What is the Latter Rain of the Spirit?

SPEAKER B Greetings and a very warm welcome to You Shall Receive Power. I'm Ettienne McClintock and with me in the studio is my co host Colin Hone. You Shall Receive Power is based on a text, a promise from Jesus to his disciples in to us. And it comes from Acts chapter one, verse eight where it says you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The handbook we are using apart from the Bible, because the Bible is the number one for us is the book by Pastor Dennis Smith called 50 Days Prayers and Devotionals to prepare for the latter rain and Christ's soon return. But just before we start our study, just bow with us in a word of prayer. Our dear Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for your love and your compassion, especially as revealed through Jesus, your Son, that he gave his life for us to demonstrate your garpe love to us at the right time. And Father, as we now submit to you, we just pray for the baptism of your Holy Spirit, that the words of truth which we will read will be inspired and our minds will be illuminated through them by the Spirit of truth. Baptize us afresh with your Holy Spirit and bless the person that's listening to us today. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Colin, welcome. Good to have you in the studio again today. SPEAKER C It's great to be here Ettienne. SPEAKER B So our lesson this day is day 13 in the book and it's called what is the Latter Rain of the Spirit. So I'm looking forward to us unpacking that a little bit more today. SPEAKER C Yes. The latter rain of the Holy Spirit. So when we look at the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit's been working in the world ever since creation edie and he's been there right before the 7th day creation week. The Bible says in Genesis chapter one, verse one to two. And if you'd like to read that Eddie, and that'd be great. SPEAKER B Sure. It says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the sea was without form and void and darkness was on the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. SPEAKER C So right there at creation, the Holy Spirit was involved in creation. We know the Father was involved in creation. It says all things were created through Jesus and for Jesus and by Jesus. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C And so also it says the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit was moving upon the faces of the waters. So from the very beginning the Holy Spirit has been an active agent in the world and the affairs of mankind. SPEAKER B Wonderful. Yes. So the Spirit of God there's right in the first two verses of chapter one, the beginning of the bible, and we see the work of the Spirit all the way through the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit working together for the uplifting of mankind and for restoration back to fellowship with God. SPEAKER C So we're going to look at what the work of the Holy Spirit is, and we're going to look at specifically, we're going to get into what is the latter reign of the Holy Spirit, because the Bible talks about being born again. It talks about the early reign and the latter reign. And so we want to unpack what those things mean wonderful from God's work. You know, the first work in the lives of men and women is to guide into the truths of God's word. Into the truths of God's word. And so that is the very first work. And it's the Holy Spirit who brings about what's called the born again experience in one's life. And when we read in John, chapter three, verse five, john, chapter three, verse five, jesus comes to, I believe, to Nicodemus. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C And it says some amazing words to Jesus. Jesus says to Nicodemus, sorry, yes. SPEAKER B Actually, maybe I'll just read verse three as well. Jesus answered and said to him, him being Nicodemus, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So that new birth experience. But then we get to verse five. It says, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. So first one is born again to see, and the Holy Spirit's definitely involved in that. And then, of course, the baptism of the Holy Spirit so he can enter. So that's the second part of the work of the Spirit there. SPEAKER C Yeah. So you have this jesus said you've got to be born of what? Water. SPEAKER B Water, yes. SPEAKER C And the spirit. So water and the spirit. And no one would everyone accept Christ as, say, without the Holy Spirit's, convicting power. It's the Holy Spirit that convicts us and leads us to Jesus. This is and has always been the very first work of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of sin and lead us to Jesus. And you can read about in John, chapter 16. Jesus says he will, when the Holy Spirit comes he will what? SPEAKER B Convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. SPEAKER C And that's for everybody. The Holy Spirit's working on every heart in the world to get them to respond to Jesus, to convict them of sin. Because it says in the Bible, paul says, we've all sinned and fall short of the glory of God, so we're all sinners, and so he convicts us of sin and leads us to Jesus, our Savior, to save us from our sin. SPEAKER B That's right. Jesus is that light. John, chapter one, and verse nine. Christ is the light that lights every man and woman that comes into the world. So the Holy Spirit is working on us from day one, basically. SPEAKER C That's right. So he's convict us of sin to lead us to Jesus, who is the remedy for sin, who died and paid the penalty on the cross for our sins. There's also a second, deeper experience in the Spirit, which is called the baptism or infilling or anointing of the Holy Spirit. And in the Old Testament, this experience of the Holy Spirit was not available to every believer. SPEAKER B Okay, that's interesting. SPEAKER C Wasn't available to every believer. Individuals such as Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Prophets, etc. Who were uniquely called to fulfill a specific purpose at a specific time, experienced the special anointing of the Holy Spirit. But amazingly, the prophet Joel prophesied one day a day would come when the anointing of the Spirit would be available to all