A New Song by the Overcomers

And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty four thousand who had been purchased from the earth (Revelation 14:2-3).

These are the overcomers and this is the bride of Christ. They belong to heaven even while they are living on earth. These overcomers sang a new song, before the throne, that no one could learn except those who had been purchased from the earth. Why is it that no one else could learn that song? Is it because the others were not musically-minded? No. This has nothing to do with being musically-minded. It has everything to do with being heavenly-minded!! There are lots of people in the devil’s camp who are musically-minded.

The music in heaven is full of praise, worship and joy - ecstatic joy in the presence of the Father. But these 144,000 who stand on Mount Zion learnt that song of praise even while they were on earth. Unlike other human beings, they had finished with all murmuring, grumbling, criticism, backbiting, judging others and slander. Instead, they learnt to give thanks in everything and for everyone, and to praise and worship God at all times.

The new song is “Thou art worthy to receive praise and honour, glory, dominion and power” (Rev.5:12). It is a song which does not have the smell of complaining and grumbling or murmuring in it. How many of us have learnt it? God gives all of us one lifetime on earth to learn that song of heaven, that song of praise and thanksgiving. How many are there who have learnt to be 100% free from grumbling and complaining?

Most believers complain when the food is not good, or when somebody promises to do something for them and does not do it, or when somebody takes away their rights, or when somebody does some evil to them or to their children or perhaps when somebody speaks evil about them or their family-members. What a lot of opportunity we have in all such circumstances to follow Jesus, to take up the cross and learn the new song! It is impossible to learn that song unless we are willing to take up the cross and die to our rights, honour and reputation.

These 144,000 were the only ones who obeyed the Word of God which says, “Do all things without grumbling or complaining;” (Phil. 2:14) and “In everything give thanks…” (1 Thess. 5:18).

The word ‘learn’ in Rev.14:3 indicates an education. We have to learn how to sing this new song. To begin with, none of us know it. Why is it that no-one else learnt that song except these 144,000? Because the others heard about taking up the cross but never actually took it up in the moments of temptation. What a sad thing it is when someone has been a believer for 20 years and still hasn’t got victory over murmuring, anger, grumbling, complaining, slander and backbiting! Most believers imagine that because they have accepted Christ everything is all right with them, and thus live in a world of delusion.

A Warning from the Last Page

In Rev. 22:18, 19, we read, “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”

The plagues which are written in this book of Revelation are the wrath of God.

God will not permit anyone to trifle with His sacred Word. A severe warning is given to those who add to or subtract from this book - and this principle applies to all of Scripture, since this warning is found on the last page of the Bible.

The first blunder that Eve committed in Genesis 3 was to add and take away from God’s word. God had said to Adam in Genesis 2:17, “From the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, because, the day you will eat from it, you will surely die.” Adam had undoubtedly communicated this accurately to Eve. But when Eve was asked by the serpent in Gen.3:1, “What has God said?”, Eve added and subtracted from God’s command in her reply. First of all she added something. She said, “God has said, `You shall not eat from itnor touch it’ ” (Gen.3:3). God had never said anything about touching the tree. And then Eve subtracted. She said, “...lest you die” (Gen 3:3), weakening the stern warning of God Who had said, “You shall surely die.” The phrase “lest you die” implies that there is a possibility that you may not die. So we see in the beginning of the Bible that sin began through adding to and subtracting from God’s Word. And so, right at the end of the Bible, there is a strong warning against adding to or subtracting from God’s Word.

Today, many have added their human traditions to the Word of God and made them almost equally important. Likewise, many have subtracted from God’s Word by saying that obedience to certain small commandments is unimportant.

We must be very careful to eliminate from our lives and our homes everything that is contrary to God’s Word. And we must be equally careful to add to our lives and our homes everything that we have missed out from God’s Word.

Through our attitude to His Word, God tests us to see whether we are ready to live with Him for eternity or not.

Ps.138:2 states that God has magnified His Word above His Name. So if we dishonour God’s word, we dishonour God’s Name. Many denominations in “Christianity” have added to and subtracted from God’s Word. Thus they have ended in spiritual harlotry. We need to be warned by their failure.

