The Lamp of the Lord

The Lamp of the Lord
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For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:14). This scripture points out one of the first things we learned aboutguidance. That is, born-again believers have the Holy Spirit living in them to lead and guide them. We also learned from Jeremiah 10:23 that it is not in man to guide himself but he needs God's guidance. Furthermore, believers do not need outside forces such as "a word," an "open door," or a "fleece" for guidance. Rather, they need to depend upon the leading of the Holy Spirit within them.

God gave us a member of the triune Godhead to live in us so that we could be hooked up with the God of all creation. He could have given us the spirit of an angel such as Michael or Gabriel instead, and while that would have been wonderful, it would not have been nearly as powerful as our having the Holy Spirit, especially in the area of guidance. As we established in the first two teachings on guidance, the Holy Spirit knows yesterday, today, and tomorrow. However, there is no indication that angels know the future. They are merely created beings limited to knowing only yesterday and today just as man is limited. Do you realize the implication of this? The devil is an angel. Therefore, he cannot see into the future either. But more importantly, while in the natural we cannot see the future, the Holy Spirit living in us does know it and we can tap into that knowledge.

Another way of looking at it is this: before you were born again, you were in the kingdom of the devil and you had the spirit of antichrist in you. Did you know the future? No, and neither do fortune-tellers and others who claim to know it. They only make educated guesses. They can't know the future because their father, the devil, doesn'tknow the future.

We give Satan too much credit. He's not a big super-creature who is omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent. Often we think he is all three, but in truth, he is none of these.

Satan is not omnipotent. God who created him is far more powerful than Satan. In fact, since you are born of the Spirit of God, you are more powerful than the devil!

Secondly, the devil is not omniscient (all knowing). We often think he knows everything about us. Usually the information he knows is what we have told him with our own mouths.

Lastly, Satan is not omnipresent. The devil is only one being, so he can be in only one place at a time. We hear a lot of Christians say, "The devil is after me!" If the devil himself is after you, you must be pretty hot stuff. Actually, he probably has sent one of his demons to bother you. He's too busy with people such as Oral Roberts, Kenneth Hagin, or Kenneth Copeland.

Smith Wigglesworth tells an interesting story of his being visited by the devil one night. Smith was in bed when he heard a creaking downstairs, so he took his lamp and went down to investigate the noise. He found that Satan had manifested himself and was sitting in the rocking chair. Smith's reaction was one that we all should have. He looked at the devil and said, "Oh, it's just you.". . . blew out the lamp and went back to bed. Smith was nonchalant in a circumstance, which would have rattled most Christians because he knew he was more powerful than the devil. He had to be; he had the Holy Spirit living in him! There was no reason for him to fear something that was less powerful than he was.

Most of us would throw up our handsin despair and run around crying, "There's the devil. What am I going to do?" What Christians should do is remember that the Holy Spirit lives in them, Even if the devil is after you, you are Christ's church and Jesus said, "... I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)

As we have said, the Holy Spirit living in us knows our past, our present, and our future. This means that our spirits also know the future.

There have been times I have gone to minister in a new place and the moment I stepped into the pulpit, I said to myself, "I've seen myself in this pulpit before, preaching this sermon." My mind did not know exactly what would happen, but my spirit knew it well before hand.

I believe your spirit knows everything that is going to happen to you from now on because it is hooked up with the omniscient God of creation. The problem is, what your spirit knows does not always get through to your head. However, every once in a while you are in a situation where your mind gets in line w ith your spirit and the revelation comes to your mind that you have already been in a certain situation when, in fact, you had never before experienced it.

How can you get your mind to line up with your spirit more often? Get into God's Word and renew your mind.

In our last issue we looked at Isaiah 11:1-2,

1) And there shall come forth a rod [root] out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots:

2) And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

We discussed that David was the stem of Jesse, Jesus was the rod or root from that stem, and the church is the branch that comes from the root. We also mentioned that the seven spirits, or seven ministries, of the Holy Spirit (enumerated in verse two) which rest upon the root (Jesus) also rest upon the branch (HisChurch).

This is further confirmed in John 15:5, when Jesus says, I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. Thus, the branches (the Church) are what bear the fruit. Jesus also promised us the Holy Spirit when He said, ... for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. (John16:7). And so, the Holy Spirit did come to live in us and send forth fruit in our lives.

Now let's look at some of the seven ministries mentioned in Isaiah 11:2. Remember, these ministries also rest upon believers. The first spirit mentioned in this verse is the Spirit of the Lord. This immediately designates that since we have the Spirit of the Lord resting on us, you and I are connected to the highest power in the universe, the triune Godhead.

The next six ministries are mentioned in groups of two: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

The mentioning of these seven ministries in this way is analogous to the golden lampstand of the Lord. Also, as we have said, the Holy Spirit is referred to as seven lamps of burning fire in Revelation 4:5.

The golden lamp stand is described in Exodus 25:32, And six branches shall come out of the sides of it,' three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side.

In the comparison of the seven ministries of the Holy Spirit to the candlestick, the enumerating of the last six ministries in groups of two indicates that they, like the candlesticks, are connected through the central shaft, which is the Spirit of the Lord.

Are you wondering how this information could be of any importance to you? Proverbs 20:27 tells us, The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. This is mistranslated in the King James Version and should say, " The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord." This means that when you were born again, your spirit became an image of the Holy Spirit and you too are connected to the central shaft, the Spirit of the Lord!

Originally, man was connected to the central shaft. When Adam was created in the image of God, he had the seven-fold manifestation of the Holy Spirit in his life until he sinned and transgressed against God. At that moment Adam fell from the level of God to the level of the devil. He lost his anointing; he lost his supernatural. He became spiritually dead and was identified with the kingdom of Satan. When this happened, Adam also lost his ability to know the future.

Remember the first thing Adam said to the Lord after he had sinned, ". . . I was afraid" (Genesis 3:10). He was afraid because he no longer knew what was going to happen to him. Fear is always fear of the future, the fear of the unknown.

You might say, "Well someone is breaking into my house right now and I am afraid." Think about it, what actually causes this fear is not the fact that someone is breaking in, but rather what they might do to you if they get in.

Another thing that concerns things of future is worry. We don't worry about what is done with, but rather with what is to come. However, believers are told to: cast all your cares [worry] upon him; for he careth for you (1 Peter 5:7). Also, according to 1 Timothy 1:7, God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Since God has given you the Holy Spirit, His seven ministries are in your life, too. There is not one enemy which can come against you that one of these ministries in you cannot handle. In fact, the Bible says that when enemies come at you, they will flee in seven directions because the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard.

In Isaiah 11:2, we learned what the seven ministries of the Holy Spirit are, and Isaiah 11:3 goes on to say, And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.

That was a strange statement in Isaiah's time when God did lead people through outward manifestations. They could legitimately pray for God to open or close a door. Remember, Gideon prayed that God would make the fleece wet but leave the ground dry and then for God to make the ground wet but leave the fleece dry. Now however, we have the ability to be led from the inward man and don't need to depend on some outward sign.

Let me say again, there is not one area in your life in which the Holy Spirit will not lead you and guide you. The Word of God has an answer for every problem in your life. You can get into God's Word, and it will work for you.

Bob Yandian

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