Walk With Me
Christian discussion of biblical topics, and a dose of daily application. Yes the Bible is still relevant, and we find out more and more each day how relevant it has always been.
Walk With Me
Discovering Genuine Spiritual Experiences
Celebrating a family milestone as my brother steps into his role as an ordained deacon, we embark on a heartfelt exploration of spiritual growth and the essence of biblical interpretation. Together, we navigate the importance of avoiding denominationalism by embracing scripture in its full, nuanced context. We delve into the intriguing question of salvation, using the story of the thief on the cross to illuminate the pivotal moment when the Holy Ghost was instituted post-resurrection. Through a close reading of John 7:38-39, we underscore the necessity of believing in Jesus as the scripture defines, emphasizing the enduring call of being born of water and the Spirit.
In a personal recounting, I share my transformative journey of receiving the Holy Ghost, drawing parallels to the biblical events of Pentecost in Acts 2. This encounter, marked by a profound change in my life, taught me to discern genuine spiritual experiences from mere imitations. Reflecting on Peter's timeless call for repentance and baptism, we discuss how these teachings resonate across generations and geographical distances. As we explore Acts 2:38-40, we highlight the Holy Ghost's profound ability to draw us closer to God, offering hope and connection in an ever-drifting world. Join us for an episode rich with insights and an invitation to deepen your faith journey.
Hello everybody, welcome to today's episode of Walk With Me. I am your host, jj. It's so good to have each and every one of you here joining this community of walkers. I appreciate each and every one of you have taken the time to listen to the podcast. You guys could be listening to any other podcast there's thousands of them out there but you've taken a few moments of your time to listen to this one and for that I am humbly grateful. I am just absolutely grateful.
Speaker 1:Thank you for God, who's brought all of us together. Thank God for each one of us loving each other in the way that we're supposed to be loving each other, right? Thank God for each and every one of you. Thank God for our sponsors Two Bars Lyricist with the intro and outro Our exquisite creations. She's going to be making sweaters too. She doesn't know that yet. But I just thank God for each and every one of you. Thank God for the healing power and deliver power and saving power. And I have a huge announcement my brother is now An ordained deacon. That is huge news for me. So now we have a preacher and and a deacon. Uh, the running joke is that my youngest brother would be the choir leader, and then we'll have it all straightened out. So we're gonna work on that. Just pray for god, uh, to do what he's gonna do, do in our lives. Thank God for each and every one of you. All right, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:We're going to go ahead and jump into today's lesson because it's going to be a little bit of a heavy one, because we're still talking about avoiding denominationalism. Okay, and it's very important, and I feel like I've missed a couple things last week. One is very important when we're going over scripture, because of the constraints of time and basically because of a couple questions I got it's very important that when you read a scripture or let's just say, if I give you a scripture or your pastor gives you a scripture or somebody is talking to you about scripture and you want to discuss it, make sure, when you're reading it, always read a verse or two above, a verse or two below, but you really want to read it. Make sure, when you're reading it, always read a verse or two above, a verse or two below, but you really want to read the entire chapter. Why? Because context is key. This is how we avoid denominationalism and we avoid losing or missing what God is really trying to tell us, or what God is saying to us. What says the Lord is making sure we take in the entire word and the term is usually rightly divided, the word, you know, dividing it. I'm starting to kind of feel a little bit way about saying dividing it, even though this is in the scripture, but it's right that we keep it in the context in which God has given it to us, right? So the big question. Oh, by the way, if you do have questions, feel free to email me with questions, and I love questions, I really do.
Speaker 1:One of the questions we got that was sent to walkwithmebiblestudy at Gmail. Walkwithmebiblestudy at Gmail. One of the questions that was sent to me was well, we're talking about the Holy Ghost and this and that, but what about the guy who died on the cross? Jesus specifically said today, you will be with me in paradise, so, which means Jesus was already giving him a get into heaven free card. Well, let's talk about that, because the guy on the cross is absolutely a sinner, just like everyone is born a sinner and shaped in iniquity, right? So why don't we have the same, why don't we have the same get into heaven free pass that the sinner did? Because all the sinner did was basically quote, unquote accept the Lord as the personal savior. And this is where one of these denominations sort of branches off. That's where we come up with this accept the Lord as your personal Savior. And then this kind of shapes its own doctrine, but the doctrine has a flaw in it.