Trust in the Lord Alone for All Your Needs

Elijah was a man who was instantly obedient to every little thing that God said. God told him one day to go and hide himself by the brook Cherith – and he went at once (1 Kings 17:3). There the ravens brought him bread and meat and he drank from the brook (v.6). At 8 o’clock every morning, a raven would bring him some food. Again at 5 o’clock in the evening, another raven would bring him some food. These crows would bring him meat. If the crows had brought him vegetables, that itself would have been a miracle. But for a crow to bring meat (which it loves) is a greater miracle. That’s how God provided for Elijah. But gradually, after a few days, Elijah began depending on the ravens and not the Lord!

Many servants of the Lord start out trusting the Lord for their financial needs. But after a few years, they are no longer depending on the Lord, but on some ravens – human beings who send them regular support! That is exactly what happened to Elijah. So what did the Lord do? He stopped the ravens. God wanted to shake off Elijah’s dependence on ravens and to teach him once again to depend on the Lord. So thank God when the ravens stop coming – when the promised support doesn’t come. Then you will learnonce again to trust the Lord alone for your needs. I have been through experiences like that. I thank God for the times when He has turned away my eyes from ravens to Him Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and Who has said that He will supply all my needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus.

The Lord then changed His method and told Elijah now to go to Zarephath. Zarephath was outside Israel. Elijah may have imagined that some rich businessman there would take care of him. But when he reached Zarephath, what he found was not a rich businessman, but a poor widow who was just about to have her last meal! And the Lord told Elijah, “She will support you!” God’s ways are truly amazing. God does things like that because He is a jealous God. He wants us to trust in Him and not in ravens or rich businessmen. He will use a weak person whom you least expect to be able to help you, and use him, so that no flesh may glory in His presence.

The widow said, “We were just about to have our last meal and die.” Elijah told her, “Don’t be afraid. Make me a little bread cake from it first. The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth” (1 Kings 17:13, 14). And the bowl of flour was not exhausted and the jar of oil did not become empty.

There are many preachers today who use this incident to teach poor people to give them money. But that is a total misinterpretation of this incident. First of all, most of today’s preachers are not prophets like Elijah. Secondly, most of today’s preachers are lovers of money, unlike Elijah. These two facts alone put Elijah in a different class altogether from most of today’s preachers who exploit the poor. Further, Elijah asked the widow for just a bare meal to survive in a time of famine; and he ate the same food that the widow and her son ate. Today’s preachers are not asking for money to survive but to support their grand lifestyles. There are multitudes of false prophets around today.  Unfortunately, since most of God’s people do not know how to distinguish between a true prophet and a false one, they are deceived.

Disciplining Our Bodily Passions

In Chapter 13 of Judges, we read of the family of Manoah that did not have any children. The angel of the Lord appeared to them one day and told them that they would have a son, and that he should be brought up as a Nazirite. Samson was born. The Lord blessed him and the Spirit of God began to move upon him (13:25).

But unfortunately, we read that Samson backslid – very early in his life. Whenever he saw a pretty woman, he just could not control his lusts. He would forget all about his calling to serve the Lord and would go after that woman – whether she was a Jew or a Gentile made no difference to him, so long as she was good-looking! This was his weakness throughout his life. God used him no doubt. But he had a tremendous weakness for pretty women – like many a preacher today. Samson’s behavior stands in great contrast to Joseph’s. Joseph lived before the Law was given and had much less revelation on God’s ways than Samson had. Yet he stood true to God repeatedly – and has therefore been an outstanding example for young men for thousands of years. Samson, on the other hand, has been an equally outstanding warning to all men for thousands of years! 

We read in Judges14:5,6, “Samson went down to Timnah and a young lion came roaring towards him and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily so that he caught the lion and tore the lion to pieces.” Like we would tear up a piece of paper, Samson tore up that lion to pieces. And he was so humble about it that he didn’t tell anyone – not even his father and mother. Samson knew that it was the power of the Holy Spirit that had enabled him to do that.

