14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The presence of God is a mark that cannot be ignored. Some cry, some experience joy unspeakable, while others speak in tongues or operate in the gifts of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit can transform men who have been completely messed up, so much so that the world cannot believe it was them.
During one of the darkest hours in the Bible, the tribulation period in Revelation 14 speaks of 144,000 men of God, full of the Holy Ghost, who go into the earth following the Lamb to preach the Gospel to those whom the world would make you believe God does not care about. These men have a mark upon them identifying who they are – they belong to God, and the mark tells the world who they are. The wrath of God is not affecting them because they are marked and they follow the Lamb.
In the middle of the tribulation period, there is a revival happening, and each of the 144,000 will have 397 miles of space to cover. An evangelist is heading to Chicago, Illinois, and a sword-bearing evangelist is on their way to Memphis, Tennessee. The Gospel is also coming to Iran. Russia, shut your doors if you may, but God is going to open the superhighway.
When one wants to sharpen a piece of steel, it must be heated and then quenched in oil. If a knife is to hold an edge, it must go through the process of the fire. The reason why many Christians cannot hold an edge is that they have skipped the process of the fire.
You can make a knife out of any steel, but that knife will not hold an edge until it has been in the fire and then quenched in oil. The fire and the oil are marks that the Holy Ghost will use to sharpen your knife.
A butter knife is used to cut butter, not chicken. It has no edge because it is used to spread butter. But a swordbearer who carries the sword of the Spirit has a sword that has been forged in fire and anointed by God.
Hell cares nothing about the butter knife bearers, but when you bear the sword of the Spirit, it is a sword that is tried and true. It is so sharp it can cut through lies and reveal the truth.
Acts 2:14-18
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
I had a dream this past Wednesday, and in the dream, there was a wildfire. It grew so fast, and it could not be controlled. This is my kind of dream.
I love church, where the fire falls, and knives go into the fire.
I love it when the smell of oil is so strong you know the swords are being heated till they glow with the power of the furnace, then they are quenched in the oil.
Why heat the blades? Why not just sharpen them and skip the fire?
Because that blade will never hold an edge. It will bust and break. It will be dull.
There is nothing worse than a dull knife. Most people have a knife drawer because they use it till it’s dull and throw it in the drawer.
The Word of God says that iron sharpens iron.
“Proverbs 27:17 – As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
Anyone knows you don’t put an edge on a knife with steel. Rather a stone and oil. It’s not everyone who understands this process.
There is a piece of metal that we use; it will allow a little honing – a honing steel. But it will take the stone and the oil to put an edge on a knife.
Bro. Tim, bless his heart, one time I had mixed oil that Bro. Uselton had made for me.
I mixed that oil with pure olive oil. If you don’t get that mix right, it will burn you when you put it upon someone.
Bro. Tim said that stuff began to burn me.
Well, I said that to say this – some of us need to get back into the fire and let God heat us till we glow again and wait till God puts us in the oil.
My problem is I believe what I preach. James 5 says I’m dangerous to this world. I love the fire of the Holy Ghost. I live for the anointing to be upon me.
JAMES 5:
13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
The word Pentecostal is a word that is mingled with the fire of God.
At Pentecost, the disciples were baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire. Fire is needed to preserve unity. Can you see the swords mingled in the fire?
All disciples have this fire in themselves.
When you get around people who have the fire in them, they tick differently than others.
The Apostle Paul had a fire that burnt so great in him that they stoned him twice and left him for dead, only to push the rocks off and get up to preach again.
Peter did miraculous things in the Book of Acts. In chapter three, God heals a man who couldn’t walk through Peter. In chapter nine, a paralyzed man and a dead woman named Dorcas are healed by God’s power. Peter had been with Jesus, and the master had put his hand on Peter. Peter would never be the same after this.
Mark 16:17-18:
And these signs shall follow them that believe:
1. In my name shall they cast out devils.
2. They shall speak with new tongues.
3. They shall take up serpents; you are not a snake handler, but rather, they are under your feet. You have authority over that serpent, the devil.
4. If they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. Let me say this: God has a plan for your life, and don’t die till God is through with you. When he is done, he will take you home in his fastest chariot. When Elijah was taken to heaven, it wasn’t a hearse; it was heaven’s fastest chariot.
5. They, or my translation of this “We,” shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
God is not done with you; come back into the fire.
Watch him and see what the Spirit of God is going to do.
The fire is instant. How much and how long you stay in that fire depends on how long you’re willing to wait on the Lord.