Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah, and welcome back to the fifth in our series on Spiritual Equipping and the third on Ruach (Spirit) and Fire Baptism.

I hope you have all had a blessed week and that you will take inspiration from the the Davar Elohim (Word of God) in Isaiah 56 which says:

"Thus says Yahweh: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon My salvation will come, and My deliverance be revealed. Happy is the mortal who does this, the one who holds it fast, who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it, and refrains from doing any evil" (Is.56:1-2, NRSV).

"Blessed be the Name of Elohim (God) from æon (age) to æon (age), for wisdom and power are His. He changes times and seasons, deposes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. To You, O Elohim (God) of my ancestors, I give thanks and praise..." (Dan.2:20-23a, NRSV).

Last week we took a close look at what Fire Baptism is, and we saw that it was the judgment and purification of Yahweh of the unbeliever and the believer, respectively. Towards the end of this teaching, we'll see also what it isn't. This week, and for a week or two afterwards too, we must look closely at it's proximal partner, Ruach or Spirit Baptism, and in particular what it looks like in action.

As we have already seen, Ruach (Spirit) Baptism is probably one the most misunderstood and misapplied teachings in Christianity, and yet it is one of the most crucial and esential of its doctrines. Without it, we cannot have access to the supernatural gifts and resources that are offered to born-again, dedicated, Torah-obedient believers. Worse, from the point-of-view of those who want to intellectualise everything, Ruach (Spirit) Baptism isn't something one can get through 'studying' or 'learning', because it is experiential. It is, as we have also already seen, because of its close connection with Fire Baptism, Yahweh's clean power that Daniel mentioned in our second scripture this morning, and is set-apart from any and all other forms of gifting.

Now by 'experiential' what I absolutely do not mean is the kind of ecstatic emotionalism which is a hallmark of the Pentecostals and Charismatics, which as we've also seen is largely psyche-derived and psyche-driven, and often, unfortunately, with help from dark entities. And once those demonic spirits get a foothold, and once their false 'gifting' becomes intoxicating and habitual, this progressively leads to ever increasing lawlessness and chaos, and in the midst of this craziness, new and heretical false teachings are birthed, particularly in the Charismatic camp.

Remember we're talking about the Shavu'ot or so-called 'Pentecostal' anointing that was inauguratd 2,000 years ago at the First Messianic Shavu'ot (Weeks, 'Pentecost') and not the greater Sukkot or Tabernacles Anointing-to-come. Let us now see what the Scriptures tell us as far as what the Ruach (Spirit) in believers is supposed to look like - in other words, in those who have been 'born again' (Jn.3:3,7; 1 Pet.1:23) or spiritually regenerated. Let's turn to Romans 8, and though the key verses are 9-11, we'll back up to verse 5 because we must define some terms accurately.

We'll use the New International Version (NIV) but we'll toggle, as it were, between that and the New King James Version (NKJV) and I'll add some clarifications from the Kingdom New Testament (KNT) where it's helpful and, in my opinion, necessary. Let's take the first of these verses so that we at least are clear in our minds as to what the relationship of the Torah to Ruach- or Spirit-Baptism is:

"Those who live according to the sinful nature ('flesh' - NKJV) have their minds set on what that nature (the flesh) desires; but those who live in accordance with the Ruach (Spirit) have their minds set on what the Ruach (Spirit) desires. The mind of sinful man ('to be carnally minded' - NKJV) is death, but the mind controlled by the Ruach (Spirit) is chayim (life) and shalom (peace); the sinful ('carnal' - NKJV) mind is hostile to Elohim (God). It does not submit to Elohim's (God's) Torah (Law), nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature ('those in the flesh' - NKJV) cannot please Elohim (God)" (Rom.8:5-8, NIV)

In this world there are two broad categories of people:

• 1. Those who live according to the sinful, impure, carnal or fleshy nature whose minds are entirely focussed on that; and
• 2. Those who live according to the Ruach (Spirit) which brings spiritual chayim (life) and inner shalom (peace).