Speaker 1:So what we're going to do is we're going to talk about that right Now, this plan of salvation which included the baptism of the Holy Ghost. This was to be instituted after Jesus' resurrection, so when they were on the cross, jesus hadn't died yet. So therefore the resurrection could not have happened yet. Therefore the Holy Ghost wasn't given. But the entire gospel was about death, burial and resurrection Dying out to sin, buried in Jesus' name, baptism and getting the Holy Ghost. We talked about John 3 and 3. We talked about John 3 and 5. We're probably going to talk about it more, but it's important to realize that this was the plan all along Not accepting the fact that Jesus was Lord or accepting the Lord as your personal Savior. That's not it the reason why and let's go to the scripture it's going to be John 7. We're going to go from 7 and 38. And the reason I'm going to go there is because we're going to discuss exactly what Jesus was saying beforehand.
Speaker 1:7 and 38,. 39 says he that believes on me, as the Scripture has said. Now a lot of people want to leave out that second part. He that believes on me, as the Scripture has said. What does the scripture say? A man must be born of the water and of the spirit to see the kingdom of God. This is what he said. But we like to just say he that believes on me, out of his belly shall flow the rivers of living water. And you leave out the most important part of it 7 and 39. And here's very important.
Speaker 1:This parenthesis is probably one of the most parenthesized lines in the history of the universe. But this spake he of the Spirit. The Spirit was the rivers of living water which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given. Why? Because Jesus was not yet glorified. Read that again. This this believing on him, as the scripture has seen, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, was Jesus talking about the spirit. And if you believed on Jesus, the way the scripture said, you would receive it. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Given because Jesus was not yet glorified. So when you say, well, jesus was not yet glorified, jesus had not been raised into heaven yet, he had not gone or ascended from the mountain and glorified after the resurrection. So now Joel 2 and 28 is going to talk about this. And Joel 2 and 28 is going to talk about this.
Speaker 1:And Joel 2 and 28 says and it came to pass afterwards. I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. It shall come to pass afterwards. In other words, after the burial, after the death, after the pain, everything the flogging, I shall pour out my spirit upon all flesh. And what's going to happen once the spirit is poured out upon all flesh? Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Now, that's not necessarily to say to see the future.
Speaker 1:Prophesy in that text means to be witnesses. Shall preach, shall tell people about the fact that they have received the spirit of God. Your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions. Now, your young men shall see visions. Now your young men shall see vision. Old men shall.
Speaker 1:I could tell you some dreams that I've had after getting the Holy Ghost, and it was kind of the confirmation to me that I had actually gotten the Holy Ghost, because the devil will come up and tell you oh man, you don't have the Holy Ghost. This old da-da-da-da-da stuff that you're doing with your mouth, it's all fake. And then I went home and I started without even knowing this verse even existed in the Bible. I started having serious dreams of heaven. I jumped from hell and I jumped from a lot of different things. I jumped from the lake of fire, I jumped from the rapture. Maybe one day we'll go into all that. But your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see vision. Now let me tell you something. I was like 20, oh, my 23, maybe 20, 21, 22, 93. Yeah, I was 20 years old when I got the Holy Ghost, about 21. So I wasn't necessarily an old man at that time, but it was a confirmation that I had actually received the Holy Ghost.
Speaker 1:But this goes even further. The Bible further explains what happens to you when you get the Holy Ghost Isaiah 28, 11, and 12. Further, the bible further explains what happens to you when you get the holy ghost isaiah 28, 11 and 12. Over stammering lips and another tongue. Will he speak to his people, to whom he said this is the rest, where, with he, you may cause the weary to rest. This is the refreshing yet they would not hear. He's already telling us and when, when you get the Holy Ghost, you're going to speak in unknown tongues, your lips are going to stutter and say all kinds of Unrecognizable stuff, and there are a lot of people who are simply going to deny Getting this or not even try to get this, because they don't want to hear it and because one of the things that we do, we sort of honor our denominational upbringing.
Speaker 1:For instance, jj was raised Baptist. I'm just going to put it out there. I was raised Baptist and I never heard the tongues at the end of my life until I think I was in high school, and I didn't even know there was such a thing as fake tongues. Maybe one day we'll talk about that. But I was in high school and I felt a touch of God with we went to go sing at a church and it was completely different. That was when I felt the touch of god and I didn't hear god again until 93, so or 94. So it's kind of um, it's a whole new experience.
