

### RECEVIVING GOD'S CAPE

### Scott & Raven Smith

### Unlocking Supernatural power for the believer

~~~

Smashwords Edition

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission from the copyright holder, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Published in Houston, TX, by Menorah House Publishers: <https://www.facebook.com/MenorahHousePublishers>

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture is taken from the New King James Version. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture is taken from GOD'S WORD®, © 1995 God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group.

Scripture is taken from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Cover & interior design: Scott Smith

RECEIVING GOD'S CAPE:  
Unlocking Supernatural Power for the believer

Copyright ©2015 by Scott & Raven Smith  
ISBN-13: 978-1505465655  
All Rights Reserved.

Library of Congress  
2015905103

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

# CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Superheroes in Training

Where Have All the Superheroes Gone?

The Day God Gave Away His Cape

Putting on God's Cape

Superhero Recharge

When Superheroes Unite

Why We Need God's Cape

Conclusion

God's Kingdom Vs. Satan's Kingdom

Other Scriptures on God's Kingdom

God's Kingdom in Action

Other Books by Scott Smith

Other Books by Scott & Raven Smith

About the Authors

Endnotes

This book is dedicated to The Holy Spirit. Without You guiding Us into this truth, writing this book would have been impossible. We pray Our mortal words will in some way be useful to your amazing kingdom.

(and thanks for the cape!)

#  PREFACE

" _What do you want from me, Elisha?"_

" _Oh, Master Elijah, please allow me to continue your ministry by giving me a double dose of the power that works in you._ _"_

" _Elisha, if you are able to watch me depart into heaven, you will receive what you desire._ _"_

Suddenly, as they were talking, the sky opened up and Elijah was caught away into heaven, and the cape he was wearing fell to the ground. When Elisha saw the cape, he knew God had given him Elijah's power also.

Elisha took up Elijah's cape that had been left behind and immediately began performing signs and wonders. When the people saw that God's power had been transferred to Elisha, they came to him to learn about God.

The title of this book is based on the well-known Bible story of Elijah and Elisha in Second Kings 2 (also 4:38-41). As Elijah was caught up into heaven in a fiery chariot, his cape (or cloak) fell to the ground. Elisha, who was Elijah's understudy, picked up the cape to continue his ministry. The cape was a tangible symbol that the same power that rested on Elijah had been transferred to Elisha. As a result of Elisha receiving the cape of God's power, his ministry was not only equal to Elijah's but was more powerful, performing twice as many miracles.

The biblical account of Elijah and Elisha is a powerful representation of believer's lives today (Colossians 2:17). Elijah's name means _Jehovah is God_ , which is a type of Jesus. Elisha's name means _God is_ _our_ _savior_ , which is a type of believers in Christ. Even the Hebrew word for the cape in this story (אַדֶּ֫רֶת, _addereth_ ) has rich symbolism, meaning a cloak, a mantle, or the _glory_. And, of course, some have called it a cape.[1]

When Jesus ascended to heaven, He sent the promise of the Holy Spirit to be with believers to continue His ministry on the earth (Luke 24:49). Like Elijah, Jesus left behind His "cape" of power—the Holy Spirit! As a result, believers in Jesus now have access to God's anointing to do even greater works than He did (John 14:12). Amazingly, bearers of the cape of the Holy Spirit carry the glory with them wherever they go, offering restoration to the world.

( _Oh, and don't worry if you have a difficult time with Elijah and Elisha's names; they are similar sounding for a reason. When Elisha took up the cape, he became like Elijah in many ways. Likewise, when we receive the Holy Spirit, we will resemble Jesus. When people see us, they should have a difficult time telling us apart from Jesus, just as we have difficulty distinguishing Elijah from Elisha._ )

#  INTRODUCTION

We long for someone to swoop down and rescue us from the evil that plagues this planet. Maybe that's why we spend millions of dollars entertaining ourselves through fictional superhero comic books, movies, and video games. Have you thought about why these storylines fascinate us so much? Is it because we believe there's a chance superheroes could exist in a distant universe or is it because deep down we know we were created for more than just an ordinary existence?

Well, if you're a comic book nerd, you may take issue with the following statement, but there's no such thing as a superhero—at least not the ones from the movies. But that's not quite the end of the story. During the course of our regular prayer and Bible study, God opened up the Scriptures to us in a profound way, revealing an ancient revelation concerning real-life superheroes. Now, we know just by writing those words that many readers may classify us as a little strange and this book as nothing more than hyped-up juvenile fiction, but don't shut us down just yet.