In verse 10, we read that his father went down to meet the Philistine woman whom Samson liked and got Samson married to her. This was a direct disobedience of God’s Law that had clearly commanded that the Israelites were never to marry non-Israelites. Samson’s was an up-and-down life – like the sine wave – sometimes up but mostly down. We read in Chapter 16:1 that he went down to Gaza. He saw a harlot there and liked her and committed fornication with her. When he was caught, he pulled out the gates of the city and walked off with them! Later, he met another Philistine woman called Delilah and fell in love with her (Judg.16:4). God must have spoken to his conscience many a time. But he would not listen. He probably rejoiced in the fact that God was USING him – just like many do today. Many will come to the Lord in the last day and remind Him of how He had used them in various ministries. But the Lord will cast all of them into hell fire, because they lived in sin in their private lives (Matt.7:22, 23). If we keep on rejecting God’s gentle warnings to our conscience, we too can destroy ourselves like all those preachers.

Samson finally put his head on Delilah’s lap and revealed the secret of his strength to her. She cut off his hair promptly and that was the end of his ministry. What a tragedy! A man who was such a mighty deliverer was enslaved to his own lusts and passions. Paul says in 1Corinthians 9:27, “It is possible for me to preach to others and still be disqualified myself, if I don’t keep my body in subjection.” The Living Bible paraphrases that verse as, “making my body do what it should do, and not what it wants to do.” That means that we are to make our bodies eat what it should eatand not what it wants to eat; sleep as much as it should sleep and not how much itwants to sleep. We must control our eyes so that they look only at what they should look at and not at what they want to look at. We must control our tongues so that they speak what they should speak and not what they want to speak.

If we don’t control our bodily passions, we may preach wonderful messages and yet be cast out by the Lord in the final day. So much depends on our disciplining our bodily passions. That is the message we get from the story of Samson who had a wonderful ministry that blessed so many people. But finally, he himself was disqualified. So many great preachers have fallen a prey to pretty women. Don’t be impressed by the gifts that such men exercise or by the vastness of theirorganisations!! A leader falling into sin is a far more serious thing than an ordinary believer falling into the same sin – as we see in Leviticus.  To whom more is given, from them more is required as well.

If you are not faithful in your relationship with the opposite sex, don’t dishonourGod’s name by trying to be an elder or a leader. Don’t fool the people that you are a holy man of God when you are living in sin. God will expose you publicly one day if you continue to live like that. You may think you are clever enough to hide your sin. But you are not clever enough for God. He will expose you more than you have ever been exposed thus far.

In Chapter 16, we read of how Samson lost his power and how his eyes were blinded. When preachers go after women, this is what happens: They lose their spiritual vision. They cannot see clearly any more. They may still be evangelical in their doctrines and be able to preach eloquently. But their spiritual vision would have gone.

Samson became a slave. But praise God, he had enough sense to acknowledge his sin toward the end of his life. He repented and finally destroyed many Philistines in his death (Judg.16:23-31)..

Samson’s story is the story of two lions – one on the outside and one inside his heart. He could overpower the external lion, but he could not conquer the internalone. This teaches us that the lion of sexual lust is far stronger and more to be feared than any external lion. What would you do if you saw a lion running towards you in a forest? You would turn around and run. Do you do the same when you see the lion of lust coming at you? The Bible exhorts us to “flee from immorality” (1 Cor.6:18). That is the only way to overcome it - don’t go anywhere near such temptation. Don’t go anywhere near a woman who tempts you. Avoid flirtatious women like you would avoid hungry lions.

Samson lived under the old covenant. So no-one can make Samson’s story his excuse for falling into immorality today. Samson did not have the New Testament, he lived prior to Calvary’s cross, he had no Example as we have in Jesus today, and above all, he could not receive the Holy Spirit as an Indwelling Helper as we can. The way into the most holy place of fellowship with the Father was not yet open in those days. Samson did not have the blessing of godly fellowship either. All of these we have today. So we have no excuse for living in sin.

Disciplining Our Bodily Passions

In Chapter 13 of Judges, we read of the family of Manoah that did not have any children. The angel of the Lord appeared to them one day and told them that they would have a son, and that he should be brought up as a Nazirite. Samson was born. The Lord blessed him and the Spirit of God began to move upon him (13:25).

But unfortunately, we read that Samson backslid – very early in his life. Whenever he saw a pretty woman, he just could not control his lusts. He would forget all about his calling to serve the Lord and would go after that woman – whether she was a Jew or a Gentile made no difference to him, so long as she was good-looking! This was his weakness throughout his life. God used him no doubt. But he had a tremendous weakness for pretty women – like many a preacher today. Samson’s behavior stands in great contrast to Joseph’s. Joseph lived before the Law was given and had much less revelation on God’s ways than Samson had. Yet he stood true to God repeatedly – and has therefore been an outstanding example for young men for thousands of years. Samson, on the other hand, has been an equally outstanding warning to all men for thousands of years! 