believers. And he also prophesied about two outpourings of the Holy Spirit. He talks about what's called the former or early reign of the Holy Spirit and the latter reign. And we can read that in Joel chapter two, verses 23 to 32 or 22 to 32. SPEAKER B Okay, so Joel chapter two, verse 23. It says, be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the former rain faithfully, and he will cause the rain to come down for you, the former rain and the latter rain. In the first month the threshing floor shall be full of wheat, and the VAT shall overflow with new wine and oil. So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, the chewing locust, my great army which are sent among you, you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied. The praise, the name of the Lord your God who has dealt wondrously with you. And My people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel. I am the Lord your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame, and it shall come to pass afterwards that I will pour out My spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions, and also on my men's servant and on my maid servant. I will pour out My spirit in those days, and I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance. And the Lord has said among the remnant who the Lord calls. SPEAKER C So in these verses, Joel prophesied that the former reign or early reign of the Spirit would take place following the time when the I Am appeared in Israel, the I Am appeared in Israel, which referred to Israel's Messiah, Jesus Christ, remember Jesus himself? He referred to himself as the I am God of Israel. And we can read that in John chapter eight, verse 58, jesus says, I Am. SPEAKER B Yes, most assuredly. I say to you before Abraham was I am. SPEAKER C And I love what it said. There also that there will be a remnant who the Lord will call. He called a remnant out of Israel in Jesus'time in the last days, it talks about a remnant being called out as well in the last. So hence the New Testament times. Following the appearance of the I Am, which is Jesus in Israel, this Spirit infilling became available to more widely experienced because I'll pour out My Spirit on all flesh. SPEAKER B Yes, that's right. SPEAKER C Yeah. Every believer in Jesus Christ can receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus indicated this great outpouring of the Spirit would take place soon after he ascended to the Father, when he would intercede for this to take place. And we can read about that in John chapter 14, verse 16 to 18. John, chapter 14, verse 16 to 18, where Jesus says, and I'll pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive. See, the world cannot receive this, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for he dwells with you. So the Holy Spirit was dwelling with them? SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C And shall be in you. So the Holy Spirit was going to be in them? SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C And then Jesus says, I will not leave you as orphans or comfortless. I will come to you. So here Jesus is giving this promise of another comforter after he goes back. SPEAKER B To heaven, and then the Holy Spirit will resent Jesus, and he says, I will come to you, but he'll come to us through the Holy Spirit. It also reminds me of verse 23 where Jesus answered and said to them, if anyone loves Me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love Him, and we so the Father and the Son will come to him and make our home with Him. SPEAKER C That's right. And then in Acts chapter one, verse four to five and eight, jesus then gives us command about this promise just before he goes back to heaven. And he talks about in Acts chapter one, verse four to five and eight. SPEAKER B Okay. Verse four says, and being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to 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. And then, verse eight, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. SPEAKER C So Jesus made this promise and this outpouring or anointing or baptism of the Holy Spirit took place on the day of Pentecost. And it's been available to every believer in Jesus Christ since that time. And this is called the early reign or the former reign of the Holy Spirit. So when the former early reign baptism of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, those who saw the event questioned what this was. People were going, are these people drunk? What's going on? And Peter told them that this was a fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. In Acts chapter two, verse 14 to 18, in Acts chapter two, verse 14 to 18, peter standing up with the eleven. He lift up to his voice and said to him, ye men of Judea and all that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you and hearken to my words. For these are not drunken as you suppose, seeing it be just the third hour of the day. It's 09:00 in the morning. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. See Peter's quoting Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, said God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And on My servants and on My handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy. That's in Acts chapter two, verse 14 to 18. And so this was a widespread experience in the Holy Spirit for the Christian, and the church grew to be fully under his direction and control. And this Spirit baptism experience is available to all Christians today. So what we call this first experience in the Spirit is born again. And so we want to unpack what it means to be born again, baptized with the Holy Spirit. And we're going to talk about the latter reign, born again, early reign and latter rain. And we want to just go to God's word and see what it says about great. And so the first experience of the Spirit is what's called born again, where Jesus said to them to Nicodemus, you must be born of the water and the Spirit. And so we also know that in the Book of Joel and the Book of Revelation indicates there'll be a third, more powerful experience in the Spirit just before Jesus returns. And this great outpouring, the Holy Spirit is called the latter reign of the Holy Spirit. So remember, the first Spirit is to be born again. And that