If you'll commit to just a few hours of reading, you'll have the privilege of unlocking an astonishing biblical passage that shows how ordinary, flawed believers, can be endued with God's supernatural power to live as His extraordinary superheroes—and how He so desperately wants you, the reader, to discover this truth.

We honestly couldn't think of a more accurate way to describe God's incredible power for believers. How would you describe someone with the power to do these things?

• _power to restore relationships_

• _power to give people purpose_

• _power to influence genuine revival_

• _power to heal and raise dead things to life_

• _power to deliver the oppressed_

• _power to defeat evil wherever it's found_

When we uncovered this amazing superhero passage and discovered how God had made His power available to every believer throughout the centuries, we began wondering why most Christians never experienced it in their own lives. That's when we began to dig deeper and discovered that demonically-motivated, religious men had purposely suppressed Scriptures in God's Word to keep the truth hidden (2 Timothy 3:1-7). It was evident that those who held this corrupt agenda used fear and unbelief to repress truth in order to maintain personal and financial control—and unbelievably, we found it's still happening today. The underlying effects of this agenda are revealed whenever a "leader" says God's power was only for the early Church.

_ _ _

... _God Always had a remnant of believers who found their true purpose, anointed with the Holy Spirit's Power._

We also discovered that regardless of how religious men tried to hide the truth, even going as far as making laws banning the "common people" from reading the Bible (medieval times), God always had a remnant of believers who found their true purpose and lived as His champions, anointed with the Holy Spirit's power.

Now, just to be clear, we're not referring to the Holy Spirit's work in salvation or the fruit of the Spirit (Titus 3:5; Galatians 5:22). We're also not referring to a one-time event where some believers have received a heavenly prayer language (Acts 2). These are, indeed, amazing personal blessings of the Holy Spirit, but the power we're referring to isn't just a personal blessing; it's the Holy Spirit's power that transcends personal blessings to affect this world. We're referring to the Holy Spirit's full anointing that Jesus promised every believer (Acts 2:39). This is an anointing of power and gifts to impact our families, churches, and our world by setting people free from oppressive sin, healing diseases, and sparking mass revivals, all to enhance the Lord's reputation.

If believers are honest, most would say they aren't walking in the full power of God—but it doesn't have to stay that way. Are you interested in how to truly live a powerful Christian life—one where drug, alcohol and sex addicts, the mentally insane, and even medically disabled couldn't sit in the same room with you and not be instantly healed and delivered? Do you desire to be able to witness for Jesus and have the Word confirmed by a demonstration of God's amazing power? Are you ready to make a REAL difference for Christ or will you let what someone told you about the power of God destroy your blessing by their own lack of faith?

What you're about to read has the _potential_ to revolutionize your personal world and the world we all live in. This book will explain how you can live in this natural world as a supernatural believer, anointed with the Holy Spirit's power for real victory!

Are you ready to leave behind your ordinary life in the phone booth and step into the realm of real-life superheroes? Then don't let anything keep you from becoming who God destined you to be.

_ _ _

SUPERHERO SECRETS

The Bible says God hasn't given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Many people quote this Scripture and have no clue what it really means. This Scripture is in reference to walking in the power of God and being a bold witness for Christ. There is no reason to fear sharing the Gospel if God's equipped you with His Spirit. You don't even need to be worried about what to say (Luke 12:12).

If you read the book of Acts, one of the main characteristics the disciples received after their infilling by God's Spirit is they had a passionate boldness in sharing Christ—even when they knew it meant almost certain death (Acts 4:31). Now, most people reading this book live in a country where there's freedom to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others without fearing death; therefore, we don't have any excuses when it comes to sharing Him with the world!

Here is what God's given us to take the truth of Christ to the world:

• Power (our cape)

• Love (the true character of God)

• Sound mind (intelligence, wisdom, truth)

We need all three to be effective for God's kingdom. There are some Christians who have power but no love; some have sound doctrine, but no power; and some have zeal for the Word but neither love nor power. We need all three to be fully effective in our ministry to the world!

#  SUPERHEROES IN TRAINING

The fact that you're still reading indicates, at the very least, you're curious about the truth of receiving God's power. So, here it is. The ancient revelation that will turn you into a superhero is...

_Stop! Wait just a second._ We have to be careful here. We can't just flippantly announce this truth. We can't just give you a swatch of red fabric, a triangulated **S** and some scissors for you to make your own cape. That's not going to work. It's not going to be that simple. What we're about to share in this book is not only vital to God's kingdom; it's destructive to our enemy's domain as well. In fact, believers have _died_ sharing this revelation. Yes, you read that correctly. (We'll cover the details later.) Our enemy has been fighting and will continue to fight to keep anyone from this truth. Satan has long deceived religious men to keep it from the masses, and he's not about to surrender now. We need to make sure you know what you're getting into. You may want to ask yourself how badly you want this truth. Are you willing to contend for it?

