| Transcript from... | ||
|---|---|---|
|
A transcript of a message preached by the late David Powell in his 81st year on Monday August 31, 1992 at “Mount Zion” Assembly of God, Gelli in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales. It has not been changed except for minor grammar and the occasional slip of the tongue errors. Bible references have been added in brackets. ‘The Essential Element’.We must remember that God in His Word has a lot to say about fire. It is the nature of the Almighty — “Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:9). It is the nature of eternity both of Heaven and Hell. It is called “the everlasting burnings” of the righteous — “Who shall abide the everlasting burnings?” (Isaiah 33:14) — that is Heaven, and it gives the qualifications of those who will abide in that eternal presence of God, which is fire — not fire as we know it now naturally, but fire of a supernatural element — a supernatural content.And I am convinced the same fire which burns in Heaven burns in Hell. And if the unrighteous went to Heaven when they die, it would still be Hell to them because they cannot bear the presence of the Almighty. And the kindest thing that God could do for the ungodly is to provide a place for them called “Gehenna” — everlasting darkness and everlasting agony because, that fire — that presence of righteousness is still in Hell — and let us not forget that Hell will be governed by righteousness; it will not be a rest of the ungodly and demons in combination. It will be the place ordered and controlled still by the Word of the Almighty. It is the essential element of Heaven and it is the essential element of all those who serve God in the ministry, for He said, “He maketh His angels” — what? — “ministering spirits to those who are heirs of salvation, and His ministers a flame of fire” (Heb 1:7). The apostle Paul, writing to Timothy said to him, “Stir up the gift of God in thee” (2 Tim 1:6) — which is the gift of ministry, not the Holy Ghost. You don’t stir up the Holy Ghost, neither do you stir up the gifts of the Spirit, but you stir up that element of divine impartation called “the ministry” and you stir it up into a flame! And, it is the element of Divine Arresting Purpose — for when the bush burned, Moses turned aside to look and he learned to listen and he received from God revelation and direction, and it was the fire that instigated it. And the fire is the essential element of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (Matt 3:11). A lot of people make tongues the essential element; “tongues” is an incidental in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I believe in the initial evidence, but the essential evidence in us is the fire that burns in our beings. Everyone baptised in the Holy Ghost has a burning within their hearts, and I believe, in every part of their human being they are enveloped in a supernatural element of divine heat, and I have had a lot of experience in this. Every person who I see baptised in the Holy Spirit has a consciousness of a divine presence filling their whole being. And the nearest and clearest revelation of that is the quality of fire in everyone baptised in the Holy Spirit. On the Day of Pentecost, God gave a symbol to everyone alike including Mary the mother of our LORD Jesus Christ, and that was the equal enduement of fire from on high, and that is the promise of the Holy Spirit. God, the Holy Ghost, did not come to enable us to speak in tongues or to give us what they call in some places “a prayer language”. He came to immerse us in the element of eternity and to put that element inside of our being that we may be messengers of fire. The early days of Pentecost was a time when they blazed with the energy of that eternal fire. Now here (Leviticus 6:13) it tells us that fire is the major ingredient of the Tabernacle Service. The first thing was the blood; the second thing was the water; and the third was the fire. And if you failed in one you failed in the three. If you had no fire then there would be no acceptable service, and if you had no laver then there is no cleansing of the outward man to serve in the Tabernacle of The Most High. “Sanctify them through Thy Truth – Thy Word is Truth” (John 17:17). The element of the water of the Word in our lives and in our congregations is one of utmost importance. And without the blood there is no forgiveness of sins – if you fail in one you fail in the three. Now many places, in my judgement, including the Pentecostal Movement, and I regret to say it – are failing to give due respect to those three elements: Calvary, the Word of God and the pure operation of the Holy Spirit. There is a manipulation of Holy matters, which bypass the divine intention. When you go on into chapter nine of Leviticus, when the direction is now in operation, and they have concluded every sacrifice connected to God’s requirements it says that when they had finished – i.e. when they had concluded it — “fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the sacrifice and the people shouted and fell on their faces” (Leviticus 9:24). They didn’t jump to their feet; they went on their faces. There’s too much jumping to the foot and too little falling down in humility and contrition and need before the Almighty. “The fire shall never go out!” (Leviticus 6:13). The fire of conviction, the fire of authority, and of cleanliness. John Wesley used to say to his preachers, “You get on fire and the people will come to see you burn”. There is something in that! The greatest revival the world has ever known happened in this Principality, and it swept through the mountains and the valleys energised by the Holy Spirit, but unfortunately, and I say so carefully, and I say it regretfully, Wales is one of the dullest and darkest points on the earth spiritually. (I’m not asking you to say amen to it, but if you travelled as much as I have and seen and heard as much as I have, you can make a comment about it). Friends, there is a place to sing and there is a place to shout, but let us not forget there is a place of silence — God’s silence, created by the Word of God. They shouted, they fell down, and when they fell down they were speechless. Their gabble was finished and they were imbibing that mighty presence of the Almighty. Evan Roberts, the man who was mightily used of God to initiate and operate that revival was in Trevecca College as a student, but the vanity, carnality and frivolity of the students horrified him and he went back to his own village and called a prayer meeting. The place was empty, but his heart was large towards God. He prayed and prayed and prayed. In effect he was saying, “LORD bend me lower, bend me lower, cause me to understand my way and to number my days and apply my heart to wisdom”, and he made this statement: “If we make the quietness we ought, God can make the