Blessed To Bless, Let Him Who Boasts, Let Their Boast Be In The Lord!

Blessed to Bless Part Two:

Let Him Who Boasts, Let Their Boast Be In The Lord!

God’s favor was on His beloved. And the gates of hell could not prevail against them or the work of Christ. They took the step of faith in obedience and they were blessed because “their boasts was in the Lord.”

Art by Child Prodigy Akiane at http://www.akiane.com

Re-cap what the Isaiah 61:1-3 proclamation is about?

I. The anointing

II. Spreading the gospel message

III. Moving in the gifts of The Holy Spirit

IV. God’s favor

V. Worship and Praise to break the yokes of bondage

VI. Becoming Oaks of righteousness

VII. Planted and growing in The Lord to His Glory.

The Lord then reminded me:

“I poured out My life, to give life, for My bride to be a part of sharing the River of Life to the world. I want it to flow though My church body, My bride, to the world. My people are not being challenged. They’re being coddled as babes and they grow weary from the fruit of My anointing dying on their vines. I bless them, but they do nothing with My gifts. There are dams of pride-fulness, religion, leaning unto self understanding, fear, loathing, sloth-fulness, unholiness and sin in their lives that must be broken to accomplish what I want done through My bride. They have forgotten the humility and the example of the One who was placed on the cross.”

The Lord led me to re-read Isaiah 61: 1-3, the book of Acts chapters 2 and 5, and The Gospel of John chapters 14 and 15.

Isaiah 61: 1

The Spirit of The Lord God is upon me, because The Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners;

In Acts chapters 2 and 5, and so on we learn, in part, what the anointing is for. And, we see the revelation made to us in Isaiah 61, once again, come to life in the Book Of Acts. This time though it’s not about the anointing on Messiah– Jesus; but about the promise The Lord made to us in the gospel of John chapter 14, which I believe is directly related to Isaiah 61: 1-3.

I. The anointing

Acts 5 V12: At the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico.

The anointing was and is given to us, by The Lord, to use as a witness to God’s intended blessings and to give Him Glory!

The word tells us The Lord anointed and used one small group of His faithful to birth the body of Christ. Unlearned, common and discarded people were huddled in prayerful obedience to the Lord’s directive that they go to Jerusalem and wait for His promise, The Holy Spirit.

On the day of Pentecost, suddenly, they witnessed the flames of Heaven fall upon them (Acts 2) just as The Lord had promised concerning The Holy Spirit. And, when the anointing fire had baptized (covered) them, as evidence of His anointing and gift to them they spoke in other tongues as a witness of His presence and blessing. The believers, now anointed, rose up in the fulness of joy and empowered, stepped forward in obedience to do the Lord’s will.

Empowered – anointed – by The Holy Spirit, they who were present witnessed His glory through the evidence of signs and wonders. The Holy Spirit used this witness to get the people’s attention for the direct purpose of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

II. Spreading the gospel message

Humble, yet bold, they stepped forward in obedience and reaped a great harvest of about 3000 souls. 

When God begins to move evil always raises its ugly head. A very short time later they were immediately tested by the evil of religious hearts who mocked what had happened by the power of The Holy Spirit.

V13 But none of the rest ( the religious and pious ) dared to associate with them; however, the common people held them in high esteem.

Sound familiar? The same thing happens today. Notice how the religious or pious people did not hold Jesus or the disciples in high esteem. But, the common people held Jesus and disciples in high esteem. One would have to question why such negativity? I believe it has everything to do with self worship, religious haughtiness and intellectual pride just to name a few. Also, Jesus did say the same confrontations that happened to Him, by the religious and pious crowd, would happen to those who followed Him in the beatitudes.

Read what Jesus proclaimed in the beatitudes:

Matthew 5: 1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.

V 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

V 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

V 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

V 5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

V 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

V 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

V 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

V 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

V 10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

V 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

V 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

How Did The Religious Respond? The religious people rose up against the church.

V 17 But the high priest, the religious people rose up, along with all their associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.

V 18 They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail.

How did The Almighty God Respond to such threats? He moved in power and brought forth a public proclamation of the gospel message.

V 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said,

V 20 “Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life.”

V 21 Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach.

OK, this is a word of warning to all the religious, pious, people out there.

And God said to Job 38:

V 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,

V 5 Who set its measurements? Since you know.

Who made you judge over all things concerning The Holy Spirit? Where is the biblical reference or prophetic evidence in your life or ministry that states The Lord made you His hand of judgement extended? It’s my understanding that all things have been handed over to Him, The Son of The Living God!

In I Chronicles 16:22 and Psalm 105:15 The Lord warns: “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.”

