Principle number one: The Art of Praying Continually or Perfecting the Flow of a Spirit of Praise and Thanksgiving:
When Jesus was teaching us how to prepare for the time of the rapture of the Holy Saints so that we would be participants in the rapture, or the "fetching away" of the bride of Christ, Jesus said, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the son of man."
"This sounds difficult or impossible!" most saints would exclaim. Yes, that's right, and that's why most of the saints (the amateurs) will not be raptured, but will be left on the earth to face martyrdom and the wrath of antichrist (Daniel chapter 7) after the Holy Bride of Christ (consisting of the professional Christians) has been fetched away.
Therefore, in everything that you do, you, as a Holiness pilgrim, will do it as a "praise offering" unto the Lord.
The apostle Paul said it best: "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (I Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Romans 8:5 tells us why praying continually is so critically important: Because "they that are after the flesh (those who do not pray continually) mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit (those who do pray continually) mind the things of the Spirit." (Romans 8:5)
The fallen nature, i. e., the flesh, with its strengths and weaknesses and sundry 666 qualities (see "The Curse of the Cults" and "The Curse of the Education Cults") automatically takes control of the pilgrim under "normal," i. e., "natural," i. e., "carnal" conditions.
This is why Christians often think they are OK when they are thinking like the world thinks, and acting the way the world acts, because they don't realize that the flesh has taken them over without their realizing it.
But the apostle Paul, with anguish, realized it. He realized that the fallen nature has a mind of its own and struggles with intensity against the precepts of our Holy God: In Romans 7:14-25 Paul describes the hopelessness of his struggle while under the Old Covenant of the law to overcome the machinations of the fallen nature: "We know that the law is Spiritual (that is, we know that the law is from God), but I (via my flesh, via my fallen nature) am unspiritual, sold (by the fall of Adam and Eve) as a slave to sin. (When my taskmaster, the flesh, is in charge) I do not understand what I do:
I sin when I do not want to sin. Then when I feel remorse for the sins I commit out of my loosing struggle with the sinful nature, I am agreeing that the law of God is good, and yet, when I am flowing with the will of the flesh, I realize that it is no longer just I myself who is sinning, but sin living in me. I realize that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature (in my flesh), because when I desire to do what is good, I cannot carry it out, because what I do is not what I want to do."
Later Paul cries out, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, (the solution is) through Christ Jesus my Lord." Paul affirmed that we can be rescued from this body of death, this fallen nature via the New Covenant promise of the empowerment of the Holiness pilgrim to overcome the "world," the "flesh," and the "devil" through Jesus Christ and his gift of the Holy Spirit.
Hence, the necessity of "praying continually" lest the "default mode" kicks in, i. e., lest the flesh reasserts itself and like hypnotized robots of hell we wander back into sin.
So "praying continually" is the distinguishing feature that testifies to the "new birth" that takes place when the Holiness pilgrim is "born of the Spirit" and washed in the cleansing blood of the Lamb of God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The Baptism of he Holy Spirit: Praying continually sustains in the Holiness pilgrim a "holy glow" which sometimes will precipitate what is referred to as "the baptism of the Holy Spirit." The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a condition in which the flesh is totally subdued and overcome by the Spirit to the point of causing the Holiness pilgrim to appear to be drunk. This happened on the day of Pentecost when the followers of Jesus were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Peter told the witnesses to this event, "Fellow Jews and all of you who are in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you. Listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.'"(Acts 2:14-18)
Via the Holy Spirit, a "holiness glow" distinguishes the "born again" Holiness pilgrim from the "thundering herd" that constitutes the rest of humanity. The "thundering herd" are those of The Fall who have became servants of the "world," the "flesh," and the "devil" via the flesh: These unfortunate multitudes thunder toward their fiery end in the lake of burning sulfur, where "the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, and they have no rest day or night who worship the beast and his image, and (whosoever is foolish enough to) have received the mark of his name." (Revelation 14:11)
Jesus commanded us plainly in this regard: "Enter ye in at the straight gate (the gate of Holiness via Jesus, 'The Way,'). For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction (via unwitting and/or willing servitude to the "world," the "flesh," and the "devil"), and many there be which go in thereat. (Why?) Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
And again, well worth repeating is the scripture, "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (I Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Principle number two: The Little Understood Concept of Servitude:
As you become proficient in praying continually, you will notice that the Spirit of God frequently directs your path, or frequently directs you via your spirit to do something. The quality of this direction from God is unmistakable. You learn to recognize when God is directing you in your ministry, and as you are obedient to God's direction, you are advancing the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth. You become literally yoked with God and thereby you begin to earn your crowns or rewards that you will receive on that day: On that "great gettin' up morning" when the Holy Bride of Christ rises to meet Jesus in the air, and "so shall you ever be with the Lord."