How much diligence you put into seeking out this truth will ultimately determine if you'll receive full illumination from the Lord. The Bible says God rewards those who _diligently_ seek Him by faith (Hebrews 11:6). Diligence is an absolute requirement for moving forward in this truth. We pray your faith is up to the challenge ahead of you. Nothing worth fighting for is ever easy.

## Establishing the foundation

After reading the introduction, you may be tempted to skip ahead to the juicy stuff, but please resist that urge. God gave us this revelation through several stages, and we're going to do our best to unpack and set this up just as we received it so it will benefit every reader. If you choose to skip ahead, you'll get the main pieces, but just like a jigsaw puzzle they will be nothing more than nonsense unless you know the final image you're supposed to be assembling.

Our first step in unlocking this superhero truth is to establish the not-so-enticing foundation. No one likes laying foundation; it's ugly and requires hard work, but without it even the most beautiful house would collapse.

Many people have already tried to skip over the foundation of this revelation. In fact, we're sure many Christians have heard this truth. However, even though many have read or heard it, they missed its purpose, and therefore they've missed its power. How do we know they've missed it? It's simple. The evidence is in the fallen and deteriorating condition of their "houses"—and by houses, we mean the local church and average family _._

_ _ _

We've Misunderstood and Silenced God's Word and His Power.

Have you considered the spiritual landscape of the average church congregation today? It's no secret the local church is barely surviving. Here's what we see: We see people leaving like Moses' Exodus out of Egypt. We see young people wanting nothing to do with the local church once they become of age. And for those who have stayed, there's a deep confusion on religious and social matters. Behaviors that were once deemed shameful sin are now seen as normal, acceptable behavior. And this attitude isn't just exclusive to the youth; it transcends entire congregations. In fact, we know several churchgoers who say right and wrong is merely a matter of personal opinion.

Take a survey of individuals in the average home (family). What's happening with it? What we see is purposeless couples separating and divorcing, drowning in unmet expectations and financial chaos. We've watched the children in these families turn from wanting anything to do with God, to a rebellious and even atheistic attitude filled with drugs, alcohol, and even deviant sexual lifestyles.

We're not going to cite a bunch of boring statistics in this book. We all know families are struggling. We all know Christian churches have been decreasing in size and influence. But why? All the evidence points in one direction: We've _misunderstood and silenced God's Word and His power._

Here's an honest question to ask: How is it that so-called Christians can attend church every week and still find themselves struggling with some of the most heinous sins? It's simple; the power of God is absent to change people into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:26a). This foundational truth of Scripture has been categorically suppressed and replaced with feel-good humanism. Here's what we're missing:

**Then the Spirit of the** LORD **will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them** and be turned into another man **.** I Samuel 10:6

If you attend a local church, I (Scott) challenge you to take an honest account of yourself and those you know there. How are _you_ doing with overcoming sin? How is the rest of the congregation doing? I ask this because there was a time when I faithfully attended church and lived a full-blown life of sin—and I knew many others who were struggling right along with me. And let me tell you something else: there are dozens of people I know who attend church but continue to live a double-life, filled with immorality and sin. Quite honestly, I'm tired of hearing the stories of churchgoing friends and family who keep falling into the trap of the enemy, all because the power of God is being stifled from the pulpit.

I was always taught that the church was so full of Jesus that our enemy wouldn't dare come near it. But sadly, I learned this isn't true. In reality, it's probably safe to write that our enemy finds America's churches to be one of the most comfortable places to hide out. Why would Satan and the demons behind illicit sins fear the local church? From where we sit, most local congregations never address the core issues of oppression and there's no real power for deliverance. What is there to fear?