You'll have noticed, if you're making a mental note of the different translations, that the sinful nature is often translated as "the flesh", particularly in older versions of the English Bible like the Geneva Bible (1560) and King James Version (1611), as well as more modern ones that follow in that tradition (NKJV, RSV, NASB, ESV, NRSV, AENT, RNAB, Holman, ISRV, NWT and OJV - which uses the Hebrew basar). There is absolutely nothing wrong with using 'flesh' but the problem is it has led to the false gnostic idea that the 'flesh' is referring to the physical body which it isn't, even though when we talk about 'flesh' we usually make the association with physical meat, don't we? That's a good reason to translate it differently in our day. Words change in meaning. Thus when the 1611 King James Version talks about 'meat' it can refer to either edible animal or plant life. Today we don't call a salad 'meat' but 'vegetables' which is a good refinement of our language.

When Paul uses words like 'flesh' (sarx in Greek, which literally means the physical body stripped of its skin) he isn't talking about the physical world at all and uses different language for that. So when more old fashioned English Bible traditions use 'flesh' in Paul's writings, it is a metaphor and always refers to people or things who share the corruptibility, fallenness and mortality of the world and, often enough and certainly here, the rebellion of the world. Why did Paul choose basar or sarx ('flesh') to refer to this corrupt nature? For the same reason that a skinned body doesn't look particularly beautiful! It's actually a horrible, bloody sight. Thus theologically 'flesh', in these particular English translations of the Bible, is a highly negative term and is designed to provoke disgust. Otherwise, consistently and throughout the whole Bible, from Genesis onwards, the created order or physical world, has always been good in and of itself, and always will be. When the word 'flesh' is used, what is being highlighted is the wrong use, corruption and decay of the physical world. Thus other English versions of the Bible correctly translate the metaphor of 'flesh' as "lower nature" (NEB, LB), that which is "unspiritual" (JB) and even "old nature" (JNT/CJB), in other words, the nature of the old, fallen Creation.

Now that we have the meaning of key words sorted out (not forgetting the word 'carnal', by the way, which comes from the Latin and was used in the Catholic Vulgate Bible for over a thousand years before English started appearing, a reason, I suppose, it figures so prominently in theological language still), but before we look at the second part of today's main passage of Scripture, may I remind you, once again, that the teaching of Paul is that the carnal, unspiritual, fleshy, rebellious mind, fails, every time, to do what? It "doesn't submit to Elohim's (God's) Torah (Law). Infact," Paul adds, "it can't!" (Rom.8:7, KNT) and that should remind us that those who pursue an antinomian, anti-Torah, anti-Law lifestyle "can't please Elohim (God)" (v.8, KNT). So, the apostle is telling us, without the Ruach (Spirit) we can't actually obey the Torah - Yahweh's Law - and that such is displeasing to Him. Why? Because He wants us to live His ordained life-style for Israel, and the only way to do that - where old Israel failed - is through an amazing gift. The Torah alone, Paul says, can't and doesn't work because alone it cannot provide chayim (life). Only Yah'shua (Jesus) is chayim (life) for people (Jn.14:6). We'll come back to that interesting dilemma in due course.

We have already spent a lot of time in earlier sermons in this series establishing what 'Ruach' or 'Spirit' actually is, but here in particular, when it is contrasted with 'flesh', it usually refers to Elohim's (God's) own Ruach (Spirit) - that is, the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) which is a kind of all-embracing term representing all three aspects of it, from neshamah, to ruach and to nefesh, in the same way we can describe the three states of water as 'water' whether its liquid, solid ice, or gaseous steam. Sometimes Paul refers to the human ruach or spirit to describe the inner reality of a person's life. In today's passage, though, Paul is talking about the two different categories of 'Adam-humanity' and 'Messiah-humanity'.