We read in Judges14:5,6, “Samson went down to Timnah and a young lion came roaring towards him and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him mightily so that he caught the lion and tore the lion to pieces.” Like we would tear up a piece of paper, Samson tore up that lion to pieces. And he was so humble about it that he didn’t tell anyone – not even his father and mother. Samson knew that it was the power of the Holy Spirit that had enabled him to do that.

In verse 10, we read that his father went down to meet the Philistine woman whom Samson liked and got Samson married to her. This was a direct disobedience of God’s Law that had clearly commanded that the Israelites were never to marry non-Israelites. Samson’s was an up-and-down life – like the sine wave – sometimes up but mostly down. We read in Chapter 16:1 that he went down to Gaza. He saw a harlot there and liked her and committed fornication with her. When he was caught, he pulled out the gates of the city and walked off with them! Later, he met another Philistine woman called Delilah and fell in love with her(Judg.16:4). God must have spoken to his conscience many a time. But he would not listen. He probably rejoiced in the fact that God was USING him – just like many do today. Many will come to the Lord in the last day and remind Him of how He had used them in various ministries. But the Lord will cast all of them into hell fire, because they lived in sin in their private lives (Matt.7:22, 23). If we keep on rejecting God’s gentle warnings to our conscience, we too can destroy ourselves like all those preachers.

Samson finally put his head on Delilah’s lap and revealed the secret of his strength to her. She cut off his hair promptly and that was the end of his ministry. What a tragedy! A man who was such a mighty deliverer was enslaved to his own lusts and passions. Paul says in 1Corinthians 9:27, “It is possible for me to preach to others and still be disqualified myself, if I don’t keep my body in subjection.” The Living Bible paraphrases that verse as, “making my body do what it should do, and not what it wants to do.” That means that we are to make our bodies eat what it should eat and not what it wants to eat; sleep as much as it should sleep and not how much it wants to sleep. We must control our eyes so that they look only at what they should look at and not at what they want to look at. We must control our tongues so that they speak what they should speak and not what they want to speak.

If we don’t control our bodily passions, we may preach wonderful messages and yet be cast out by the Lord in the final day. So much depends on our disciplining our bodily passions. That is the message we get from the story of Samson who had a wonderful ministry that blessed so many people. But finally, he himself was disqualified. So many great preachers have fallen a prey to pretty women. Don’t be impressed by the gifts that such men exercise or by the vastness of their organisations!! A leader falling into sin is a far more serious thing than an ordinary believer falling into the same sin – as we see in Leviticus.  To whom more is given, from them more is required as well.

If you are not faithful in your relationship with the opposite sex, don’t dishonour God’s name by trying to be an elder or a leader. Don’t fool the people that you are a holy man of God when you are living in sin. God will expose you publicly one day if you continue to live like that. You may think you are clever enough to hide your sin. But you are not clever enough for God. He will expose you more than you have ever been exposed thus far.

In Chapter 16, we read of how Samson lost his power and how his eyes were blinded. When preachers go after women, this is what happens: They lose their spiritual vision. They cannot see clearly any more. They may still be evangelical in their doctrines and be able to preach eloquently. But their spiritual vision would have gone.

Samson became a slave. But praise God, he had enough sense to acknowledge his sin toward the end of his life. He repented and finally destroyed many Philistines in his death (Judg.16:23-31)..

Samson’s story is the story of two lions – one on the outside and one inside his heart. He could overpower theexternal lion, but he could not conquer the internal one. This teaches us that the lion of sexual lust is far stronger and more to be feared than any external lion. What would you do if you saw a lion running towards you in a forest? You would turn around and run. Do you do the same when you see the lion of lust coming at you? The Bible exhorts us to “flee from immorality” (1 Cor.6:18). That is the only way to overcome it - don’t go anywhere near such temptation. Don’t go anywhere near a woman who tempts you. Avoid flirtatious women like you would avoid hungry lions.

