Fully Equipped : By the Holy Spirit

book.

PREFACE

Every believer should read this book. This book seeks to clarify much of the confusion surrounding the baptism with the Holy Spirit. It moves beyond traditional "Pentecostal’ theology so that every believer can be made aware, trained, baptized, and released by the Spirit to accomplish their prophetic destiny on the earth.

The Bible plainly teaches that when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come he will guide us into all truth (John 16:13-14). The Holy Spirit speaks on divine authority; Jesus has commissioned Him to speak to us, to every believer so that he can fully equip and prepare us to bear fruit unto every good work. Prepare to receive all that is here released by the Spirit. Like the remnant Isaiah prophesied about in the reign of Hezekiah you shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward (2 Kings 19:31).

It is my earnest prayer that through this teaching the saints will be helped and released to advance the kingdom of God in the earth. As we advance the kingdom on earth, Jesus, the Lord of the harvest builds his church of which Jesus himself says that the gates of hell cannot prevail against.

INTRODUCTION

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12).

The most important assignment facing the church of the twenty-first century is equipping the saints. As important as the five-fold ministry is, the church of the twenty-first century has to move from Ephesians 4: 11 to Ephesians 4: 12. There must be a shift from the emphasis on the five-fold ministry to the saints being been trained and fully equipped to do the work of the ministry, which Jesus Christ left His church to complete. The Holy Spirit knows how this job is to be done. It is His Work. This is seen clearly in many passages in the book of Acts.

As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, ‘Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them’ (Acts 13:2)

So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus (Acts 13:4)

"Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not (Acts 16:6-7)

With the widespread increase of the occult, demonic activity, terrorism, crime, and violence everywhere, the time has come for the 21st century church to rise up and fully equip every believer-saint for the work of the ministry. The time of the one-man show is over. Out of the five-fold ministers, the apostles, prophets and teachers are rising out of the ashes of a worn out and irrelevant church, unable any longer to significantly affect society.

We are at the end of an era. The tired old model of evangelical Christianity is at its end. God has been birthing for some time now a new apostolic reformation of the church for he delights in doing new things so that there is a fresh release of the power of the Spirit. The apostolic reformation will see apostles, prophets, and teachers arising to take their rightful place as the leading elders of the Church of Jesus Christ. These gifts will not displace the pastor and the evangelists, but will set them in their proper place and function. The church will shift from being purely pastoral to mainly being apostolic.

But what is the role of the Holy Spirit in this new season of change? His role is the same as it always has been, to fill every five-fold minister and every saint who is willing, to bring clarity, to present truth, and to work to ensure that the saints are fully perfected, fully equipped.

Chapter 1

BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2)

The Holy Spirit has been on the planet from the beginning. From Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:17, the Holy Spirit’s assignment has been to work with and in God’s people so that they could be fully equipped for every good work. The Holy Spirit has the power and ability to get the job done. God’s purpose from the very beginning was to prepare, train, equip, and release a people in the earth. This people would be to God a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6), a royal priesthood and peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9), and kings and priests unto God (Revelations 1:6). This people would advance the kingdom of God on the earth.

For centuries, the church had no true revelation of the kingdom of God. The gospel that Jesus preached when he was on the earth was the gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus did not just preach about the kingdom, he demonstrated it with his mighty ministry of healing and deliverance. We are destined to follow in his footsteps. He blazed a trail for all of His kingdom saints to follow, but we must be fully equipped by the Spirit of God. Therefore it is imperative that we understand His role starting from the very beginning.

He is first mentioned in Genesis 1:1 and 2. The Bible starts out by saying that God created the heavens and the earth. The word used for God in this first verse of the Bible is Elohim, a masculine noun in plural form referring to the three members of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then in Genesis 1:2, we read that after the earth was without form and void, that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. The Spirit of God was God’s active agent from the very beginning of human history. "He has been working with human beings for four thousand years prior to the Christian era and for over two thousand years since. He knows our problems, He knows the answers and we need these answers from Him"¹

He has functioned as God’s agent in creation and in recreation. He works powerfully in the lives of men and this power is often manifested in miraculous works. The Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of craftsmanship releasing great creativity and inspirational artistic works in the lives of men. It is to the Old Testament that we will look to see this initial work of the Holy Spirit.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

GOD’S AGENT IN CREATION

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

This verse tells us what God created in the beginning – the heaven and the earth. The word used for God in this first verse of the Bible is Elohim, a masculine noun in plural form referring to the three members of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the creation, God or Elohim, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, created the heavens and the earth. When God made man, God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness (Genesis 1:26).

Who is the us referred to here? It is none other than the triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the triune Godhead.

The Spirit of God was therefore very much involved in the creation of man. We see this also in the Book of Job. Elihu, the youngest of Job’s three friends, spoke under the inspiration of the Spirit when he said: The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the almighty hath given me life (Job 33:4).

So, the Holy Spirit, as a member of the Godhead, was involved intimately in the creation of the heavens, the earth, and the creation of mankind. If we need to see the creative work of the Spirit of God, we just need to look around at the wonderful world in which we live, for the Spirit of God fashioned and ordered it all.

The Spirit is God’s active agent in creation, but He is also God’s agent in the recreation.

GOD’S AGENT IN RE-CREATION

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2)

The Spirit of God is also God’s agent in re-creation.

I believe with many other theologians that there is a big gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. Genesis 1:2 says that the earth was without form and void. It says that darkness was upon the face of the deep. What happened to creation to cause this deep darkness between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2?

There was a rebellion against God.

The rebellion to overthrow God is spoken of elsewhere in the scriptures. The rebellion against God and the instigator of this rebellion are described for us in the Book of Revelation.

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born (Revelation 12:3-4).

There was a war in heaven between Genesis 1:1 and