Let's look at the second part of the passage, beginning at verse 9:

"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature (flesh) but by the Ruach (Spirit), if the Ruach Elohim (Spirit of God) lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Ruach haMashiach (Spirit of Christ), he does not belong to Messiah (Christ). But if Messiah is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your ruach (spirit) is alive because of righteousness ('[Yahweh's] covenant justice' - KNT). And if the Ruach (Spirit) of Him (Yahweh) who raised Yah'shua (Jesus) from the dead is living in you, He who raised Messiah from the dead will also give chayim (life) to your mortal bodies through His Ruach (Spirit), who lives in you" (Rom.8:9-11, NIV)

Notice that the Ruach haMashiach (Spirit of Messiah/Christ) and the Ruach (Spirit) of Yahweh are one and the same as far as its impact is concerned, since everything ultimately proceeds from the Father [1], and the Father and Son are echad, in perfect unity, or one. This particular passage is extremely important to understand but also gravely misunderstood by so many. The Epistle of Paul to the Romans is the most controversial of all the books of the Bible (together with Ephesians) because the raison d'être of a number of denominations rests on particular interpretations of it, particularly as far as the Torah or Law is concerned, which most Protestants have a practical hostility towards especially when it means they find they aren't allowed to copy the secular lifestyle of the unbelievers around them.

The Ruach (Spirit) who raised Yah'shua (Jesus) from the dead dwells in those who have been born-again, spiritually regenerated, in other words, through Ruach (Spirit) Baptism - through being baptised, immersed or dunked in the Spirit, and He who raised Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) from the dead will both now, and also, at some future point in time, reconstruct and transform our dead bodies (dead in the sense that we're all mortal and are going to die) - make it alive - using the very same Ruach (Spirit) that currently dwells in us as a deposit of the future glory, because of our repentance from Torah-disobedience and our emunah, faith, or trusting in Messiah. It is not our own little 'ruach' or 'spirit' that will accomplish this. We live now - physically - because there is a portion of the Ruach haMashiach (Spirit of Christ) in us, which everyone being born into this world possesses (Jn.1:9, KJV) because His Ruach (Spirit) dwells in us; we live now - spiritually - because we have been baptised in the Ruach (Spirit), and it is He - Yah'shua (Jesus) who lives in us; and we shall live again, as resurrected beings, because of this very same Ruach (Spirit) we're experiencing now.

I repeat - and this time I'll quote from the NKJV:

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Ruach (Spirit), the things of the Ruach (Spirit). For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against (hostility to) Elohim (God); for it is not subject to the Torah (Law) of Elohim (God), nor indeed can be" (Rom.8:5-7, NKJV).

You're either carnal or you're spiritual. If you're spiritual, you have accepted Christ and are trusting Him, you have repented of your sins (and continue to do so daily), your old carnal mind has died and you are now living a Torah-obedient life empowered by the Ruach (Spirit), doing what Old Covenant Israel failed to do because Israel didn't have the Shavu'ot ('Pentecostal') Baptism of the Ruach (Spirit) but the much lower Nefesh Spirit which unfortunately predominates in antinomian churches. In other words, a sign of Ruach (Spirit) Baptism is joyful Torah-obedience - it's not a burden. Another sign is inner shalom in your spirit (in your 'inside being') - you have a deep sense of peace and well-being; if you haven't been authentically baptised in the Ruach (Spirit) then you will hate hate the Torah, in part or as a whole, and refuse to live it the way Yahweh always intended, especially when it is 'inconvenient' to whatever flesh has survived inside because of an incomplete repentance, because of backsliding. In fact, without the complete Ruach (Spirit) Baptism you'll keep failing until you let the Fire Baptism do its proper job.

Thus when popular preachers say, 'Oh, we can't help but sin, and we always will, we are saved despite ourselves,' they are lying. Back in the Old Covenant days, the nevi'im (prophets) could say, "there is no one who does not sin" (1 Kings 8:46; 2 Chr.6:36, NKJV), and "for there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin" (Eccl.7:20, NKJV). But in the New Covenant, when a man or woman is born again and has been baptised in the Ruach (Spirit) and has overcome the flesh, what is it the Apostle John tells us?

"Whoever abides in Him (Messiah) does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him...Whoever has been born of Elohim (God) does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of Elohim (God)" (1 John 3:6,9, NKJV).

"We know that whoever is born of Elohim (God) does not sin; but he who has been born of Elohim (God) keeps himself [2] ('He (Yah'shua/Jesus) who was born of Elohim (God) protects him' - ESV), and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of Elohim (God), and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of Elohim (God) has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him (Yahweh the Father) who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ). This is the true Elohim (God) and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen" (1 John 5:18-21, NKJV).