Samson lived under the old covenant. So no-one can make Samson’s story his excuse for falling into immorality today. Samson did not have the New Testament, he lived prior to Calvary’s cross, he had no Example as we have in Jesus today, and above all, he could not receive the Holy Spirit as an Indwelling Helper as we can. The way into the most holy place of fellowship with the Father was not yet open in those days. Samson did not have the blessing of godly fellowship either. All of these we have today. So we have no excuse for living in sin.

The Primary Mark of a New-Covenant Church

What is the primary mark of a new-covenant church? Many think that it is having a particular pattern of church government and a particular form of meeting. But it is neither of these. The important thing about the church is that it should have Divine life.

When a baby is being formed in its mother’s womb, in its early weeks it does not even have the shape (pattern) of a human being. It only has life. The shape (pattern) comes later. It is the same when a new church is being established anywhere. It will take time for the proper pattern to emerge. But meanwhile, there must be life.

The primary mark of a new-covenant church is that God is present in its midst. When the church comes together and everyone prophesies under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, those who come to the meeting should be convicted of their sins and acknowledgethat God is present in the meeting (1 Cor.14:24, 25). That, and that alone proves that such a church has the right pattern.

If the presence of God is absent, we must confess that we have come short of God’s perfect plan - and we must repent.

Consider the tabernacle that the Israelites made in the wilderness. Its pattern was written down clearly in the book of Exodus. The Philistines could easily have made a similar tabernacle. But there was one thing that they could never have reproduced - and that was God’s presence in the Most Holy Place, manifested as a fiery flame lighting up the tabernacle. That was the most important part of the tabernacle. It is the same with the church.

You may see a powerful church somewhere and imagine that its secret is the pattern it follows in its meetings or the doctrines it preaches!! And so you imitate that pattern and preach the same doctrines and imagine that you have a new-covenant church. But you are deceiving yourself. Without the glory of God being powerfully present in your midst, there is no new-covenant church there at all.

When God is powerfully present in our midst as a church, His light will continually show us what is pleasing to Him and what isn’t. That light will warn us of dangers that lie ahead. It will not only drive away the darkness but the prince of darkness as well. The powers of Hell will never be able to prevail against such a church.

It is no use having only our doctrines right in the church. What we need more than anything else is the presence of God.

-Zac Poonen

Interesting Facts about BIBLE

. What does “Bible” mean?

The word Bible comes from the Greek word "Biblos," which is translated "book."

.
2. What is the Bible?

.
a. The collection of sacred writings of the Christian religion comprising the Old and New Testaments.

.

b. The collection of sacred writings of the Jewish religion known to the Christians as the Old Testaments. In this respect, the Old Testament is also called the Hebrew Scriptures or the Hebrew Bible or Jewish Bible. In Hebrew, the Hebrew Bible is called Tanach.

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3. What are the three parts of the Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible)?

The general accepted division has it roots in Judaism.

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a. The Law, Torah in Hebrew and Pentateuch by Christians. It is sometimes called the Five Books of Moses, it consists of first five books of the Old Testament (5 books).

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b. The Prophets, Neviim in Hebrew (21 books in Christianity, 8 in Judaism).

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c. The Writings, Ketuvim in Hebrew, and Hagiographa by Christians (13 books in Christianity, 11 in Judaism).
In total: 39 books in Cristianity, 24 in Judaism.

..
4. What are the main divisions of the New Testament?

.
a). The Gospels (4 books).

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b), The Acts of the Apostles (1 book).

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c). The Epistles or letters (21 books).

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d). The Revelation of St. John the Devine (1 book).

      In total: 27 books.

God Calls Those Who Are Faithful in Their Secular Work to Serve Him

Amos started prophesying about 40 years after Elisha. If Gehazi (Elisha’s servant) had not chased after Naaman’s money and thus ruined himself, it is possible that he may have got a double portion of Elisha’s anointing and become the next prophet in Israel. In that case, Gehazi may have written this prophecy instead of Amos. But Gehazi missed that privilege. The Lord warns us to be watchful so that no one takes our crown (Rev.3:11). There is a crown that God has kept for you if you will be faithful in the ministry God planned for you. But you can lose that crown if you are unfaithful. And then the ministry you were supposed to fulfil will be done by somebody else and he will get your crown. So perhaps Amos got Gehazi’s crown!

