictions & judgments to which the Lord voluntarily submitted on the cross (Lk. 12:50 etc.), d) of the suffering His followers would (and are) experience, not of a vicarious character, but in fellowship with His sufferings (types of). Some mss. have the word in Mt. 20:22,23; it is used in Mt. 10:38,39, with this meaning;
2) Baptismos/ βαπτισμός, as distinct from baptisma (the ordinance), is used of the ceremonial washing of articles (Mk. &:4,8, in some texts; Heb. 9:10; once in a general sense, Heb. 6:2 (see “washing”);
3) Baptistēs/ βαπτιστής, a baptist, is used only of John the Baptist;
Verb
Baptizō/ βαπτίζω, to baptize, primarily a frequentiative form of baptō = “to dip”, was used among the Greeks to signify the dyeing of a garment, or the drawing of water by dipping a vessel into another. Plutarchus uses it of the drawing of wine by dipping the cup into the bowl (Alexis, 67) & Plato, metaphorically, of being overwhelmed with questions (Euthydemus, 277 D).
It is used in the N.T. (Lk. 11:38) of washing oneself (as in 2 Kgs. 5:14 = “dipped himself” – Gk. O.T. / Sept.) You might look up Isa. 21:4, lit., “lawlessness overwhelms me”. In the early chapters of the 4 Gospels & in Acts 1:5; 11:16; 19:4, it is used of the rite performed by John the Baptist who called upon the people to REPENT that they might receive REMISSION of sins. Those who heard & obeyed came confessing their sins.
Distinct from this is the baptism enjoined by Christ Jesus (Mt. 28:19), a baptism to be undergone by believers, thus witnessing to their identification with Him in death, burial & resurrection (Acts 19:5; Rom. 6:3,4; 1 Cor. 1:13-17; 12:13; Gal. 3:27; Col. 2:12).
The phrase in Mt. 28:19, “baptizing them into the Name” (R.V.; Acts 8:16, R.V.), would indicate that the baptized person was closely bound to, or become the property of, the one into whose Name he or she was baptized.
Acts 22:16 is used in the middle voice, in the command given to Saul of Tarsus, “Arise & be baptized”, the significance of the Middle Voice from being ‘get thyself baptized’. So, the experience of those who were in the ark at the time of the Great Flood was a figure/type of the facts of spiritual death, burial & resurrection. Christian baptism (water) being an antiphon, i.e., “a corresponding type”, a “like figure”, (1 Pet. 3:21). Likewise, the nation of Israel was figuratively baptized when made to pass thru the Red Sea under the Cloud, (1 Cor. 10:2). The verb is used metaphorically also in 2 distinct senses: 1) of baptism by the Holy Spirit (our study), which took place on the Day of Pentecost; 2) of the calamity which would come upon the nation of the Jews, a baptism of FIRE of Divine judgment (A.D. 70) for rejection of God’s will for them, (Mt. 3:11; Lk. 3:!6). Mt. 3:11 is also used metaphorically for “purifying” / “burning of” the believer.
The Holy Spirit is for each believer, i.e. the BAPTISM WITH the Holy Spirit Do not believe those who tell us the gifts of God have passed away. NO! They are here to STAY!!!
WOS – The Acts of My Spirit are Now!
I speak unto you this day and I say the Acts of My Spirit are current and are happening today and every day for those who are alert, alive, and active for My Kingdom. The miracles are still present as well as the sufferings of identity with Jesus Christ My Son. Where ever the True Gospel is declared by My Messengers, the signs will follow them as they declare the Truth. I do not want the ones who are following Me to be distraught when they are persecuted, prosecuted, and put in prison for their zeal for My Kingdom.
The reality is the Acts of My Spirit have not passed away and all who will worship Me in Spirit and in Truth will find the signs and wonders will accompany them when they declare boldly My Kingdom. It Is sad when people have taken the “Acts of the Apostles” and recorded the same in the Bible. Yet they fail to realize the Acts were not of the Apostles, they were of My Spirit working through the Apostles. My Spirit is here and now and to those who are open the Acts will be shown forth.
I do not want those who are Mine to believe such doctrines of death which want to claim that the “Age of Miracles, Signs, and Wonders has passed. Such has not passed but is present Now and in Action where ever people are hungry and willing to receive such as I give. Therefore, do not let anyone bind your faith and confidence in Me, My Son, and My Spirit. Remember I am the GOD OF THE IMPOSSIBLE! What men and women cannot do, I can and will do. With this fact before you, keep your vision single that is upon Me and stay under the commands of My Holy Spirit. These are the days of outpouring after outpouring coming like waters from Heaven being poured out on those who are thirsty for the Waters of Life. Do not hesitate to move in obedience to the commands of My Spirit for I send the Spirit to direct you to do as I desire and require of you. The quicker you move with Me, the more you will have of Me and through Me and you will be made glad that I Remain for I am the I AM GOD.
Inasmuch as the gods of men are nothing but idols such will be crumbled, blown unto the wind, rusted, decayed, and sink under ground or sea, there is nothing eternal about such gods. Those who worship such idols are dumb and while they imagine in the same they find security, they are left destitute in their times of trouble and turmoil. Like all of the devil’s devices, idols are dumb and those who worship such idols will become dumb themselves. They have no hope and no Rock to stand on, and no High Tower of strength and safety to run into and be kept. Basically what you see in and through it all is such ones are hopeless and helpless because they have no Eternal God.
This day and every day, be thankful that you have Me to worship, to adore, and follow after always for I am your Maker, your Keeper, and your God. Do not live in the “selfishness of the church comfortable and complacent.” Rather be actively proclaiming Me to others who are perishing in sin and needy as you once were so needy and desperate you imagined suicide was the “only way out”. The “only way out” is to follow Me and to take on My Spirit as your guide and to be open to the Acts of My Spirit working in and through you as vessels of honor fit for My Use.
When you see the ones who want to take the Glory which belongs to Me to themselves, they are foolish and will fall prey to sin and lusts of their flesh because they will even “fake miracles” to show how great they are. They are not “great” they are liars and pretenders. These cause many to be repulsed and move away from the true supernatural demonstrations of My Power and Glory, the Acts of the Spirit because they are fearful. Then by their “anti-spirit” attitudes, they will in turn poison others against the True instead of cautioning them against the “false.”
I do not want this to occur. Those who are truly hungry will not be adversely affected because they will be gravitated to Me and hungry for what My Spirit is doing through My Messengers. Be thankful for the opportunity you have to be a true Messenger and to proclaim My Kingdom in these times of gross darkness and sinful activities. Do not slow down because of re-location or overt persecution. Simply do as the River, flow until such time as I direct the River to go underground. The River does not stop flowing, it just changes its’ visibility according to My command.
So it is meant to be with My Messengers they are to be the bearers of the Spirit’s Message and Acts through them. Likewise they are to stay alert to the warnings I will give them so they can continue to declare the Truth to a world full of lies, and My Miracles, Signs, and Wonders will follow them. Be glad that no people, tribe, nation or nations have been able to kill My Truth for the Truth Remains. I show forth the Acts of My Spirit through out the earth as willing warriors will declare the Truth with boldness. The Spirit will move upon people and convict them of their sins and they in turn will bow down and know they need to repent and change their ways. These will indeed be privileged to partake of the Miracles shown forth to those who are needy and are looking to Me. I have never ceased to demonstrate the Power and Glory of My Kingdom in the Acts of My Spirit.