quietness He intends”. When there’s the fire of God’s presence there’s a sense of awe about it. We become speechless, we become bowed down, we become broken through and through. So the element of fire is in the Tabernacle and you will notice that it didn’t start at the brazen altar. That is the strange thing. It started, we read, from the presence of the LORD (Lev 9: 24), and I believe it kindled upon the altar of incense. It lit the lamps it kindled upon that small flame above the twelve loaves and it went onto the brazen altar. And it went by the mighty direction of God and not by the hand of the priest. We must never forget that all we have has come initially from the Hand of the Almighty. It is time for us to get back to that quality of depending entirely upon God for that fire, which shall never go out, praise the Name of the LORD! And so , “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (Matthew 3:11) . I’ve seen people who have said they have received the baptism because they’ve chatted some words someone suggested to them: “Say banana backwards, — come on — you’ve got it” — such rubbish! When men are baptized in the Holy Ghost their bodies become entirely enveloped in the fires of eternity and out of that they operate in the will and purpose of the Almighty! And so the fire of the Tabernacle is supernaturally ignited and it is significant to note, if you read the context here of Leviticus chapter 6, they were offering the Burnt Offering, and when they come to the end of chapter 9 — before the counterfeit of chapter 10 — they were offering the Burnt Offering. Now the Burnt Offering is a free will offering, and it commences with Christ the LORD as the “Free Will Offering” — not the Atonement, but the devotion of my LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ. He, in His humiliation, and in all the suffering He endured — He offered Himself first to God through the eternal Spirit without spot. It commenced with the Burnt Offering, and ended at the Sin Offering at Calvary. Now here it starts out in the most holy place, sent by God Himself to men, showing us His essential element has to be in everything we do in the Tabernacle. When they trimmed the lamps in the morning and the candlesticks, they had to go to the brazen altar to take the fire and to relight the candles and the table of incense, until that fire burning from the brazen altar ignited everything everyday. “Now then” He said, “I have given it to you, it shall never go out”, in other words, “I have ignited it! I have commenced it! I have given it! You take it”, and can I say, (and we are in the presence of the Almighty and the recording angel is standing by) I believe that God has a controversy with the Pentecostal people. I am Pentecostal, I’ve known nothing else in all my spiritual life of 63 years; nothing else but Pentecost, but I believe God has a controversy with the Pentecostal Movement, and it is this: they are neglecting their own personal altars with the Almighty. And friends, we cannot be in the church what we ought to be at home. In other words, if we fail at home, if I’ve no human altar as we’ve read about today, then I cannot participate in the service of The Most High. “So”, He said, “I have lit it – you keep it going”. Now then, they had three elements (and I’m not going to exceed my time, I’m nearly there brother, it’s lovely, Hallelujah!) – three things they had to do to keep the fire burning. “I lit it” God said, “you keep it going. I have given you the baptism in the Holy Spirit, I have sent Him to you, I have saved you, I have washed you, you see that you keep your garments clean!” Did you hear it? You see that you keep your garments clean! And you see what? That you are filled and refilled and continually filled with the Holy Ghost! You see that the fire never goes out, and it never goes dim! How then? First they had to remove the ashes every morning. They had to take from the altar and from underneath the grate the ashes and carry them out to a clean place and put them there away outside the camp – every morning. And friends, there’s too much going back; too many people living in the past. And Brother (here he turned to Clive the pastor) I knew your father and I thank God for the memory of our pastor who was here. Now, I notice, and I’m not here to give flannel to any man – I notice with great joy the heavenly flame which burns in the breast of our pastor here today, and I pray God that it may burn in every pastor. We are not living in the days of the Welsh revival or the days of the pioneers of the Pentecostal Testimony here in this great valley. We’ve got to remove the ashes (Leviticus 6:10). And the next thing is, they had to lay the wood upon the altar. You’ll notice ‘they’ – in the reading of this chapter before you come to this declaration – you shall see to it that wood is put upon the altar every morning! (Leviticus 6:12) What does the wood represent to us? It is that difficult yet essential quality and necessity of waiting upon God in the morning. That we put wood – the wood of our devotion, the wood of the assimilation of the Truth – that for which we have to discipline ourselves. We have to see that the wood is put on the altar every morning. And then upon the wood is put the Burnt Offering. Not the Atonement, but the burnt Offering. The Atonement is all outside of us, completely separate from sinners, but the Burnt Offering is the testimony of our perpetual consecration, devotion and attention to what the LORD has to say to us. I had no idea when I was first saved — how I felt my burdens, and I was conscious I was going to Hell, and I repented thoroughly, absolutely until I was washed whiter than snow — I had no idea that God had called me to share in His purpose as a witness to a dark and dying world. When I realised that, I had to fight a long and intense battle with myself, and having made up my mind, I yielded over myself as a complete Burnt Offering — free will. The Burnt Offering is free will! You are not forced to do it, you can please yourself what time you go to bed at night, what you hear or see those last hours before you go to sleep and what time you get up in the morning. But brother, if we are going to see a revival again, God’s people have to buy up the opportunity of putting the Burnt Offering in its place in the morning. The fire must burn in the embers of the altar — it will kindle up again so that we may go out and do the will of God. Praise the LORD! God has kindled a fire. He has kindled it in Christ for all mankind and for us in this meeting today, and I pray that we shall never let that fire go out. May we give attention to it and burn and burn and burn and burn! May God use you mightily. Thank you for the privilege.” David Powell [ TOP ] ... [ BACK ] Appeared in Issue CETF 9.1 September 2003 |
NEW! Must read! Details HERE...  Order HERE.. |
|
-Last revised-