Sometimes people wonder how a minister or teacher comes up with their sermons. I know some may use a handbook of sorts for messages, or copy other sermons they have heard. In any vocation, we pass on what we have been taught, as in the case of doctors, lawyers, or any college educated professional. In the end, an education is certainly required.

I would not want a surgeon to work on me if he had not been through medical school, nor would I want to be his first patient! So experience must be coupled with education, thereby making the training complete. 

As for myself, I have been educated by great Bible teachers and still am; I have read, pondered, and prayed over the Word of God on my own, and have had over 50 years of living, experience, walking in the Word, and even contrary to it at times. The bottom line is that I have purposed in my heart to know God, and have desired to know Him in His fullness. When I find a truth, I cannot wait to share it with the Body of Christ, but sometimes I have to wait, because God has a time and season for each of us to learn certain things. A 5^th grader would be lost in high school, because he is not prepared to advance that quickly. The Bible says we must learn line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. Studying the Bible is like peeling an onion or an artichoke, you absorb it in layers; it is a continuous process. As we are enlightened, we apply and couple it with our own life experiences, and just pass it on…so teachers are “passer-oners”! 

I feel now is the time that the Church comes back to the basics of the New Testament teachings, and it is time to pass on some truths I have learned. We all have heard the quotes. “These are the times that try men’s souls” and another appropriate saying, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet”! Or even “Cheer up…it’s gonna get worse”! I don’t mean to be negative, but neither do I want to be an Ostrich and “hide my head in the sand”. I don’t think anyone would disagree that our country has “been through the mill” since 9/11. We have been bombed, engaged in wars on 2 fronts, and are still dealing with the aftermath of Katrina. Our country’s finances have been drained with all these calamities, not to mention the special interests spending, and the graft and greed and mishandling of the banking systems. 

America is in trouble and many say we are on our last leg. This may certainly be true, but God has always kept His people, and will continue to do so, so we have nothing to fear. However, we need to get back to the Bible and learn how to stand in Jesus and especially how to pray.  

Most of the Bible has been written TO the Jews, FOR the Jews and BY the Jews. Even the New Testament has a lot to say concerning Israel. Jesus especially spoke to His own people about the last days in the 24^th chapter of Matthew.

After Jesus ascended to Heaven, a Jewish-Roman Rabbi called Saul came along, persecuting this new group called Christians in the Name of God. He was on the road to Damascus, when Jesus appeared to him, changed his name to Paul, and changed his life and ministry forever. Paul spent some time on the backside of the Arabian desert where God Himself taught him His plans for the future and called Paul as an Apostle to the Gentiles (Galatians 1:12,17). 

Paul then wrote at least 13 of the 27 books of the New testament, yet 90% of Christendom never reads any of his letters! Paul calls his doctrine, “the Revelation of Mysteries”. Paul is the Apostle that taught us salvation by Grace, rather than law, the Rapture of the Church, as well as the function and gifts of the Holy Spirit, that Luke introduced in the Book of Acts, on the Day of Pentecost.

Before His death, Jesus told the disciples, that He was leaving and would send them a Comforter, in John 14, 15, & 16.

After Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared for 40 days to many. On the morning of the first day of His resurrection, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, and then told her to go tell His brethren He was risen. John 20 tells us in the evening of the same day, Jesus appeared to His disciples, who were hiding for fear of the Jews. He breathed (same root word for spirit) on them and said “Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (vs. 22). This was salvation…they could not have been saved until Jesus conquered, death, Hell and the grave. When we accept Jesus as the risen Son of God, the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts and dwells within us…it is a done deal.  

When Jesus was about to ascend to Heaven, He told his disciples in Acts 1:5, 8 to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Ghost to baptize them…that afterward they would have power to preach the Gospel all over the world. Acts 2:1-4 records the whole account, as it happened during the time of the Jewish feast of Pentecost. Just as Jesus said, they were “filled with the Holy Ghost, and spoke with other tongues/glossolalia (Greek)/languages, as the SPIRIT gave them utterance”. 

John baptized with water from the outside. The same Holy Spirit which the disciples had received when Jesus breathed upon them, had now baptized them from the inside. The first obvious evidence was the fact they could speak in languages they had never learned! As John’s water baptism rushed OVER them, the Holy Ghost’s baptism rushed OUT of them. The Book of Acts reports that baptism in the Spirit was a key feature in the early Christians’ experience. 

There is the Pentecostal denomination or Pentecostal Christians in various denominations. Both refer to the outpouring of Acts 2. The first group is a separate denomination, while the second group is Christians who can be from any church affiliation but have had the Pentecost experience. These Christians are also called Spirit-filled Christians or Charismatics. The name comes from the Greek, charismata, meaning “gifts”. Charismatics are scattered throughout many denominations, including Catholics. 

In 1Corinthians 12, 14, and Romans 12:6-8, Paul lists and describes various “spiritual gifts” Christians receive, including speaking in tongues. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:1 there are tongues of men and tongues of angels. This refers not only to all earthly languages, but whatever language they use in Heaven. Farther down in Chapter 13 in verse 8, Paul says there is coming a time when these gifts will cease. That will occur at the end of the Church age. However, we are still in the Church age, in the 3^rd chapter of Revelation. The Church age doesn’t end until the Church is taken out in Revelation 4:1. 

Next month we will continue this study in Part 2. 

God Bless You All,

Pastor Moser 
March, 2009 

W. O. W.   (Word of Wisdom) 

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, RIGHTLY dividing the Word of Truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)