David W Donnelly

The fruit of the Spirit is the fruit He is looking for. As you grow things will become natural - the desire to help those in trouble, to give money, time, assistance. The fruit is in you. The work you do for the Lord is connected but separate. It brings a reward in Heaven. Why we need to abide in Him is so that we can bear fruit, and it is the only place that we are safe. We won an unwinnable war against the Nazis because the King called the nation to prayer (. I have written a paper called Mein Jubein which is Hitler explaining how he won the war, which proves that God was the one who won. If you would like to read it let me know).In gratitude we have let our country become a cess pit with the level constantly rising. We have seen the early stages of the persecution of Jews and Christians. If you are not abiding in Him you are at risk spiritually and physically

I can add to Pastor Ralph's mother's story. Some years ago I had set up a meeting in Zwiebrucken. It had not been easy as there were several parties involved. The Sunday before the trip I became unwell. Nonetheless I was determined to carry on. I managed to drive to Bath, and from there my colleagues helped me to get there. That night, however it became clear that I had been hit by food poisoning. My head was pounding and I had a fever. It did occur to me that I might be with the Lord by morning, but when I woke up I felt a bit better. When I told Eva, my German contact she commented that this would be the antibiotics kicking in. I explained that as I had no way of getting a prescription, I hadn't had any antibiotics - which is when I discovered that in Germany you can just buy them over the counter. One visit to a pharmacy and three days later I was fine. A little while later I was talking to my mother and she asked me what I had been doing on a certain date. Checking my diary I told her I was in a hotel in Zwibrucken. "Why do you ask.?" I said "Because" she said, "that night, around midnight, the Holy Spirit turfed me out of bed and told me to pray for you." Did she save my life? Well I believe so.

It is essential that we use our Lord as our template in every area of life. Sometimes it is difficult to decide what is prophecy and what is a word of wisdom. Isaiah 53 is clearly prophecy as is Isaiah 66 vs 6 to 9. Jesus in Genesis 17 v 16 is giving a word of knowledge in announcing the birth of Isaac, and also in Matthew 17 v 25, when he knew all about Peter's confrontation with the Temple tax collectors. Peter himself was given the word of wisdom in Matthew 16 v 16 when he declared that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Which was it when Elisha anointed Hazael to be king over Syria, then wept because of the harm that he would do to Israel.?(2 Kings 8 v 1). It is explicit in Acts 10 v 19 and 20, as it says that the Spirit told Peter that three men were looking for him and that he should go with them. What of Daniel when he explained the dream of future empires in Daniel 2 v 31 to 45 ?. Was Joseph operating in revealed knowledge or prophecy when he foretold the death of the baker and the salvation of the cup-bearer -Genesis 40 v 12 to 19. I don't think it really matters. We should delight in any and every revelation.

To me, the gift of prophecy is similar to the gift of tongues, God gives one the ability to speak his words, sometime on one occasion and sometimes frequently. Many in the church feel it is a bit off- a bit witchy. Others think it is a delusion. I have been involved with it several times. Before we were married an, American with the gift came to our church. I don't recall his name, but he was a very good looking man with grey hair and beard. When he put his hands on our heads his face fell and in a voice full of sorrow said" I am not going to say much, but David and Julia will face a very severe test" . Four years later our baby girl died of cancer. Her mother, not surprisingly, lost her mind for a while. She prophesied that the television was watching us , which was rubbish at the time, but has now been discovered to be true. She used to say that I drove my mini car to a car park, where I had a big car which I drove to my office where I had a secretary, and I flew off all over the world. This was raving of course - I was a humble claims investigator. Three years latent by a blatant exercise of God's power I changed jobs and all these things happened. Next it was my turn. Julia decided she wanted another baby-a son-and despite my misgivings- she was 39 at the time which was late in those days, we went ahead. All went well until her first clinic, when she came home in an awful state, grey and perspiring. She told me that they were worried about spina bifida and mongolism. There would be a blood test for the former, but for the latter an amniotic fluid test which could trigger an abortion Having thought it through I explained that mongol children by and large could have a happy life, so she should refuse that test. It didn't seem to make any difference so, as I usually did when angry or frustrated, I went to the paddock and attacked some poor innocent logs with my huge axe. Suddenly knowledge flooded into my mind. I knew we were to have a son who would be perfectly healthy and that his name was Daniel. This was news to me because until then I had been determined that if we had a boy I would name him Niall after my great ancestor. I decided to keep quiet about this, as if we had a cross-eyed girl I would look a right idiot. Suddenly again my mind was filled with the knowledge that the message was for Julia, so I told her. She didn't know what to make of it, but she was very pleased, as she didn't like the name Niall, and she knows that I never normally change my mind. The great day came and a little nurse shoved a bundle into my arms, and as she bustled off said"Congratulations, its a daughter" Undisturbed, I opened the wrappings to ensure that it was, indeed Daniel. The last time was when, having lost everything, we came to Wales. In the church we attended was a beautiful woman who prophesied almost every week about someone in the congregation, without naming them or I suppose knowing who she was talking about. I know she was genuine because frequently the messages were medicine from the Lord for my troubled soul. Having heard this evidence I trust all readers will be convinced that prophecy can be genuine and still happens today.