Grieve not the Holy Spirit! To those who say God does not heal anymore and that any so-called Holy Spirit moves of God are “Strange Fire” and of satan; do you really want to call what The Holy Spirit does– evil? Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Does one honestly think satan wants people saved, praising God with liberty, healed, delivered, free from bondage, free from demonic oppression, possession and running around testifying of God’s love, mercies, grace and giving glory to Jesus Christ! Yes, that was rhetorical.

Luke 11:14

[ Pharisees’ Blasphemy ] And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed.

Matthew 23:13

[ Eight Woes ] “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

“Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord”!

To the ones who don’t believe miracles are for today. To those who believe the promises were only for the pre-selected, like the Jewish leaders thought. To those who quote theologians like Calvin, who speak half truths like: only the pre-selected receive all the blessings and promises at salvation? One who believes that one does not receive the physical fulness of the Spiritual or the physical manifestation of the blessings and promises of salvation until one dies and goes to heaven, The word of God does not say any of this.

Matthew 23:29

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous…

However, it does say The Almighty God desires that “none should parish and that all would find ever lasting life through Jesus Christ”. It’s why Jesus went to the Cross to bear the sins of the world. Everyone is blessed to receive, but, they have to choose the blessing by asking Jesus Christ into their hearts to become their Lord and Savior. So, in a sense everyone is “pre-selected”, the invitation is yours, your invited. Jesus loves you!

Seriously! Could anyone look Paul in the face, or the other Apostles, the first deacons (who were table waiters) the first disciples or anyone else throughout the history of the church who has been healed by the power of The Holy Spirit and tell them it wasn’t or it’s not real? Or, that what you experienced was just “strange fire”, of the devil and just your imagination! Paul and the early church elders would have counseled you to repentance. And, if you didn’t repent, they would have put you out of the church to dwell upon your own devises.

Heart check!

Job 38:

V 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,

V 5 Who set its measurements? Since you know.

Check the religious beam in one’s eye before one goes blind, perhaps physically, like Saul did for persecuting the church or with a blinder that hardens one’s heart? Just saying! If this is you, surrender your heart at “The Throne of Grace” and cry out for forgiveness. Repent and let God heal your heart. Why put yourself into a position to receive the wrath of God in the now— or, at judgement; when all your words will be judged and accounted for.

“Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord” and rejoice in the full word of God proclaiming all of His promises.

Shortly after the beatitude message, Jesus told the disciples you are “the salt of the earth”. Was that definition just for His disciples at that very specific moment? Or— was Jesus referring to all who would follow Him as Believers? The Lord was speaking to all of us. And, just as they spread the gospel, as Jesus modeled the work of ministry for them, we must spread the gospel message and proclaim the promises of God. Jesus modeled and teaches His how to do ministry to all of us; and, it’s what He expects all of us to do and told us to check our be-attitudes.

The one beatitude I want to focus on at this point is motivation?

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. 

A pure heart moves in pure motivation. When we read in Acts 2 about the out pouring of the Holy Spirit it’s not hard to realize the manifest blessing, the out pouring, is a direct reference to “the pure in heart”. The disciples were saved by grace, Jesus breathed The Holy Spirit on them before His ascension. And, directed them to Jerusalem to wait and pray for the promise of The Holy Spirit. They’re motives were God’s motives which are “pure in heart”. As we read, God allowed them to see a part of His glory as they witnessed His manifest blessing fall upon them.

This blessing was both experientially manifested in the physical realm and in the spiritual as well. Immediately after the outpouring occurred, The Holy Spirit led the “pure in heart” to minister an example of the prophecy in Isaiah 61: 1-3. The Holy Spirit revealed the anointed prophetic blessing through the disciples lives. The first gatherers moved in the Isaiah 61: 1-3 anointing with the evidence of signs and wonders. Just as Jesus fulfilled the Isaiah prophecy, He fulfilled His promise that those who follow and make their abode in Him would do the same ministry as He did. Every prophetic blessing Jesus fulfilled in the word is passed down to us by His discretion unto His glory.

The God Head has not changed and no where in the Bible does it say that the outpourings and the gifts were a one time occurrence.

III. Moving in the gifts of The Holy Spirit

Hence – the outpourings continued through out Acts as a witness, a testimony, the blessing are for us today. In Fact, the same outpourings will happen today just as they did years past, time and time again.

His promises are forever and His word never changing, He has blessed us with His favor.

IV. God’s favor

Acts 5:14 And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number,

V 15 to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets.

The church was living and moving in the gifts of The Holy Spirit.