Amos had no desire to be a prophet. He was a simple shepherd - just like many of the first apostles were simple fishermen. Elisha had been a farmer. Amos was a man who looked after cattle, sheep and figs. When questioned about his credentials he said, “I am not a professional prophet. I certainly never got any training to be a prophet. I am just a shepherd. I take care of fig trees. But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to My people in Israel’ ” (Amos.7:14-15).

Why did God pick Amos to be the first person to write down a prophetic message? God must have watched him (like He watches all of us) to see if Amos feared God and was faithful in his work. Amos was not a scholar or a priest, but he was very faithful in his work. He was God-fearing, was kind to poor people and lived in a good way. And one day, God called him and told him, “You are going to be My servant.”

God watches us every day to see if we are faithful in our daily life, whether we choose the way of humility always, whether we take time to wait on Him and listen to Him, to study the Scriptures, etc. Maybe Amos had been faithful for 25 years, I don’t know. I know that Jesus was faithful for 30 years in Nazareth before He was called to preach. When you continue being faithful in little things for many long years, you can begin to wonder whether God has forgotten all about you. He has not. All of a sudden, one day, God will say to you, “You are My servant from today.” God calls those who are faithful in their secular work. He did that in the Old Testament. Jesus also called as apostles men who had been faithful in their secular work.

Five Main Reasons Why Many Believers are not Baptised in the Holy Spirit

There are FIVE main reasons why many believers are NOT baptized in the Holy Spirit:

(1) They have been INTELLECTUALLY CONVINCED by some theological argument that they were baptized in the Spirit when they were born again. And even though they are defeated, powerless, empty and fruitless, they continue to believe this theological deception.

(2) They feel that they are NOT WORTHY ENOUGH to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The fact of the matter is that the more unworthy you feel and the greater the sinner you consider yourself to be, the more fit you are to receive the Holy Spirit - because God's gifts are given only to those who feel themselves most unworthy to receive them. If you have repented of your sins, it doesn't matter how unworthy or unfit or useless you are. Hallelujah!

(3) They DON'T BELIEVE that God is a good God - who gives His gifts freely to all who ask Him. They feel that they have to pay a price - do some good deeds, like fasting and praying, before they can receive.

But God's gifts are all freely given - whether it be the forgiveness of sins or the baptism in the Spirit. None of God's gifts can be purchased. Many believers feel that to have faithitself, is a difficult thing. But Jesus likened faith to drinking (See John 7:37,38, "...DRINK....BELIEVE"). To receive the Holy Spirit is as easy as drinking. Even babies know how to drink - and those who are newly born again can be baptized with the Holy Spirit. That is how it was in the early days - as we read in the "Acts of the Apostles".

(4) They DON'T THIRST. They are not desperate enough. Jesus spoke a parable of a man who kept on knocking at his neighbour's door, UNTIL HE RECEIVED what he wanted. Then Jesus went on to say that our Heavenly Father would also give the Holy Spirit to those who asked, sought and knocked like that man (Read Luke 11:13 in the context of the previous verses, beginning at v.5).

(5) They WAIT FOR SOME EXPERIENCE (tongues or thrills etc., ) similar to the one they heard someone else testify to. They are not willing to leave it to God to decide what gift or manifestation is best for them to have. The Holy Spirit is received by simple faith.

Ask and ye shall receive (Gal.3:2; Luke 11:9-13). Don't wait for feelings. But ask God to give you an assurance. Leave it to Him as to how He gives you that assurance. Didn't He give you an assurance that your sins are forgiven and that you are His child? In the same way, He can also assure you that He has filled you with the Holy Spirit. What you need is not an experience, but POWER (Acts 1:8).

SO: THIRST - BELIEVE - AND RECEIVE. Now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation.

"The Spirit of the Lord WILL come upon you and you shall be CHANGED INTO ANOTHER MAN" (1 Sam.10:6).

Freedom from Perpetual Backsliding

In the book of Judges, we read of 13 judges whom God raised up in chapters 3 to 16.The fourteenth judge was Samuel whom we read about in 1 Samuel. The names of most of these judges are not so well known.

The first judge was a man called Othniel who was the son-in-law and the nephew of Caleb (Judges 3:9). It says here that “the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he judged Israel” (Judges 3:10). That occurred frequently in the book of Judges. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and on Samson to equip them to lead God’s people (Judges 6:34; 14:6). It was the Spirit’s anointing alone that enabled them to rule Israel. That anointing alone can help us to guide and lead God’s people today, as well.