experience is of accepting Christ as one Savior. When you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, right, you're born again. The second experience in the Spirit is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or the early reign of the Holy Spirit, right, which has been available to all Christians since Pentecost. And the third experience of the Spirit is called the latter reign of the Holy Spirit. Now, the early reign and the baptism Holy Spirit and the latter reign of the Spirit are very similar in many ways. The Baptist and the Holy Spirit occurred in answer to what? A ten day prayer meeting? Yes, a ten day prayer meeting in fulfillment of Jesus promise. And it began when God answered the prayers, their prayers, by pouring out his Spirit in the early reign of the day of Pentecost. And so the third experience, Eddie and listeners, is that the third experience of the Spirit, the latter reign outpouring of the Holy Spirit, will begin when God answers the prayers of fully committed last day believers who are claiming the promise of God for the latter reign. So it's going to be an answer to prayer. Now, in the Book of Acts, we see the Holy Spirit was in full control of God's church under the early reign baptism of the Holy Spirit. And here's the good news. During the latter reign, the church will once again be fully controlled and directed by the Holy Spirit, but with even greater latterain power of the Spirit we're. SPEAKER B Seen in the church something to look forward to. That sounds wonderful. We know the power that was manifested in God's people through the proclaiming of the message of a crucified and risen savior and a high priest in the heavenly sanctuary ministering on their behalf. And just imagine the same glory being present here on the earth. And I believe in a time when there'll be a lot of darkness on the earth from a spiritual perspective that will make the glory of God shine even brighter because of the relevant darkness in which it will be shining. SPEAKER C So let's talk about, Eddie, what it means to be baptized. Okay, what does baptism mean? I mean, to be baptized in the Greek means to be immersed. And the ceremonial water immersion Jesus commanded all believers to participate is an evidence of their born again experience. In Matthew 28, verse 19, it says that in the New Testament as baptism, so the believer is to be baptized or immersed in water. So it means fully immersed underwater. And so when an individual accepts Jesus under the Holy Spirit's convicting power, so they've convicted him of sin, led to Jesus, and they accept the forgiveness that Jesus offers them. They are what's? And they're baptized into what's called the body of Christ. And if you go to one Corinthians chapter twelve, so that's One Corinthians chapter twelve, verses twelve to 14, paul describes this word using the body of Christ and baptism. SPEAKER B For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ for by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one spirit. For in fact, the body is not one member, but many. SPEAKER C That's right. So the word baptize is used because the new believer is placed to or immersed into the body of the Christ by the Spirit. Therefore, an individual becoming a part of the body of Christ or church is called baptism. You can't have one without the other. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C This baptism, of course, is different from the water baptism john the Baptist referred to Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit and fire. Remember? SPEAKER B That's right. SPEAKER C He said in Matthew, chapter three, verse eleven, he says, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he who comes after me is mightier than I whose shoes I'm not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Here we see the idea of Jesus baptizing believers with the Holy Spirit and with fire. SPEAKER B And as he's making a contrast there between his water baptism and the baptism that Jesus would give them, which is the baptism of the Spirit and fire. And that text we just read before there in one Corinthians, chapter twelve and verse 13, it says, for by one Spirit you were all baptized into one body. Again, it's not referring to water here. Well, the water is part of the whole process, we're not denying that. But it says that they were baptized into one body by the Holy Spirit. So the baptism, the Holy Spirit is clearly taught in the New Testament. SPEAKER C That's why Jesus said to Nicodemus, you must be born of what? Water. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C And the word and means also, plus yeah, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit with fire. And so that's what John the Baptist even said to Jesus, I'm baptizing with water for repentance. And that's what the baptism of water immersion means, repentance. But he says, Jesus will baptize you with the Holy Spirit with fire. And so here we see the idea of Jesus baptizing believers with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And as we have seen, believers were baptized with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C And this spirit baptism has been available for all Christians since that day. Therefore, in one sense, when the believer is baptized by the Spirit, he or she is immersed in the Spirit, just like you're immersed in water. Other expressions used for being baptized by the Spirit are to be filled with the Spirit, anointed with the Spirit and clothed with the Spirit just means to be immersed with the Holy Spirit. So there's three Holy Spirit experiences, I believe from God's word. And as we've seen so far, there are three experiences spoken the Bible. Each experience is more powerful than the previous because each one adds more Holy Spirit power to the believer's life and work. The first is the conversion power of the Holy Spirit, that's the first work is to convert us the conversion power of the Holy Spirit. The second added power of the Spirit is called the early reign, or the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And the third Holy Spirit experience will be the latter reign of the Holy Spirit, which will add even more Holy Spirit power to the born again early reign spirit baptized believer's life. Also, from