"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me." Acts 1:8
Jesus is our example to follow in our journey with Him to fullness. The church must seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit in order to be able to defeat the powers of darkness and to perform miracles, signs and wonders!
At the very onset of His ministry, Jesus was baptized in water by John the Baptist and then He heard His Father say to Him audibly, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Next the Holy Spirit baptized Him with power from on high in the form of a dove descending upon Him.
Jesus led the way for us to be as He was in the world, empowered to be His ambassadors and to complete the heavenly vision and to reap a harvest of souls from the earth. Our mission is to be His spiritual temple and to be fruitful and multiply His vineyard!
"I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." Luke 3:16
POWER AND AUTHORITY
Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. Luke 4:1,2
Jesus began His ministry with prayer and fasting knowing the trials, tribulation and ultimate assignment His heavenly Father had given Him! The devil watched Him as He travailed in prayer in the wilderness until an opportune time when He became hungry and tired.
The devil is likened to a wild beast of the field always looking for an easy kill! The old, infirm and the very young are his choices and he takes advantage of any weakness he sees. He had been watching Jesus and if he could get Him to fall for one of his lies, he would prevail against Him. The scheme was to get Jesus to doubt who He was, the same ploy he tries on us in his relentless attacks on the body of Christ.
And the devil said to Him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." Jesus answered and said, "Man shall not live by bread alone." Jesus used the "Sword of the Lord" against him, the word of the living God! Throughout His ministry the devil attacked Him as he will also do against us, but Jesus has defeated him and given us power and authority over the powers of darkness.
"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Luke 10:19
THE GLORIOUS CHURCH
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, as of a rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Acts 2:1,2
I have heard about the "Glorious Church" for years and no one seems to know what it looks like or when it will appear, but I can show you for sure that there has been no church I know of more glorious than the church at Pentecost!
Birthed by Christ alone 120 sold out followers of Jesus waited together in unity for the promise He made to them to send a helper! Like a great symphony waiting for their conductor suddenly the Holy Spirit came to them in a mighty rushing wind of power and sat upon each one with tongues of fire! As they came out speaking in tongues those who were in town for Pentecost heard them speaking in their own language and when Peter stood up to preach 3000 were saved!
It doesn't get more glorious than that! Unified and glorified the church of Jesus Christ had begun and a mighty harvest was reaped, and the believers had all things in common giving out to those who were saved. This is what a glorious church looks like of which very few have appeared over the years, but today is the day for it to reappear on the earth again in glory and power! Amen.
So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:46,47
Your servant in Christ, Timothy Laughlin
Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