AS I HAVE MENTIONED, THE HOLY SPIRIT NOT CONSENT TO BE OUR MASTER. When we consent to be guided by Him and follow His guidance He changes us gently, little by little towards having the mind of Christ. If you stop for a second to remember the man you used to, be you will recognize that He has made massive changes that you were not aware of at the time. I had a bad temper, ready to lash out if physically challenged. If verbally challenged I could tear you to pieces with my tongue, and I am ashamed to have to admit that foul language was never lacking. I would lie and steal as 'necessary'. Please do not think I boast when I say that these things have all fallen away. No effort on my part achieved this. You can call the process sanctification or growing up in the Lord.. We all grow at different rates, but if, after a long time, we cannot see much improvement, we can be sure that we have not been listening to the Spirit. He is easily grieved and will leave you alone if you show you don't want His help by ignoring his advice. In the worst case you might want to get on your knees and seek from Jesus confirmation of your salvation. Do it now-tomorrow may never come. James was brought up a Jew. It would have been deep in his wiring that salvation is of works, not that he says that, but the stress is there. Not that he is wrong. The good works that we do spring from the love of Christ within us. If they are for anything it is to please our Lord. They do not help with salvation, and they do not show that we are approved by God. There are many I know who seem to be better Christians than most Christians are. Why? They are seeking salvation by works. If you have the love of Christ is within you, you cannot stop yourself from doing good = the urge to help is now part of you. If you don't, it is legitimate to ask if the love of Christ is present. Even some Christians have some idea that they must do good deeds to part pay for their salvation We must boldly preach the truth=that salvation is the finished work of Christ- on every suitable occasion.

The experience at Pentecost was not altogether novel. The Holy Spirit had fallen upon people before - we think of Moses, whose face shone, and his seventy elders, Elijah and Elisha and even Saul. Although the Spirit had not appeared as tongues of fire, He had appeared in physical form as a dove. The new elements were the remaining of the Spirit - which we refer to ad the indwelling -and the fact that the disciples spoke in tongues. The Blessed Spirit causes us to speak in tongues for three reasons. Firstly to confirm our baptism or filling. secondly to help us with our praise and worship, and finally to convey a message, in which case the presence of a person with a gift of interpretation is essential. Paul even adjures us not to give the message in the absence of an interpreter. It is clear that at Pentecost a message - the message- was being preached, but there was no interpreter. That leaves us with two possibilities. The first is that the disciples were speaking in different languages, and, as there are more than twelve locations mentioned, switching between them. The other is that on this unique occasion the Holy Spirit conferred, temporarily, the gift of interpretation on all the hearers, so whatever language or languages the disciples spoke, the hearer heard in his own tongue. When Cornelius and his household came under the power of the Spirit, there was no need for an interpreter, as they were praising and worshipping, and the main reason was to witness to Peter, ans thence the Jews, that God had accepted the Gentiles in Jesus the Christ.

The experience at Pentecost was not altogether novel. The Holy Spirit had fallen upon people before - we think of Moses, whose face shone, and his seventy elders, Elijah and Elisha and even Saul. Although the Spirit had not appeared as tongues of fire, He had appeared in physical form as a dove. The new elements were the remaining of the Spirit - which we refer to ad the indwelling -and the fact that the disciples spoke in tongues. The Blessed Spirit causes us to speak in tongues for three reasons. Firstly to confirm our baptism or filling. secondly to help us with our praise and worship, and finally to convey a message, in which case the presence of a person with a gift of interpretation is essential. Paul even adjures us not to give the message in the absence of an interpreter. It is clear that at Pentecost a message - the message- was being preached, but there was no interpreter. That leaves us with two possibilities. The first is that the disciples were speaking in different languages, and, as there are more than twelve locations mentioned, switching between them. The other is that on this unique occasion the Holy S

This is a difficult one. We hear in the Scriptures of salvation and the filling of the Spirit coming as a package. However, in my experience this does not happen. My conclusion is that today we receive a portion of the Spirit - like a pilot light if you like,but then, sooner or later, either spontaneously or at a waiting meeting, you receive the full filling, accompanied by tongues. Once you have had this experience you will want to be often filled. We need to remember that this is not the be-all end- all, but opens the door to us to seek the gifts of the Holy Spirit which are vital for today. Imagine the impact of your message if you could begin it by healing someone! This still does occur, but my prayer is that the Lord will pour out His Spirit on so many that it will happen frequently everywhere.

I know for a fact that the Spirit of God is still teaches us today. On several occasions I have been told things I could not possibly have known at the time, though invariably I have found by later research that they were absolutely correct. These involved, inter alia, evolution, my ancestry, and the real story of the Exodus. When you pray for knowledge, or how to handle a situation or problem, God usually responds through his Spirit.

I am most familiar with the word testify when used in court. It is much stronger than an ordinary statement. You are on oath to tell the truth, and subject to sanctions if you either lie of fail to tell the whole truth. This is what Jesus meant, I believe, that what the Holy Spirit tells us is worthy of our full trust.