Oh, but doesn't John say the opposite somewhere?! you might ask. Doesn't he say, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 Jn.1:8, NIV)? But is that talking about always or only in certain situations? Yes, John absolutely does say this, but people don't read the context as we're going to now:

"This is the message we have heard from Him (Yahweh) and declare to you: Elohim (God) is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yah'shua (Jesus), His Son, purifies us from all sin.

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His Davar (Word) has no place in our lives" (1 John 1:5-10, NIV).

What's the context? The context is this: if we claim to be bona fide, genuine believers, claiming to have fellowship with Him...yet we walk in darkness by willfully and habitually breaking Torah, then we are deceiving ourselves when we say we are regenerated believers enjoying a Ruach (Spirit) Baptism when clearly we aren't. If we continue in denial, we are, in fact, accusing Elohim (God) of being a liar which means His Davar or Word most certainly does not dwell in us, whether that be the living Scriptures or Christ Himself or both.

This isn't saying that sinning is a natural state and that Yahweh is OK with that so long as we keep on repenting again and again because we can never do anything about it - we'll just keep on sinning no matter what. No, what it's saying is that the Ruach (Spirit) is no longer in us because if it were, we wouldn't be habitually sinning again and again! N.T.Wright explains it this way:

"It is hard to know where John draws the line between deadly and non-deadly sin. Perhaps He means that those who denied that Jesus (Yah'shua) is come in the flesh (physically) have committed a sin which puts them beyond the reach of redemption, since they have cut off the branch from which the fresh shoots of rescue-promises are growing. But one of the comforting things about this strange little passage is the light it sheds on verse 18. Without this, we might suppose that John thinks all Christians have stopped sinning altogether; with it, it is clear that he does indeed mean, as I have translated it, 'everyone fathered by God (Elohim) does not go on sinning'. It is the continuous habit of life that concerns him. Clearly he would rather one did not sin at all, but occasional sins, a blip on the chart as it were, can be prayed for, can be confessed and forgiven. They are quite different from the hard-hearted sin which carries on regardless, and which, as in Romans 1:32, even comes to see the action in question as not sinful at all" [3].

So, no, John doesn't contradict himself. If we're habitually sinning, then we are under the dominion of the flesh, which means we're not Ruach (Spirit)-filled, no matter what showy, noisy things we get up to in church as supposed evidence that Elohim (God) is still 'filling' us. Then what we do is just a façade, a carnal show for our own entertainment and/or the entertainment of others, perhaps even 'spiritual virtue-signalling', which we come to deceive ourselves into believing is the 'Spirit'. So that illusion has to be smashed! And the thinking at the other end of the spectrum is just as bad - I am sure you have met arrogant believers who claim they never sin 'because Scripture says we don't and we're believers, so we can't possibly be sinning'. That smacks of the arrogance of the false 'once saved, always saved' doctrine popular amongst the dogmatic and spiritually lazy.

What is the Bible definition of sinning? Violation of the Torah (Law). What does Paul say the carnal, fleshy, unregenerated, unborn-again, unbaptised-in-the-Ruach (Spirit) does not do? I quote Paul again: "He does not submit to Elohim's (God's) Torah (Law)" (Rom.8:7, KNT). So what does Paul mean at the beginning of chapter 8 in his Epistle to the Romans when he says:

"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Messiah Yah'shua (Christ Jesus), who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Ruach (Spirit)?" (Rom.8:1, NKJV).

I'll let Paul answer that question himself in the verses immediately proceeding verse 1, as we toggle to the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) which makes some important distinctions that aren't always clear in most of our more commonly used English versions. Listen carefully because what you have heard, and what you are going to hear, will likely clash with your Protestant traditions if that's your background, and if any of you are still holding onto them. This brings to mind what I said earlier about how language means different things to different people depending on what they are accustomed to hearing, and according to their 'theological world view' as it may be at any moment in time. So let's read from verse 2:

"Why (is there no longer any condemnation)? Because the Torah (Law) of the Ruach (Spirit), which produces this life in union with the Messiah Yah'shua (Jesus), has set me free from the 'torah' ('law') of sin and death. For what the [Old Covenant] Torah (Law) could not do by itself, because it lacked the power to make the old (carnal, fleshy) nature cooperate, Elohim (God) did by sending His own Son as a human being with a nature like our own sinful (carnal, fleshy) one. Elohim (God) did this in order to deal with sin, and in so doing He executed the punishment against sin in human nature, so that the just (righteous) requirement of the [Old Covenant] Torah might be fulfilled in us who do not run our lives according to what our old [carnal, sinful, fleshy] nature wants but according to what the Ruach (Spirit) wants" (Rom.5:2-4, CJB/JNT)

And then we read on in the verses that we studied at the beginning how it was the intention of Yahweh's Torah (Law) to give life or chayim but - and here's the main point - but it is only finally and gloriously achieved when, by the Baptism of the Ruach (Spirit), Elohim (God) gives resurrection life to all those who genuinely belong to the Messiah, Yah'shua (Jesus), firstly, as a deposit (2 Cor.1:22; 5:5; Eph.1:4) in the form of the Baptism of the Ruach (Spirit) here and now, and finally, as a resurrected body after the Judgment at either the beginning (the First Resurrection) or the end of the Millennium (the Second Ressurection) depending on what kind of life we have lived - whether it is Torah-obedient or Torah-disobedient.

Now I can imagine a lot of people shifting nervously in their seats, or leaping up into the air in protest with deep emotions stirring along various theological lines. I realise this is a huge subject which we can't get into today and in any case our focus is on Ruach (Spirit) and Fire Baptism as is understood, principally, by Pentecostals and Charismatics - I don't want to lock horns with Calvinists, Lutherans and other cessationists. I really only want to make one point today, and to make it emphatically, based on what Paul has said, and it's this: there is no Ruach (Spirit) Baptism which does not result in Torah-obedience. Perhaps there is a limited 'baptism' or 'partial dipping' in the days of our ignorance, but when a certain segment of believers (like a denomination) is confronted with the whole truth and not only continues to resist it, but to resist even more forcefully and angrily than before upon being confronted (as I have experienced many do), claiming they have the 'freedom' to pretty much do what they wish, or at least within boundaries of variying circumference or radii depending which mitzvot (commandments) they have decided to obey or not, and so claim the 'Spirit' led them in their lawlessness, then if they had any degree of Ruach (Spirit) Baptism resting on them, whether Nefesh or Ruach, up until that point, then at some point, when grace is exhausted, it will depart from them because this is the flesh, the carnal nature, the Adamic man, the sinful nature at work, which hates the truth. They bring themselves under judgment and what they had, they lose (if they ever had it) and they become progressively more lawless. Yahweh is merciful in the days of our ignorance but when we hear the emet (truth), then we must respond affirmatively or suffer even more loss.

Like it or not, and as the Saviour taught, "narrow is the gate and difficult is the Derech (Way) which leads to chayim (life), and there are few who find it" (Matt.7:14, NKJV). Therefore He gave the mitzvah (command), "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it" (Matt 7:13, NKJV). We know what pleases the Father - Paul has reminded us today that "those that are determined by the flesh cannot please Elohim (God)" (Rom.8:8, KNT). We simply lack within our unredeemed natures, as Old Covenant Israel proved, the ability to master ourselves with our own ruach (spirit) or inner natural resources - our own unregenerated inner man or woman - we are unable to save ourselves, even by a valiant attempt at Torah-obedience without the Ruach (Spirit) Baptism!

If the Messiah has truly soaked into our inner being, putting the body of sin to death, as is a requirement in order to be Ruach (Spirit)-filled, then we are supernaturally empowered - empowered, as Paul has reminded us today, to live the Torah victoriously in Christ, enabling our will and free agency in partnership with His amazing clean Power, to master ourselves - our carnal nature - and to thus live righteously, because we love the One who will finally save us in the end from death itself. Remember that salvation is both past, present and future, with the future still unknown. And so we set about doing this, out of love for Him and out of love for our fellow human beings, for the one born again does not desire to harm anyone, and agrees to stay within the boundaries set by Torah. If, as John the Apostle said, we continue in sin, disregarding the mitzvah (commandment), the Ruach (Spirit) will not indwell very long, and the evidence of this will be constanr defeat in our continued willfull, habitual sinning.