our discussion edie and of the concept of the baptism, we see that the third experience in the Spirit called the latter rain of the Spirit could also be known, or called the baptism of the Holy Spirit as well. SPEAKER B Yes, okay. SPEAKER C However, to avoid confusion, because it is the baptism of the Holy Spirit in fire, but to avoid confusion, the Bible and Christians in general use expression baptism the Holy Spirit to refer to the early reign that became available to all believers from the Day of Pentecost. And their latter reign is at the end, when God is going to pour out His Holy Spirit. So we want to ask what will it be like when the third Holy Spirit experience called the latter rain outpouring the Holy Spirit takes place? What will it be like? And so I believe if we unpack what it was like in the early rain experience, we might get an idea of what it'll be like when the latter rain of the Holy Spirit is poured out. So when we closely examine what happened following the Day of Pentecost, we learned that the latter rain will be similar. It'll be very similar, except it will manifest more of the Holy Spirit's power in the earth than the previous outpouring. So let's have a look at what happened following Pentecost as described in the biblical book The Acts of the Apostles. What happened following the early reign experience of the Holy Spirit? Acts, chapter one, verse four to eight. How did this all start? What did the disciples do first? SPEAKER B And it says and being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father. So it's interesting here that Jesus actually gives them a command. And of course, if they're faithful and obedient to the command, they will receive the subsequent blessings as well. So there's a process here. He commands them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you have heard from me for John truly baptized with water. So here is the distinction again between John's baptism and what Jesus would give but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, saying, lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be a witness to me in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. SPEAKER C So the outpour in the early reign began as a result of a ten day prayer meeting? Yes, that's how it started. Jesus gave the command and they prayed where all who participated were in one place. And the other thing I love is they were in one accord. Yes, they all together in one accord in one place, united in their prayerful, claiming of Jesus promise. In Acts chapter one. And the first outpouring, the Spirit, began on the day of Pentecost when all who were praying so all those who were praying were filled with the Holy Spirit. And it says that in Acts chapter two, verse two to four. So we want to look at what happened when the early reign of the Holy Spirit was poured out in the early church, what actually happened to the church. And in the book of Acts, we see the Holy Spirit power accompanying the preaching of the apostles because it says, you'll be my witnesses. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C And you see the preaching of the apostles. Thousands of hearers were converted and accepted Christ as their savior. SPEAKER B I look forward to hearing exactly what happened under the power of the outpouring of the former reign or the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as you just mentioned. So, dear listener, we're just going to take a break now. We'll have a little bit of music and then when we come back, we'll unpack that a little bit further. Stay tuned. SPEAKER A On the breath of God. Fill me with life anew that I may love what thou does love and do what thou Wastu you until my heart is true until my will is one with I to do and to and breathe on me breathe on me so that I will never die breathe on me breathe on me grant me everlasting light everlasting light breathe on me breath of God till I am holy thy until this earthly part of me glows with thy fire divine until this earthly part of me close with thy father divine breathe on me close. SPEAKER B That beautiful song was brought to you by Steve Green and it's called Breathe On Me, breath of God. Well, welcome to part two of today's program, you are with You Shall Receive Power. And you're in the studios here with Colin Hone and myself, Etienne McClintock. Now, just before the break, we were discussing what happened to the believers on the day of Pentecost and the experience they had subsequent to receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now I'm keen to see what's going on here, Colin. So looking forward to part two and where the Bible will take us in our study. SPEAKER C So we just looked at that the Holy Spirit power accompanying the preaching of the apostles. So it gave them power to witness and to preach. So obviously, one of the purposes of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the early reign was power to witness and preach. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C And thousands of heroes were converted and accepted Christ as their savior. Jesus had foretold the coming of the Holy Spirit power for witnessing. Acts chapter one eight. You shall receive power when the Holy. SPEAKER B Spirit comes upon you. Yes. And you'll be witnesses. SPEAKER C You'll be witnesses. So that's the number one thing is for witnessing. We also see the believers after the day of Pentecost continuing steadfastly and persistently in the apostles doctrine in fellowship, breaking a bread and prayer. And that's in Acts chapter two, verse 42. So they spent time together in the apostles doctrine, which is Bible study. Yes, they studied God's word together, they're in fellowship, they broke bread together or they ate together and they spent time in prayer. They held to the truth and teaching of God's word. They were a people of God's word. The Bible. And this sweet fellowship that began with a ten day prayer meeting continued. As they daily united in prayerful fellowship, so they continue praying together. We also see there was a spirit of generosity was seen following the Day of Pentecost experience in Acts chapter two, verse 44 to 45. You see this spirit of generosity where they looked after each other, took care of each other's needs. You