Speaker 1:But they, the people who will not hear, is where we start getting all these weird, not weird. We start getting these erroneous doctrines. And again, this is not to say that everyone who comes up with the doctrine is necessarily evil. They may mean one. They may just be trying to find a way to experience the rest of God, the closeness with God, the relationship with God, the Spirit of God. They're just trying to figure out a way, but the Bible's telling them, but they don't hear it. His Spirit is our rest. Please understand that the Spirit is our rest. 1 Corinthians 14 and 4, right, and while we turn in there, please understand that when it talks about the Spirit being our rest, this is going to be a whole different subject that we're going to have to go into.
Speaker 1:That's not a 10-minute discussion. Okay, now, 1 Corinthians 14 and 4 says he that speaks in the unknown tongue edifies himself. He that prophesies edifies the church. This is here delineating the difference between the person who's just worshiping and he's speaking in tongues, and he's just off in the corner. He's speaking in tongues and he just worshiping and he's speaking in tongues and he's just off in the corner. He's speaking in tongues and he's worshiping God. And I'm not just talking about just random. You'll know it when you see. But he's just worshiping God. He's really strengthening himself, but the person who is preaching is edifying the entire church, is building up the entire church, is strengthening the entire church. So we're talking about just different experiences in getting the Holy Ghost, and being strengthened personally is absolutely necessary. Even the preachers have to get strengthened from now on. Again, don't let people tell you that preachers just don't need strengthening and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:This goes into the next question. Again, I thank you guys for the questions. I really do. One of the real questions was how do you know when you have received the Holy Ghost? The only way to really do it, just like we know when we're out and about and we get instruction manuals and we get recipes, and we get, you know, recipes from cookbooks and stuff like that. We look at the results. If you do, if you follow the recipe right when you're building the gate, you get a nice gate. If you don't follow the recipe right, you get something else, but it may not be nice, but it may even taste okay, but it won't be the full experience of what the recipe intended for you to do. So let's talk about that.
Speaker 1:Acts 2, 1 through 4, and then 38-4. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord, in one place, and suddenly there came from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and they filled all the house where they were sitting. Let's stop right there. I will tell you right now JJ did not hear any wind when I got the Holy Spirit, at least if I did. I don't remember. As a matter of fact, it was kind of, yeah, I did not hear any wind, okay, so if you don't hear any wind, but you get the Holy Ghost, don't panic. All right, there appeared unto them cloven tongues, actors of fire, and sat upon each of them. My head was not on fire, okay, I'll tell you my experience. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit of God gave them utterance. That happened to me. That happened, and let's just pause here, because what happened?
Speaker 1:I remember the fact that I was trying to pray I mean like really trying to pray and my mouth stopped working. And I remember trying, trying so hard, trying so hard to pray, trying so hard to pray. It was like my tongue was kind of glued to the back of my mouth. It was like my tongue was kind of glued to the back of my mouth and it was like and I literally couldn't make and form words. And I remember there was a guy who was at the church with us and they were already members of this church and it was Brother John and a couple other people Brother Ren, I wonder where they are but they were there and they were saying just let it out, let it out, let it out. And I had no idea what they were talking about and it was like literally trying to pull a diesel truck uphill with your fingers. It was almost impossible and sure enough, it just sort of broke free.
Speaker 1:And this happened after I got baptized, because I knew then that something was going on. And I got baptized because I knew then that something was going on. And I got baptized in Jesus name. And then it happened that I got the Holy Ghost and I couldn't stop it and it was, it was almost. I've never experienced it anything like that before in my life. I've had touches of God, I've felt the presence of God in different places, but this, my friends, this, my fellow walkers, was a completely different experience that even now I'm sort of choking up because it changed me so completely from the person I was and there were some changes that were evident right away and there were some changes that took a little while for God to kind of work through.
Speaker 1:But that night and it was during a revival we had a six-week revival. Maybe this is why JJ is still partial to revivals. But it was literally we were praying and then it just sort of broke free and literally like someone just grabbed my tongue and just said, okay, let it go. And it just came out. And after that, one thing I will tell you guys, you walkers, I will tell you once you get the real Holy Ghost, you will recognize fake tongues from a mile away. You will absolutely recognize fake tongues. Oakland, messiah, time by time, driving a red Hyundai. That ain't going to work for you. It just won't work Because what's happening is now you're faking a thing that can never happen to you. But I'm off the beaten path here.