We will continue to expand on all of this next week, Yahweh willing. For now, remember, that, as Psalm 146 testifies, "Yahweh gives freedom to the prisoners" (Ps 146:7, NKJV), it is not the 'freedom' to do whatever we want. Is a freed prisoner granted the licence, or given a free pass, to again break the very law that got him in prison in the first place? Obviously not. He is set free, by the grace - the undeserved loving kindness - of His Heavenly Father so that he does things right this time, and can thus be declared guiltless, right, or righteous in the society he wishes to live in.

It is the same with the Christian/Messianic. The freedom we are given is from the penalty and consequences of sin, not to be lawless, Torah-disobedient, anarchistic or irresponsible. That is why John says that the one declared righteous by his faithfulness, stops sinning because he is supernaturally empowered to do so, as he lives out the heavenly Torah lifestyle - ethical, moral and temporal.

Thus a sign of one who is Ruach (Spirit)-filled or Baptisted in the Ruach (Spirit), is that the Baptism of Fire will have purged him of his disposition to sin so thoroughly that He will, as it were, finally have the space inside fully freed-up to be 'filled'. The 'fire', as we were talking about last week, is not some magical power we can throw around as some deranged, worked-up, carnal preachers do, crying, "Fire! Fire! FIRE! FIRE!". That's not spiritual, it's fleshy, or using occult powers to 'slay' believers 'in the spirit' or to get them to simulate being delivered of demons - that's devilish showmanship. I've seen it happen. On one occasion in Africa, as a minister cried 'Fire, Fire' over a supposedly demonised man rolling on the floor at the apparent mercy of his invisible oppressors, the mobile phone man rang and the man rolling 'uncontrollably' on the floor stopped to answer it, and very calmly but in a state of irritation, 'Don't phone me know. I am very busy doing something important!', put the phone in his pocket, and resumed rolling around and hysterically screaming on the floor as if nothing had happened.

The Fire of the Ruach (Spirit) systematically and carefully purges the dross and sin out under the control of Heaven, by orderly means we cannot possibly understand, so that sinning at last stops. Why does it stop? Because every part of the inward man or woman finally belongs to Christ! That's the Gospel - not the crazed cackle, babble, screaming, writhing, snorting, hissing, baying, barking and yelling of the wild life of Babylon.

"Let all things be done decently and in order" (1 Cor 14:40, NKJV), the apostle Paul instructed. Delighted with the spiritual progress of the Colossians, he wrote:

"For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ" (Col.2:5, NKJV).

Some of you may be aware of the Filippino evangelist who visited another tribe in his country which was traditionally hostile to his own tribe. He preached the Gospel to the tribe and they secretly poisoned his drink to see if he really had power from Heaven. They were amazed when he did not die or even get ill and so started to trust him. Then he was asked to pray for someone in the village who had just died and he did so, praying supernatually in that tribes's language without being aware he was doing it, an example of authentic 'tongues'. The dead woman rose from the dead and said she was hungry. There you have authentic three giftings of the Ruach (Spirit) Baptism rolled up into one. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that glorious?! The tribe converted which is what these giftings are for, as well as to strengthen the faith of believers. HalleluYah! This is what I believe to be the real power of the Kingdom at work. This is authentic Ruach (Spirit) Baptism manifesting in specific gifts.

I hope this will encourage you. Yahweh says:

"Seek Yahweh while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to Yahweh, that he may have mercy on them, and to our Elohim (God), for He will abundantly pardon" (Is.55:6-7, NRSV).

Endnotes

[1] Here we agree with the Eastern Orthodox and not the Catholic and protestant family of churches which teach the Ruach (Spirit) proceeds from the Father and the Son - see Filioque
[2] "himself" is not in the best MSS and makes no sense here - "him" is more accurate. The One born of Elohim (God) can only refer to Yah'shua (Jesus), as the 'only-begotten' of the Father (Jn.1:14,18)
[3] Tom Wright, Early Christian Letters for Everyone: James, Peter, John & Judah (SPCK, London: 2011), p.169

Acknowledgements