Dear Doves;

 

In the past, I have asked some of the same questions that others have recently asked and the Holy Spirit has given me answers to those questions.  God does not communicate to every person alike nor always in the same way.  We see that he spoke more clearly to Moses than any other person in his day:

 

Num. 12:6-8  And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.  My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.  With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

 

Even today in the body of Christ, he communicates differently with different people at different times.  I rarely have a dream or vision from the Lord, but many times, I have heard the voice of the Spirit talk to me and even carry on short conversations with me.  I've heard the prophetic word of the Spirit boldly declare things to me, and thru me.  But mostly, the Holy Spirit communicates through an inward witness, or knowing, concerning the answers that we seek.  When it comes to the scriptures, he will usually give you two or three scriptures, or witnesses, concerning the answer so that you know you have your answer.  In light of this, I want to share some answers that the Holy Spirit has given me to different questions that I have asked the Lord in the past:  

 

Why has God allowed so many different denominations, teaching different doctrines?  I asked this question because it was bothering me that there was so much confusion in the body of Christ due to all of the different denominations teaching doctrines contrary to each other.  In answer, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, "It is better for like minded groups of Christians that hold particular doctrines to meet together and be in harmony among themselves than for all persuasions to meet together and continually be in strife over which is correct.  I will move those that are hungry for the truth from one group to another as they are able to receive the truth so that they aren't hindered by errors in any one denomination.  No one denomination has all truth!"  In light of his answer, and knowing that God does not force people to come to a knowledge of the truth on any particular subject, you can easily see that his solution is the only way to maintain harmony during our assemblies.  We all tend to propagate toward assembling together with others of like mindedness so we can worship together in peace without having continual discord over doctrine.

 

Why would God only rapture part of the church in the first fruits rapture of the bride?  In 1987, a well respected church elder shared a dream with me that he had received from the Lord and the interpetation that the Lord gave him when he awoke.  The dream explained how that much of the church would not participate in the rapture of the bride because there were specific requirements to participate and most of the church was ignorant of those requirements.  The elder's revelation was contrary to what I believed and it seemed contrary to the nature of God to do such a thing, but I began to search the scriptures to see if it could be so.  As the Holy Spirit began to illuminate different passages that addressed the requirements, I still told God that he would have to show me why he would do such a thing before I could accept it as true.  It was ten years from the time that I was first confronted with the possibility of a partial church rapture until God finally told me why.  The Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, "If I raptured the whole church suddenly, most of the church would stand ashamed before me in judgement.  Up until the rapture, I work with each person individually to give them opportunity to prepare to stand before me.  However the whole body of Christ will not stand prepared on that day."  Immediately, I could see how that it was for a blessing to those that aren't prepared that he would leave them here to give them time to become either hot or cold, and of course his will is for them to become jealous for the Lord.  Think about it, would you really want to go today if it meant that you would have to stand ashamed when you gave an account for this life before the Lord?  I wouldn't!

 

Why didn't God just baptize all of his children in the Holy Ghost when they got saved like so many believe?  This is another question that bothered me because I just couldn't see why God didn't make such a great blessing automatic or at least more obvious.  This answer didn't come directly through the voice of the Holy Spirit, but through the voice of my wife and an immediate revelation.  I was sharing with my wife one night how it grieved me that there was confusion in the church over the baptism of the Holy Spirit and wondered why God didn't just baptize everyone in the Holy Spirit when they got saved.  My wife said, "Because He doesn't force his spirit on you!"  I immediately saw how that he is not like Satan in wanting to possess you against your will.  How that if he baptized everyone in the Holy Spirit when they got saved, that he wouldn't be giving them any choice in the matter.  That it would actually be a condition upon becoming saved if that were the case.  You see, God made salvation a gift to the world with no conditions other than receiving it by faith.  The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a subsequent gift to his children who want to receive the Holy Spirit.  

 

To understand this, you need to realize that you are a spirit and you live in a body.  More than one spirit can live in your body along with you (or your spirit).  Hundreds of spirits had taken up their abode in Legion, when Jesus cast them out (Luke 8:30).  When you are born again, your spirit is regenerated and you become one spirit with Christ.  This is what confuses people; they recognize the spiritual change in their lives and assume the Holy Spirit took up his abode, but it's actually the witness of Christ in their own spirit.  It confused me also when I was saved because I didn't know the difference between the spirit of Christ and the Holy Spirit.  I Cor. 6:17 tells us that "he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit."  Since the spirit of the Lord and the Holy Spirit are different, if you accept the definition of the trinity, are you one spirit with Christ or one spirit with the Holy Spirit, or does it matter?  Yes, it matters if you are going to rightly the word!  Let's look at a verse that clearly shows the distinction:

 

Romans 8:9-11  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.   And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.   But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

 

Okay, if a person is saved, then he must be one spirit with Christ, or have the Spirit of Christ as it is worded in this verse.  But notice also that having the spirit of Christ doesn't automatically mean that the spirit that raised Christ from the dead, i.e. the Holy Spirit, dwells in you.  The baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is also called receiving the Holy Spirit, occurs when a born again child of God, through faith, invites the Holy Spirit to come dwell in his earthly tabernacle with him.  When the Holy Spirit comes in to dwell, he is so gracious that he brings gifts with him and only manifests his presence when you desire it.  As a sign that he has taken up his abode with you, he initially manifests one of his supernatural gifts.  That was how the early church recognized when someone had received the Holy Ghost, and that's still how we recognize it today.  For most people today, the initial gift is the gift of speaking in tongues, but not always.  I can't tell you whether or not you have received the Holy Spirit, but if you don't have any manifestation of the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in I Cor. 12 in your life, then you should be asking God why you don't.  We don't seek a spirit, but we do seek to have a closer relationship with God and to be obedient to his will.

 

How is it then that Jesus stands outside the door of the Laodicean church and knocks?  He stands outside in his office of Holy Ghost Baptizer knocking, wanting them to receive him as the Holy Ghost Baptizer so he can give them the Holy Spirit.  What is it that the modern-day Laodicean church thinks it doesn't have need of?  The baptism of the Holy Ghost and the manifestation of his gifts!  Five times the scripture emphasizes that Jesus is the Baptizer in the Holy Ghost:  Mat. 3:11,  Mark 1:8,  Luke 3:16,  John 1:33,  Acts 1:5.  Note also that one of the things that the Holy Spirit did in raising Jesus from the dead was to change his mortal body  into an immortal body.  What is the greatest quickening our mortal bodies will ever need?  Being transformed into an immortal body at the rapture!  Well, go back and also notice that there is an "if" in Romans 8:11 concerning quickening your mortal body and ask yourself, "Could that be a clue to a rapture requirment?"  I think so, and as such must warn you or I wouldn't be doing my job as a watchman.

 

Your Brother in Christ,

 

David Robinson