If you are not yoked with God via praying continuously you become yoked with the spirit of this world. You look for direction from your three-dimensional ability to think and reason, and the result? Your judgment becomes warped and twisted like a pretzel via your flesh-inspired biases, prejudices, lusts and ambitions. The “law of the jungle" instinct for survival maneuvers you into reliance on "self" rather than reliance on God and God's ability to take care of you. Vis-a-vis God you become a prodigal son, shoving God aside and saying in effect, "Thank you Father. You’ve done a good job birthing me into your family via the shed blood of Jesus, but I can take care of things myself now. You did such a good job of making me such a wonderful and talented person, I can take charge of the circumstances of my life now." In short, you become a god unto yourself, and even though you may be a professing Christian, not allowing God to direct your life and thereby to make your life meaningful and productive for the advancement of God's Kingdom, you inadvertently become the servant of another god: The god of this world, the god of self-deification.
You become like the serial killer who was asked why he killed people. "God told me to do it," he replied. His god, the god of this world, the god of self-deification, takes over in much subtler ways with most people. But the results are always the same, namely, death and destruction. Pain, agony and misery are the inheritance of those who hate the truth and serve their father, the devil, instead of serving our Heavenly Father and becoming servants of the truth.
In the same way, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees saying, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say." (Why are they unable to hear what Jesus says to them?) Jesus explains, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire." (Their desire reflecting the devil's desire was to kill Jesus.) Jesus continues, "He (your father) was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." (John 8:42-47)
Therefore, if we are to fully mature as Christians, we become fully cognizant of "Principle Number Two:" You cannot escape servitude. Either you serve God or you serve the god of this world. So-called "independence" is a figment of the vanity's imagination. It does not exit.
"He who was a slave when he was called by God is the Lord's freedman. Similarly, he who was a free man when he is called is Christ's slave. You were bought with a price (the shed blood of Jesus), therefore, do not become the slaves of men." (1 Corinthians 7:22-24)
"Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have received from God and you are not your own? You were bought at a price (the shed blood of Jesus), therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which belong to God." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Principle number three: The Power of the Resurrection of Jesus from the Dead:
Preaching on the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and what it means for the day to day living of the Christian pilgrim, Jesse Duplantis said, "The Resurrection is the impregnable fortress of my life."
The Resurrection describes the absolute power of God to override the natural order of things and to operate in the dispensation of miracles and miracle-working power in the Christian's life.
Therefore, with the knowledge and the experience of God's overriding authority and power, the Christian pilgrim serves God while sharing in that same power and authority. And just like Jesus, he overcomes the world, and fulfills his God-given ministry, whatever that may be.
Why, then, would a Christian ever fear? Because he temporarily forgets that God is in charge of his life. He feels the weight of responsibility for his life and its problems on his own shoulders instead of realizing that responsibility for outcomes rest on God's shoulders, not on his. He needs only to "trust and obey." The Christian thus liberated has the wonderful, free feeling of knowing that God is in control of his life, and that God is making the decisions that direct his path. Therefore, there cannot possibly be anything amiss, because God and his decisions are perfect.
The freedom from guilt, doubt, depression and fear that God's control of one's life generates bespeak the sayings, "The just shall live by faith," "He that is set free in Christ is free indeed," "Without faith it is impossible to please God," and "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." God and all of heaven rejoice when you grasp the truth, and when you use your understanding to experience victories in Christ. In the same way that David, the shepherd boy, was victorious over Goliath. God and all of heaven rejoice when you overcome as you abide in him who is able to complete the work that he has started in your life, and indeed, the work that he planned for your life from before the very foundations of the world were established.
William A. Gabel, Jr., P. O. Box 184, Wabash, IN 46992
E Mail address: WilliamGabel@Comcast.net
Website: CyclesResearch.org