Have you ever seen a thief knock off a police station? It doesn't happen. Even though police stations are often loaded with confiscated money and jewelry, impounded vehicles, and even weapons and drugs, thieves wouldn't dare rob a police station. And we all know why. It's for the fact that everyone in the building carries "power" in their holster. And that is precisely what is missing from our churches—POWER! But don't get too discouraged by the state of our churches or homes. If you or someone you know is trapped by unrelenting sin, there's hope available in these next pages. By the time you're done reading, you'll discover how to access a power better than any firearm, and an authority much greater than any law enforcement officer. Read what God's Word says about His POWER:

**And it shall come to pass in that day,** _that_ **his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.** Isaiah 10:27

God's Word tells us how yokes of oppression are removed—it's by the power of the anointing. The anointing is a symbol of God's Spirit and power falling on His people (See 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; James 5:14; Exodus 30). Now, take a look at this same Scripture passage from an alternate translation:

**At that time the LORD will remove their burden from your shoulders, and their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be taken off because your neck will be too large.** Isaiah 10:27 NET

The yoke is symbolic of sin; it's a heavy, wooden crosspiece placed upon an oxen's neck to get them to do their master's bidding. In the above verse, the yoke is described as being "taken off" because the neck grew too large. Have you ever seen any of the superhero shows where law enforcement tries to shackle the hero with handcuffs? We all know what happens when the superhero flexes their muscles of steel—the handcuffs shatter and fall to the ground. The shackles can't withstand the pressure from the expansion and strength of the muscle ( _think Incredible Hulk_ ). That's exactly what this verse implies. When we submit our lives to be anointed with God's power, any stronghold that tries to attach itself to us will simply shatter in the presence of God's Spirit. His Spirit is too powerful for the shackles of sin.

Do you long for a day when sin can't even come near you because of the anointing of God? Do you long to be able to minister to an addict and see them instantly set free because of God's anointing upon you? This can be a reality for every believer. But it's not as easy as reading a comfort-print, self-help book so _you_ can have a better life. This is a process we must walk out every day. We'll explain this more as we go on.

## It's More than Just Quoting Scripture

In a way, we would like it if we could just write out a Scripture passage and have everything fall perfectly in to place, but it doesn't work that way—and for good reason. God won't work like this because He's protecting us. God wants a faith relationship, not to be used as a _get out of jail free card_. The following metaphor may seem crude, but it will solidify this truth: God wants us to be married to Him (Romans 7:4); He doesn't want to be our prostitute where we get to satisfy our urges, pay Him 10%, and then go on living life without ever considering Him in our lives. He wants us to genuinely love Him, not just lust after what He can give us. We pray this resonates with your heart.

_ _ _

God wants us to love Him, not just lust after what He can give us.

No, our superhero transformation won't come simply from writing out a verse from the Bible. In fact, most of us already know it won't work this way. After all, most pastors preach from the Bible every Sunday—even the smiley, feel-good preachers—but the evidence suggests they're not helping to produce any lasting change in those who repeatedly hear their grace-laced sermons.

You might even recall that Satan knows and quotes Scripture. He tried this tactic on Jesus. He tried to get Jesus to hand over His cape to him, but he lost miserably (Matthew 4)—and he will try this tactic on you, too. In fact, he knows Scripture better than most churchgoers. But while he might _know_ them, he doesn't fully _get_ them. He can't. He lacks a relationship with Christ that's necessary to fully unlock the power of God's Word.

Here's something else you need to remember: Satan lacks truth. The Bible says there's no truth in him and that he's the father of lies—or put another way, he's the father of deception (John 8:44). Satan doesn't possess the truth; therefore, he can't create anything new. Any creation requires truth. A creation is truth. But because Satan doesn't have truth, he's forced to twist what already exists. **One of our enemy's most powerful tools is deceptively twisting the** _understanding of Scripture_ **to suit his own personal desires.** **And, unfortunately, there are many people who follow his lead and do the same (John 8:44).** We've watched it happen recently.

We've actually seen "Christian" men twist Scripture against their own wives to get them to bow to their every whim in an inappropriate, abusive, submission. One man we know told his wife that she came down with the flu because she didn't respect him as God's authority in the home. We've also heard parents quote twisted Scripture to their kids in this same manner—telling them that if they didn't follow _mom and dad's_ every rule (not God's), their life would be cursed and full of misery.

In each of these cases, so-called Christians used half-truths of Scripture to put another person in bondage—and those using these tactics may actually believe what they're saying. Many times the abusers are simply repeating what they've heard from someone else, what's been said in a sermon, or even what's been passed down through a particular culture.

We realize it seems as though we're deviating from the message of this book, but stay the course; it will all come together soon. If you don't get anything else from this chapter, remember this: **simply reading Scripture to get head knowledge is not a substitute for God's real power. Real power comes when we mix together our faith, our relationship with the Lord, and a proper understanding of the Scriptures—then and only then can we put on the cape and walk into our superhero destiny (Matthew 17:20).**

We know all this may sound strange, but you're about to get access to a realm that few people have seen or experienced—and it's a realm not unlike the superhero stories we're familiar with. Don't put this book down yet. You're going to be encouraged and empowered as we move ahead.