 “So that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them” they would be healed. This also happened when Paul walked by a person or when a piece of his garment was touched. And, not just the Apostles, when the waiter of tables Philip ministered The Holy Spirit moved in miraculous power. Why? Jesus promised. They early disciples were so filled with the abiding presence of The Holy Spirit it poured out from them to all those who had faith to believe. The same will happen today.

God blesses “the pure in heart”, those He has called to do His will, and “they will see God” manifest His presence and glory today. The broken hearted and down trodden will rise up to praise and worship the giver of the blessings. And their testimonies will go forth and bring glory to the God Head through Jesus Christ The Lord.

God’s presence brought and always brings hope and expectation into people’s hearts and minds.

God’s presence gives people hope! God’s anointed presence is poured out to deliver the down trodden and for breaking the yokes of their bondage!

V. Worship and Praise God, break the yokes of bondage

V 16 Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

Remember the promise of Isaiah 61: 1 The Spirit of The Lord God is upon me, because The Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners; was meant to be a chain reaction for eternity. This can happen to YOU, press into the Lord for His anointing.

When His people worship Him, He abides in their praises. Where He is– His anointing is present, He is The Anointed One! 

Pray with Me!

Father God, send us “a mighty rushing wind” again and again and again so thousands can be added daily to the body of Christ. Let Your anointing and anointed word go forth through Your bride. Let them testifying again, and boldly, about Your great mercy so many more can be added daily to Your Body. Let those who have been experientially touched shout and jump for joy once again. Let the unsaved people of the world and Israel would know that “You are God” and You are moving again with the force of a mighty rushing wind. “Release Your power so they will know You are God” Amen!

Let the words of our mouths give You praise as we shout:

Did you hear what happened to blind beggar? To God be the Glory— he can see and is praising God with abandonment. They say God is moving, let us go see these awesome things we have heard about and Worship Him. Maybe He’ll touch us and deliver us and bless us too.

Remember: This is what Jesus said and Promised to all who would make their abode in Him:

John 14: 11 Believe Me, that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

V 12 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

V 13 Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

V 14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. 

V 15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

VI. Becoming Oaks of righteousness

JOHN 15 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

V 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

V 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

V 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

V 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Heed this warning:

V 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 

VII Planted and growing in The Lord to His Glory. Obedience Brings Blessings:

V 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

V 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

V 9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

V 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

V 11 These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. 

In light of this revelation from the Lord Himself, can anyone say that any so called moves of God are of satan? 

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

V 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Check your heart and life for the manifestation of the Isaiah 61:1-3 proclamation

I. The anointing

II. Spreading the gospel message

III. Moving in the gifts of The Holy Spirit

IV. God’s favor

V. Worship and Praise to break the yokes of bondage

VI. Becoming Oaks of righteousness

VII. Planted and growing in The Lord to His Glory.

Altars Call. The message of meat was given to compel us to the altar of tears. At His feet we can find Grace and forgiveness. At His feet we can expect to be empowered by The Holy Spirit to fulfill our walk in Christ as He promised.

Hear this:

“My sons and daughters, heed The Holy Spirit. Cry out for a pure and contrite heart. Cry out for My presence and cry out to be poured out. Cry out for others to blessed and to be used by My Holy Spirit and in the gifts of The Holy Spirit. Place all of yourself, all your intentions beneath My feet. Lay down your pride, religion, leaning unto self understanding, the fear of man, loathing, slothfulness, unholiness and sin at the altar of My feet with your tears of repentance sayeth The Lord”.

Come now and make your altar of tears: 

Heed the Holy Spirit:

Cry out for a pure and contrite heart, 

Lay down your pride, religion, leaning unto self understanding, the fear of man, loathing, slothfulness, unholiness and sin at the altar of His feet 

Cry for the Lord’s presence,  

Cry to be poured out, 

Cry for others to be saved and blessed, 

Cry to be used by The Holy Spirit in the gifts of the Holy Spirit

I pray as you tarry before the Lord and wash His feet with your tears He bless you. I pray every person who submits to The Holy Spirit be touched by His perfect manifestation and blessing for your life. That No One be able to leave this church until touched by The God Head’s perfect blessing is made manifest to your life. Wether physical or spiritual, The Holy Spirit would change your heart, your mind, your soul and your body as promised by His word. Amen!

(Check out “The Fire Bible”. http://www.christianbook.com/page/bibles/study-bibles/fire-study-bible

The study guides will really help one understand the blessings that are theirs in the fullness of Christ Jesus (The Word made flesh).

Your servant in Christ,

Ed Biamonte

Part Three

Now – It’s Time To DINE – The Lord’s Supper