can read that in Acts chapter two, verse 44 to five. But where they came together and they took care of one another's needs, they took care of the poor, they took care of each other. SPEAKER B That shows even a change in mindset and attitude, because we are born by nature, selfish, we're egocentric, and these people are no longer looking out for their own interests. They're now looking out for the interest of the fellow believers. And they have all things in common and they're sharing things. So it shows the power of the Spirit of God to transform and change the mind. We are to be transformed by the renewing of a mind and we are to have the mind of Christ, aren't we? So these people are definitely demonstrating when they receive the Spirit of God that Christ is in them, their hope of glory. And if we receive the baptisms of the Holy Spirit, we will also have that experience where it's no longer about us, but it's about Jesus Christ, his righteousness, his love and our fellow man, which is really the fulfillment of the law. Love to God and love to our fellow man. SPEAKER C Exactly. So what is the fruit of the Spirit? SPEAKER B Well, the first one is love, then joy, then peace, then long suffering. SPEAKER C Yeah. Jesus says, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments and love the Father and love your neighbor as yourself. So they were not only they'd received the love of God, it says in the Bible that the love of God is poured in our hearts. By the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER B That's right. SPEAKER C And so that was then transforming them and that love was spreading out to their neighbors. SPEAKER B It was seen in action and in attitude. SPEAKER C That's right. And so there was a spirit of generosity with no selfish ambition, no greed or stinginess. These early Christians were anxious to help their fellow believers who were in need. They were reflecting the character of Christ in every aspect of their life. Now we also noticed in book of Acts that they also continued in daily fellowship with prayer meetings in the temple. So obviously in church they were coming together in church to pray or back then at their temples and in their homes. So there's prayer happening in the church if we want to put it today and in our homes. These early believers had singleness of heart united with one burden was to know and serve Christ as well as to win others to Him. So they came together and they were a praying church. And I know, I'm the coordinator of a conference, a prayer coordinator for a conference and I know that we've recognized that we need to be a praying church. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C We need to start praying in our homes, we need to start praying in our churches. We need to be a praying church. And so we even have a prayer conference in September as well. We've got prayer coordinators now in the schools. We've got a prayer coordinator in our churches to encourage God's people to come together and start praying outpouring the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER B Amen. Well, that's part of the four ingredients. The things that they continued doing obviously was holding steadfast to the doctrines, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. So prayer was an essential ingredient, one of the four pillars really regarding their communion with God and the communion and fellowship and love for one another. SPEAKER C That's right. So we need to be a praying church. That's what we can learn from this. We notice when they started being generous, when they started praying and in their, in their homes praying together. So we would call that today small groups. SPEAKER B Yes, that's right. SPEAKER C The early church was a small group movement of people coming together in the homes and in the churches to pray together, eat together, fellowship together and to study God's word together. And then it says because of they did these things that God brought them into favor with all people so God could then trust them to bring them into favor with their neighborhoods where they lived. And it says in Acts chapter two, verse 46 to 47, that they found favor with the people and then the Lord added daily to their number who were being saved. So it resulted by putting these ingredients together. It's like baking a good meal. If you get the right ingredients you're going to get a meal that's going to taste good. You put the wrong ingredients, it's not going to taste so good. And it's not going to be flavorism or find favor with the people. And so they found favor with the people also. Idian there was the Gospel of deliverance was preached and experienced. SPEAKER B Okay, so what does that mean? SPEAKER C Let's go to Acts, chapter five. Acts, chapter five, verses twelve to 16. SPEAKER B Acts chapter five. From verse twelve and through the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch, yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. And believers were increasingly added to the Lord multitudes of both men and women, so that they brought the sick out into the street and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. SPEAKER C So the Gospel of deliverance was preached just like Jesus. He's almost like his first sermon when he got up in the synagogue and he says, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, that's right to deliver the sick, to heal the sick. And so they also were doing the same works as Jesus, because Jesus said in John chapter 14, verse twelve, the works that I do, you also shall do, but even with greater power. Yes, because there was multitude of them doing it. So it had spread out. And so we see that the sick were healed, devils were cast out, the dead were raised, and many individuals were one to Christ. Now, one of the most striking phenomena following the day of Pentecost in the record of the Holy Spirit, directing the church in very clear and dramatic ways. Really? The book of Acts should be called the book of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was directing the church in a powerful way. I'm just going to go for just a few quick things. SPEAKER B Yeah, sure. SPEAKER C That what happened because of the Holy Spirit was in charge of the Church. In Acts chapter five, verse one to three, the Holy Spirit revealed important information to Peter about a deception in the church by two individuals and an ice and sapphira. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C In Acts chapter five, verse 17 to 20, angels intervened for the progress of the church when Peter was delivered from prison. In Acts chapter eight, verses 26 to 29 and verse 39, the angel of the Lord and the Holy Spirit spoke directions to Philip concerning an Ethiopian to whom God wanted the Gospel taught. I mean, Philip just appears on the road next to the Ethiopian and he just happens to be reading the Book of then, you know, Philip's invited to give him a Bible study and he went through all the prophecies in the Bible about the Messiah Jesus, including in the Book of Isaiah as well. And so the Holy Spirit conducted what I set up, set up divine appointments. So the Holy Spirit will set up divine appointments. We look also in Acts chapter eleven, verse twelve, where the Holy Spirit related specific directions to Peter concerning God's acceptance of Gentile believers. Remember he gave a dream to Cornelius? Yes. Then Peter's caught in a vision. He gives this symbolic dream about unclean and clean animals. Right, because the Jews had looked at Gentiles as unclean. SPEAKER B That's right. SPEAKER C And then he gives this dream. So Peter got it and he goes back and he was led to accept the Gentiles as part of the church. We also read of in Acts chapter eleven, verse 27 to 28, and Acts chapter 21, verse nine, the gift of the prophecy. The gift of prophecy was in operation by the Holy Spirit in the early church. So these things we see are going to happen the last day, the gift of prophecy will be seen in God's Last Day Church. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C God's Last Day Church will have the spirit of prophecy. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C I mean you can read about that in Acts chapter sorry, acts in Revelations chapter twelve where it says the dragon or Satan goes to make war with. SPEAKER B The remnant of his seed. SPEAKER C Yeah. On God's last day church. And he gives them specifies characteristics of what God's Last Day Church will be. It says one, they'll keep the commandments of God. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C So look for a church that upholds the ten commandments of God. It also says that they'll have the testimony of Jesus. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C And in Revelations chapter 19, it says that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. So God's Last Day remnant church who will receive the latter reign, will keep the commandments of God. They'll have the spirit of prophecy. It also says that they'll be taking the three angels message to the world in Revelations 14, verse six to twelve. SPEAKER B That's right. SPEAKER C They'll be taking the everlasting Gospel and the three angels message, a warning message, judgment has begun according to the prophecies in Daniel. SPEAKER B That's right. Now all those elements you've just said there cannot be accomplished without the Holy Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit. How can we keep the commandments? How can we overcome our selfish human nature unless we have Christ within us and we know it's the Holy Spirit in us that represents Christ. And also to have the spirit of prophecy, someone has to have the Holy Spirit to have that. So they have that gift that God has given them. And of course the last one to proclaim the message to be witnesses all around the world that is also under the power of the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is a crucial part of this whole process of saving us, converting us, baptizing us to be effective witnesses, to proclaim the message so that more people can be added to this number to prepare for the soon. SPEAKER C Return of Jesus Christ and preparing us for the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The lattering of the Holy Spirit, which we're going to go into a little bit in a minute. SPEAKER B Okay. SPEAKER C And so also the Holy Spirit told the church in Acts chapter 13 two, the Holy Spirit decided set aside Barnabas and Saul for the work he called them to do. The Holy Spirit called people aside to do certain work. Okay? And also in Acts chapter 15, verse 28 they had this like a conference or a council in Jerusalem determine what was to be required of the new gentle believers that was directed by the Holy Spirit as well. In Acts chapter 16, verse six to seven and Acts chapter 16, verse ten, the Spirit intervened to stop a planned missionary journey and gave a vision to direct where to go. He says, don't go there, go there. The Holy Spirit was even directing where to go and where not to go. So some have stated that the Book of Acts of the Apostles should be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit and I agree. The moving, directing, empowering and convicting of the Holy Spirit are clearly seen in the experience of the early church following Pentecost and Eddie. I'm sure that every Christian who's read the Book of Acts in the New Testament has longed for the same manifestation of the Holy Spirit to happen in his or her life or in our church life. We want to see what happens back in the Book of Acts and here's the good news. Eddie the good news is the Holy Spirit wants to manifest his early reign power in the church today. SPEAKER B Amen. Good news, and that is great news. SPEAKER C And even greater news is secondly, the Spirit will manifest himself in even more powerful ways when the latter reign of the Holy Spirit is poured out. SPEAKER B Church colin that just reminds me of my own experience. If I would share my testimony, people would be familiar with this. My first experience with the Lord when the Lord's goodness was given to me and I realized for two weeks that I hadn't thought a bad thought or a negative thought or a dark thought for about two weeks and I realized that God had changed my life and he had changed my mind. I didn't realize that all this goodness and this grace and this love and this joy and this peace that I was experiencing was on offer. I read about it, but it's not until I experienced it that I really grasped wow, this is