Speaker 1:Let's go back and finish reading, because we're still in Acts, chapter 2. And Peter said unto them now we're in verse 38. And Peter said unto them repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord, our God, shall call and with many other words, be testified and exhort, saying save yourselves from this untoward generation. Now let me tell you something that even as many as the Lord, our God, shall call, and the part of the sentence right above that, and those that are far off, peter is not talking about distance. He's not talking about from Jerusalem to Cyprus. He's not talking about from Jerusalem to Cyprus. He's not talking about from Jerusalem to Beijing. He's talking about from year 33 AD to 2024. He's talking about all the way down in a three-dimensional sense, both in a distance and linear feet, or distance and linear year. God can call you today. God is probably calling you right now, just while you're listening to this podcast. Even as many as the Lord, our God, shall call and with many other words that he testified and exhorts, saying save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Speaker 1:Walkers, let's take a breath for a second. How many generations have been more untoward than this one? How many? And it seems as if it gets worse and worse Because we are not toward God, we are moving away from God. So we are moving in an untoward direction. So, that being said, that being said, this is why the word of God can never go out of style and can never get stale or spoiled. This untoward generation, the next generation will be even more untoward. The next generation will be more untoward until Jesus comes back and he raptures us away.
Speaker 1:So it's a very important fact to understand that when you do receive the Holy Ghost, you will be in touch. Why? Because the Bible says so. They didn't make that up. Said they didn't make that up, that's not to say you won't feel God, god won't touch you, but it's kind of like and I hate to put it in sort of a carnal way but when you get touched by someone you love, you want more right. A touch of God is just designed to get you to want more right. A touch of God is just designed to get you to want more. When you spend time with someone that you really love, you want to spend more time with them. You want to be able to speak more to them. You want more communication with them. You want to get a deeper communication with them. This is exactly, if you have had a touch of God and you know what I'm talking about when have had a touch of God and you know what I'm talking about when I say a touch of God something popped into your mind, a scene popped into your mind right now, of a time that you actually felt the presence of God. That was designed as a call for you to get a deeper relationship. Not everybody's going to feel that call, unfortunately, not everybody's going to feel that call. Unfortunately, not everybody's going to feel that touch. Unfortunately, not everybody's going to get that desire, unfortunately and don't ask me why because that's between God and you. If you reject God too many times, he's just going to move on, okay. That being said, if you do get the Holy Ghost, you will speak in tongues. Now I have heard, and again, this is where some of the denominationalism starts creeping in. I have heard people say that speaking in tongues in Acts, chapter 2 is just the benefit of the people who were there. Well, if that's the case, then why did it happen again in Acts, chapter 19? Why did it happen again in Acts, chapter 10? But remember, in verse 14, when Peter stood up to preach to the people, he did not speak in tongues. He spoke in a language that everybody could understand, which, at that time, was Aramaic. He spoke in a common language that everybody could understand and just like, if, right now, if you're listening to me in English, then this is a common language that you understand, this is not speaking in tongues. Now, when the apostles were speaking in tongues, the crowd heard them by accident. Yes, the crowd heard them by accident and this is why they started trying to make fun of it. Oh, these people are drunk, these people are out of their minds. So when the apostles were praising and worshiping and dancing so hard that the bystanders thought they were drunk, peter wasn't talking to them. He was talking to God already and the people interrupted them with questions. So, that being said, I mean, if we can go all along the line, and we will, but right now we're kind of running out of time. We're going to talk about Acts, chapter 8. But right now I have to let you guys know I have a very interesting question that was sort of born out of denominationalism and I'm going to be ready for this next week. A co-worker asked me where is hell? So we are going to talk about that next week, and then we're going to get back into avoiding denominationalism for the next week. Thank you all so much for joining us. Thank you all so much for being a part of this community. I love each and every one of you. Thank you for downloading and sharing it. I thank you for those who are telling other people about it. We are growing by leaps and bounds family we are, and it's not because of JJ, I'm just a guy with a microphone. It's because of you, and I thank each and every one of you. Let somebody know that you love them. Let somebody know that God loves them. All right, I'll see you all on the next one. Bye-bye.