We may be born again, and that is certainly the work of the Holy Spirit. But we must still know the Spirit of the Lord coming upon us and empowering us to serve the Lord. Don’t be satisfied with an emotional experience that you got in some meeting. Don’t even be satisfied with speaking in tongues. You can speak in tongues and yet not be filled with the Holy Spirit. Don’t ever be satisfied without the power of the Holy Spirit. You can never, never do God’s work without the power of the Holy Spirit. Even Jesus who lived a perfect life for 30 years - Who was born of the Spirit, and Who had lived in obedience to the Holy Spirit for 30 years – had to be anointed by the Holy Spirit before He went out to serve His Father. As He prayed in the river Jordan, the Spirit of God came upon Him. Follow His example. Any amount of knowledge or natural gifts can never be a substitute for this anointing. And we need to live under this anointing constantly. Samson’s example is a tragic reminder to us how we can be anointed at one time, and then lose it later.

During all the 40 years that Othniel ruled Israel, there was peace (Judges 3:11), but then Othniel died. Again the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. And when they did evil, the Lord allowed the king of Moab to enslave them for 18 years (Judges 3:14).

In the book of Judges we see seven such cycles – backsliding followed by punishment followed by God raising up a judge to deliver them. Many believers live in such a cycle all their lives – backsliding, repenting, being delivered and backsliding all over again and so on…… They keep going round in an endless circle. They go to a meeting and get stirred up, and dedicate themselves. When the revival meeting is over, their backsliding starts very soon. The one day, another anointed preacher comes and holds meetings and they get stirred up again.

Is it the will of God that we should live in this endless cycle? Certainly not! Today we can have the Holy Spirit with us all the time. In those days the Spirit would come upon just one leader, and everyone was dependent on that leader, but today we can all receive the Spirit and we don’t have to be dependent on any man. We can have the fire of God burning in our hearts all the time.

After 18 years of serving Moab, the Israelites cried out to the Lord (Judges 3:15). And God raised up another deliverer for them - Ehud. He was the second judge. I have wondered why they waited for 18 years before they cried out for deliverance from their slavery. Why didn’t they cry out within one month of being enslaved? Why does a person today live defeated by sin for 18 years (or even 40 years in some cases), before he seeks for victory over sin? I don’t know why? But it is happening all around us.

Ehud subdued Moab and the land was undisturbed for 80 years (Judges 3:30). But then again they backslid and God raised up Shamgar, who killed 600 Philistines with an ox-goad. That was certainly through the anointing of the Spirit, as Samson would do later.

Then the sons of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord again and the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin the king of Canaan. The Canaanites whom Israel were supposed to exterminate, now have a king and are ruling Israel! Believers are supposed to rule over sin. But in most cases, sin rules over them.  Jabin had 900 iron chariots and he oppressed Israel for 20 years. Then they cried to the Lord and the Lord raised up Deborah as a judge for them (Judges 4:3,4).

The Danger of Doing What Is Right in Your Own Eyes

In Judges, Chapters17 to 21, we read about the idolatry, the immorality and the wars among the Israelites, which reveal the degraded state of a nation that God had chosen to be His representatives on earth. They had sunk as low as Sodom and Gomorrah.

In Judges 17:7-13, we see the first case of a paid professional preacher in the Bible, who was willing to go wherever he got the best salary and the best perquisites. Here was a Levite who agreed to serve as a priest to the highest bidder. A businessman came along and offered him a good salary, a new set of clothes every year, and free housing and boarding. The preacher signed the contract immediately! The businessman who paid him thought that God would now bless him because he had employed a preacher who had graduated from the school of the Levites!!  How very like what we see happening today. One would almost think that that was a 21^st-centruy story! The reason for this pathetic state of affairs is given in the verse immediately preceding the description of this incident: ”Every man did what was right in his own eyes”(17:6).

And that verse sums up everything that happened in the days of the Judges. And so this statement is, very appropriately, repeated as the last verse of the book (Judges 21:25): “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

That was how the Israelites lived in those days.  And that is how many Christians live today. Jesus is not King in their lives and so they do whatever they feel like. They spend their money as they feel like and they live as they feel like. The preachers go wherever they can get the largest salary. They all live without any reference to the will of God or the perfect plan of God for their lives.