The primary method used by the Spirit is to work in our consciences, sensitizing us to what is right and what is wrong. He can help us when we are under fire, or witnessing by putting words in our mouth. On a few occasions he will actually tell us things. I was perfectly happy as an evolutionist, thinking that this was the way God worked. It was the Spirit who first told me that this was wrong thinking, and, of course over many years of study I can see all the holes in the so-called theory. Another time He told me about my ancestry things which I could never have learned before the internet. Most remarkably, He told me that our coming child was a son, that he would be perfectly formed, but his name was not to be Niall, as was my intention, but Daniel. Another area in which He operated is praise and worship - we pray "O Lord open Thou our lips that our mouths shall show forth Thy praise. The more we rely on Him and listen to Him, the more He will help us.

As it was prophesied, the Lord came this first time as the promised servant. Although He was still divine, unless He had laid aside his rights and powers, He could not have been a man We have no inherent power - all we do is powered by the Holy Spirit. I did not even have the power to change myself. You can try to change through you own willpower, but your success will be very limited. If Jesus had used His own power, when we pray and nothing happens, instead of praying for guidance we would have the excuse "Oh well, I'm not Jesus" As it was, He showed us how to engage the Spirit to work through us.

The burden upon Moses was addressed before. We read in Exodus 18, that after Moses had led the Israelites across the Gulf of Aquaba to the land of Midian, where he had lived for something like 40 years, his father in law Jethro , the priest of Midian, brought Moses his wife and sons. When he saw that Moses was judging the people all on his own he was appalled. He advised that righteous men be appointed to judge tens,fifties, hundreds and thousands, so there was an appeal system. by Numbers 11, we see that this system had failed. Although it was a priests response to the problem, it was still the idea of man. Perhaps the people did not trust them or considered their judgements were not those that Moses would have made. In Numbers 11 v 21, Moses tell God that he has 600,000 fighting men, so by a simple demographic calculation we can see that upwards of two million people were under his care. No wonder he was fed up! This time he got it right and sought God's solution. When the Lord put part of his Spirit on each of the seventy elders they prophesied, showing the people that this had happened. They now knew that these men's judgements would be as valid as if made by Moses himself. The Spirit gave them wisdom and discernment, enabling them to do the job. Moses knew that there would come a time when the Spirit of God would be poured out on all flesh, and longed for it to happen so that the Israelites would truly be God's people in the same way that we are today. The time is coming when the power of the Spirit will constrain the people of God to begin to speak out to condemn the wickedness of this society even if it means fines or prison.

Before Jesus, the Holy Spirit was conferred by a sovereign act of God upon individuals who would need His help to carry out God's plans for them. The first thing we notice is that all are changed. Samson was changed from an ordinary man into a superwarrior who could kill a hundred Philistines armed only with the jawbone of an ***. Gideon was changed from a timid youth into a hero, whilst Saul was able to prophesy. David was a special case, as it was said (1 Samuel 16 v 13) that from the moment of his anointing He came upon him in power from that day forward, It seems that the Spirit indwelt David in the same way as He does us. The Spirit brings a greater feeling of the presence of God. He comforts and guides us, He tells us things we couldn't know and infuses our worship with joy. Now the Spirit of God enters us and remains at the moment of our second birth, but there remains an experience of His greater presence, at times when He is sought. This is known as the Baptism in the Holt Spirit and is to be eagerly requested. We are familiar with the great feats our examples did , but they left us a mighty lesson. The Holy Spirit, though full of power will not be your master. He operates by gently suggesting things to you, and it is easy, if you choose to ignore Him and do it your way, and there came a time for each of them when this was what they did. Samson turned to drink, gambling and women. He ended up blind and working like a donkey.(He learned his lesson and the Spirit returned to help him achieve a glorious death, but what much greater things he could have achieved if he had not fallen). Gideon, after the victory over the Midianites, instead of giving God the glory made a memorial with the gold which his soldiers gave him as tribute, a golden ephod which the bible says 'became a snare to Israel " .After his death his seventy sons were murdered, all but two, and one of them was the murderer. Saul's disobedience after the victory over the Amalekites resulted in the Holy Spirit leaving him to be replaced by an evil spirit, and ultimately his death and loss of the crown. David, a man after God's own heart, when Bath Sheba flaunted her naked body before his window became an adulterer, and then became the murderer king.His penalty was not only the death of the child, which is an agonising experience from which you never fully recover, but the curse that "the sword shall never leave your house....I will raise up evil against you out of your own family " 2 Samuel 12 10 and eleven. The result was rape, murder, rebellion and death. Now, the Holy Spirit will not leave you if you ignore Him ( Given the Lord's promise , "I will never leave you nor forsake you," I doubt that this is even possible, but He will cease to guide and advise you. You will make your own decisions some of which will bring you great grief. I, for example, if I had listened to Him, would have been spared bankruptcy. Let us all then listen keenly for the Spirit's voice and hasten to follow His directions.