a great and marvelous experience. Why did I not come for this earlier? Why didn't I seek the Lord earlier? And when you receive the blessings that God is wanting to put upon you, you will be blown away by how wonderful, how glorious and how beautiful this experience is. Now, Colin, today you've unpacked some of the things that happened under the power of the Holy Spirit. And as good as it sounds, we know that when we experience it, it will be even greater. So the question is what will happen when the latter rain experience of the Holy Spirit takes place. I wonder if you can unpack that for us a little bit, Colin. SPEAKER C Well, Jesus says, right, just before Jesus returns there will be a great outpour in the Holy Spirit called the Latter Rain. And Revelations 18, verse one describes this event revelations 18 one describes this event where the earth is described as being lighted with God's glory. And we've looked at in previous chapters of going through this devotional that God's glory is his character. Because remember when Moses said to God in Exodus, show me your glory? SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C And God says, yeah, I'll show you my glory, I'll let my name pass before you. SPEAKER B Oh my goodness. SPEAKER C Oh my goodness. I'm merciful, I'm grace gracious to, I want to be gracious. And then God gives them the Ten Commandments, which is a transcript of God's character of love. And so what it's saying here is god's glory lighting up this earth means his character will be seen 100% in his people. And this prophecy in Revelations 18, verse one, foretells a time when a great revival and reformation will take place amongst God's people. Christ's character will be fully reflected in their lives. You remember in Revelations 14, verse one, the prophecy is also given that God's name will be on people's foreheads. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C So that his name member is his character. SPEAKER B That's right. SPEAKER C And his law. And remember in Hebrews chapter eight and Hebrews chapter ten, it also says God's law or the Holy Spirit wants to write God's Ten Commandments on our mind where's our mind on our forehead. SPEAKER B That's right. SPEAKER C In our hearts. That's god's character. SPEAKER B That's right. SPEAKER C Which is a transcript of his law. SPEAKER B That's the covenant, the everlasting covenant promise. SPEAKER C That's the new covenant where he wants to write it on our minds and our hearts. So Christ's character will be fully reflected in their lives. So we want to ask the question how will this happen? It'll happen as a result of God's people being filled with the Holy Spirit in Corinthians three, verse 18 where it says as we behold Jesus, we are transformed into Christ's image from glory to glory. So it's character transformation and it's a process though. We're on a process now. The early reign is about growing. Yes, we are growing into the character of Jesus from glory to glory character, character in preparation for the final latter reign of the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER B That is such a powerful text. It's by beholding we are beholding the glory of God. The glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image. So whose image? The image of Christ. Yes. And then it says by the Spirit of the Lord and we are changed from glory to glory. So there's a continuous growth and development. We more fully reflect the glory of God and the character of Christ by beholding Him. And we are transformed and changed, it says, by the Spirit of the Lord. SPEAKER C So how we transform that by beholding Jesus. That means spending time with Jesus in His Word in prayer throughout the day, spending time in His Word in prayer and witnessing you're spending time with Jesus, you are being transformed by the Holy Spirit into his image. And finally that's through the early reign of the Holy Spirit's. The growth and that's what we're going through now, is this growth period in preparation for the latter reign of the Holy Spirit. And I believe God has been moving the seven day Venice denomination towards the latter reign experience of the Spirit. As with the early reign, the latter rain will begin and continue as a result of God's people unitedly and earnestly praying for God, or praying to God for the outpouring Holy Spirit. You know the book. The steps to person revival being filled with the Holy Spirit. This book now has been translated into 28 to 30 languages, and 600,000 copies have gone around the world just in the last year. 600,000 copies? SPEAKER B A lot of copies. SPEAKER C Yeah. And it's helping people understand about the early reign, about this character transformation. And it's having an enormous effect. I believe God's preparing us for the latter reign. He's bringing this message of early reign in many ways through people like Dennis Smith, who's written the 40 Days Devotions to prepare for the Second Coming, and even this devotional prayers and devotions to prepare for the latter rain of Christ's return. God is getting his message on preparing us for the early reign in preparation for latter rain. So let's have a look right at what three ingredients that brought the earlier rain experience to fruition. Receiving the infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit. Again, what were the three ingredients? Number one are people 100% committed to Jesus Christ. That was the number one. They were 100% committed to Jesus Christ, the early church. Number two, prayer. They were a praying church. So we want to be committed to Jesus Christ and his teachings, and we also want to be a praying church. And number three, receiving the infilling of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The early church were committed to Jesus Christ, a praying church, and they received the baptism, the Holy Spirit. Again, I believe all three ingredients will enable the latter reign experience to take place in the church during God's end time work. And these three ingredients are identical to the early reign. One, a people committed 100% to Jesus Christ. Number two, a praying people. And number three, fully receiving the infilling of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, preparing us to receive the latter