God has given us Jesus Christ now as our Example. If we don’t follow Him as our Lord and our King, we too can end up like those Israelites described in the book of Judges.

Destroy Satan’s Fortresses in Your Mind

When David sees Goliath threatening Israel, notice his intense concern for the glory of God’s name and the honour of God’s people: “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should taunt the armies of the living God?” (1 Sam 17:26). While the Israelites were all as unbelieving as their forefathers who had wandered for 40 years in the wilderness, David knew what God had done to the Canaanite giants through Joshua and Caleb. And so, he offered to go and fight Goliath.

When Saul laughed at David saying he was just a youth (David was probably about 17 years old now), David told Saul about some incidents in his private life, which he had never told anyone about before – not even his parents. He told Saul, “When I was tending my father’s flock, sometimes a lion or a bear would come and take a lamb from the flock. I would go after the wild animal, rescue the lamb from its mouth and kill the wild animal. I have killed both the lion and the bear.” (17:34-36). David had known what Samson did when the Spirit came upon him. So after Samuel had anointed him, David felt that God would help him too, just like God helped Samson. And God did.

How many shepherds in Israel would go after a lion just to save the life of a wee, tiny lamb? When God saw this care that David had for the littlest lamb in his flock, He decided that David was fit to shepherd Israel. When Satan gets hold of a weak brother, it is the shepherd’s duty to go after Satan in spiritual warfare and to rescue that brother from Satan’s grip. That’s the type of shepherd God is looking for today.

This story also teaches us that we have to slay the enemies in our private life first, before we can face Goliath publicly. If you have not overcome the lion and the bear in your private life, don’t imagine that God will call you to face Goliath in public. Many would like to have a public ministry that demolishes Satan’s fortresses. But they must start with destroying Satan’s fortresses in their own mind first. They must show a concern for God’s name and for the little lambs in private first.

Saul then told David to at least put on his (Saul’s) armour. That would offer some protection against Goliath. Was David to trust in Saul’s armour or in God? Finally David took it all off and went forth trusting in God alone. He told Goliath, “You have come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord” (v.45). Thus he killed Goliath with a single stone and used Goliath’s own sword to chop off his head.

This is how we are to go against Satan today. And God uses Satan’s own weapons (Goliath’s own sword) to destroy him. “Through death, He destroyed him who had the power of death” (Heb.2:14). Once Goliath was killed, the other Philistines ran away (1 Sam.17:51). This teaches us that once we kill the giant sin in our life (“the sin that so easily entangles us” – Heb.12:1), we will find that many other sins in our lives are conquered too.

God will Either Open or Close the Door at the Right Time for Overcomers

In Rev 3:7 The Lord describes Himself as the One who can open or shut any door.  ("And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens…)

If we are overcomers, we need never stand before a closed door at any time, when it is the will of God that we should go through.

But the Lord also shuts certain doors before us, so that we don't go into paths that He has not ordained for us - paths that He knows will not be profitable for us.

It is really an exciting life to be an overcomer. The Lord Himself decides which doors we should go through, and which doors we should stop knocking at.

In the book of Jonah, we see how the Lord shut one door (of a ship, by getting Jonah thrown overboard) and opened another (of a fish's mouth, by getting it to swallow Jonah). When the fish came to the coast of Israel, the Lord opened the fish's mouth once again to place His servant ashore. Thus God brought Jonah back to "Square One". Then He told him once again to go to Nineveh, where He wanted him to preach. Then Jonah went.

If God wants us in any place for any purpose, He has ways and means of closing the wrong doors before us (getting us thrown out of somewhere perhaps!) and of opening the right doors in front of us. He even has means of transporting us back to "Square One" in our lives, so that we don't miss His best! What He did for Jonah, He will do for us too. He will do even more.

The key to every door is in His hand. If you are a wholehearted disciple of the Lord, with no ambition in life but to glorify God, you can be certain of one thing - that nothing can stand in your way. Like automatic doors that open as soon as a person comes near them, every closed door that hinders you from moving forward in the fulfillment of God's will, will open up before you - as soon as you come near it. He opens each door at the right time - not too soon and not too late. He will also close those doors that would make you miss His perfect will for your life.