reign of the Holy Spirit. Those people, what I call the Wise Virgins who go through this process, will receive the latter reign of the Holy Spirit. The Foolish Virgins will not receive the latter reign of the Holy Spirit because they don't think they need the early reign of the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER B Right? SPEAKER C They think they have enough oil in Matthew 25 it says they thought they had enough oil, but they didn't have enough oil, they didn't have it in their vessel, which was the vessel represents our character. They hadn't allowed the earlier rain to transform their character in the likeness of Jesus in preparation to receive the latter rain. And Jesus says I don't know you, he says I don't know you. And I believe the latter rain of the Holy Spirit is absolute necessary for God's people to experience. And it's this latter rain spiritual reign that will bring them to the spiritual condition to be able to stand in the presence of Christ in all his glory and not be consumed. Because when Jesus comes, it says the wicked are hiding, but God's people are able to stand and not be consumed by the brightness of his right. Yes, you know, he's coming with billions of angels and all the glory and it says the wicked will be consumed by the brightness of Jesus coming. So I believe God's people must experience both the early reign and the latter rain Holy Spirit power to reach this level of personal growth in Christ where Christ can be seen 100% in their life. Another thing the latter rain is going to do, the latter reign also brings the necessary added Holy Spirit power to counteract Satan's last day power and work of deception in Matthew chapter 24 and Revelations chapter 13, where this beast power in Revelations 13 that comes from the earth and this beast power that came from the sea. Yes, this latter rain will counteract their work. The latter rain will add a mighty Holy Spirit force to the loud cry message of the three angels message which is a call to come out of Babylon or confusion about who God is. It also identifies who the beast power is and what his deception is in the last days, and we can unpack that later on in another study. SPEAKER B Look forward to that. SPEAKER C Yes, but this added latter rain power will give power to God's people to warn the world of this deception of Satan about a false worship. SPEAKER B Yes, well, look, there's a lot of power and a lot of confusion that needs to be counteracted and it can only be done through the agency of God, the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, because if you read then Revelation chapter 13, it talks about this beast, this power that comes out of the sea. It says that the dragon gave him his power, so he's got power, his throne and also great authority. And it says that the whole world will wander after this beast, this religious. SPEAKER C And political power in the last days, where the whole world is wandering after this beast looks good, saying some right good things, and the whole world is going to be caught by this deception. SPEAKER B That's right. SPEAKER C And God's last day people who received the early ladder reign have what's called the three angels messages to counteract this false message or this false deception that Satan's going to work through this religious, political power. SPEAKER B That's right. Well, we need the Spirit of God and we need the word of God working together so we can counteract the counterfeit. So we can expose the counterfeit, because it says the whole world will wander after the beast. Now, the whole world will not fall for something that's obviously evil. So there's going to be a lot of good in this. There'll be a blend of good and evil put together. And unless we have the discernment of the Holy Spirit, we will not be able to tell the difference between good and know. In the Bible, even in Jesus'day, there were people who were calling darkness light. Jesus was saying, no, that's darkness. They go, no, hang on, that's light. And they were calling light darkness. Jesus was giving his truth, his messages of light and hope and warning. And they actually turned against Jesus and called that the work of right. SPEAKER C And I love that. I just want to finish off with this wonderful, wonderful quote by Ellen White, who I believe had the spirit of prophecy, the gift of prophecy. She says in Last Day Events, page 186, at that time, the Latter Rain, or the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, will come to give power to the loud voice of the third angel and prepare the saints to stand the period when the seven last plagues are poured out. This is what's called the time of trouble. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER C And also so the latter reign will be necessary for God's people to have the spiritual strength to make it through the time of trouble. And so we need the Latter Rain to make it through this time of trouble that's coming upon this earth. SPEAKER B Thank you, Colin. Appreciate you taking us through that very important study. And dear listener, I hope that you have heard a little bit and understand a little bit better regarding the three aspects of the working of the Spirit. Conversion, baptism of the Holy Spirit, and then also preparing for the latter rain. And this is what this whole program is about. Now, if you'd like any of the books we're using as a handbook, you can get Steps to Personal Revival by Helmut Haubeil, you can contact us or you can go to your nearest Adventist Book center. The other book we're using is 50 Days Prayers and Devotions to prepare for the latter rain and Christ Return by Pastor Dennis Smith. And that book is available also at your Adventist Book Center. Or if you would like information from us, you're welcome to contact us here at three ABN Australia Radio by Phoning. Zero, two, four, nine, seven, three, three, four, five, six. Or you can send an email to [email protected]. Thank you for joining us today on You Shall Receive Power. It is Colin and my prayer that you will be blessed as you spend time in the Word and are baptized with the Holy Spirit. And we pray this for you and for ourselves. Until next time. SPEAKER B You've been listening to a production of. Three ABN Australia radio.