Here's the main point: we must have a proper UNDERSTANDING of Scripture to live a blessed and joyful life in Christ. No one is worthy of wearing the Lord's cape until they have a proper understanding of God's Word and use it appropriately. We must realize God's Word is for giving people freedom in Christ, not putting them into a new type of bondage for our own purposes (John 8:32; 17:17). That's not the way of a superhero, but a supervillain. In many instances, people misappropriate God's Word for their own selfish lusts—and sadly, some don't even know they're doing it. That's the nature of deception. The only way to correct deception is to know and apply truth to counter the lies of the enemy and this world (Romans 12:2).

_ _ _

Those who twist Scripture for their own exclusive benefit act contrary to God's will—and anyone using this tactic eventually produces their own shame and destruction.

Those who purposely twist Scripture (or even refuse to share the truth of God's Word) for their own _exclusive_ benefit act contrary to God's will—and anyone using this tactic eventually produces their own shame and destruction. **God's cape isn't for the self-seeking; it's for those ready to make a difference in God's kingdom—to give Him glory.**

## An Inappropriate Use of Scripture

A few years ago, I (Scott) encountered a particularly angry young man at the correctional facility where I teach Bible studies. He was angry because he believed God allowed him to come to prison. He was also angry because he had prayed to God but didn't get released like he expected. When I finally discovered why he was incarcerated, I realized exactly why God hadn't "PERFORMED" like the young man expected. After a short conversation, it was apparent he felt little or no remorse for his heinous crime, and it was highly probable he would reoffend if released.

This young man was using God's Word as a type of magical incantation to get his own selfish way. He didn't care how he had hurt his victims. He just wanted to be released to go back to his selfish life. He believed he could just casually rub up against the Bible and God would appear in a hazy smoke to grant his selfish wish. But God doesn't work that way. **Scripture is only activated by love for God and others** —and the only person this young man loved was himself (I John 2:5; I Corinthians 10:33).

If we don't want to be like the unnamed young man in this story ( _and if we're truthful, most of us have acted like him at some point in our lives_ ), we need to approach Scripture as God intended. Scripture can be very personal, and it can be used personally, but it must be read and used within the context of the benefit for all people (I Corinthians 12:7).

_ _ _

There's not much that separates a superhero from a supervillain. It's all about how we use the tools given to us.

In truth, not much separates a superhero from a supervillain. It's all about how we use the power and the tools that has been given to us. A Batman or a Superman that uses their powers and training for their own personal benefit is a problem of epic proportions indeed. Don't be a supervillain. It won't end well for you. Use your tools to make people free, not put them in chains.

_Truth #1_ **: If we want victory over sin and Satan, we need to submit our lives to the Holy Spirit for His power to break off the chains. If we want true change in our homes and churches, we must stop stifling the power of God.**

_Truth #2:_ **Knowing Scripture isn't enough. We must have a relationship with the Lord to understand and apply them to our lives to make a quality difference!**

_Truth #3:_ **Using the Bible for our exclusive benefit is wrong. While the Bible is personal and can be used personally, God intends us to realize it is to benefit all people—not just us and our situation, our church, or our nation. God's Word is to equip us to be a superhero for the Lord, not to make us into a supervillain by twisting it to our own desires.**

Congratulations! You've just completed the groundwork necessary to receiving this awesome revelation. Let's move on.

_ _ _

Superhero Secrets

There are many believers who will say that when God gave His Spirit in Acts it was simply to begin the Church and that after it was established the miracles and gifts ceased because they were no longer necessary. But this isn't the case at all. Acts was merely a starting point (Romans 8:23).

Miracles, signs, and wonders have occurred since the outpouring of God's Spirit at Pentecost and continues today. Take a look at how history describes some of these well-known believers of faith and how they received the blessing of being baptized in the power of the Holy Spirit, with signs confirming His presence in their lives:

_Justin Martyr_ (100-165 AD) In his own writing, _Dialogue with Trypho_ , states: _"...prophetical gifts remain with us even now to the present time._ "

_Origen_ (185-284 AD) In his writing, _Against Celsus_ , Origen says: _"...for by these means we too have seen many persons freed from grievous calamities,...and countless other ills, which could not be cured neither by men nor devils...to these promises are added strange, fanatical and quite unintelligible words, of which no rational person can find the meaning._ "

_Hildegard of Bingen_ (1098-1179 AD) Hildegard was ridiculed for praying to the Lord for miracles and healings for individuals. Great miracles surrounded her life, and because many did not understand them, some said it was demonic power. Hildegard was actually defended by Bernard of Clairvaux, who encouraged a visit to Pope Eugenius III. In 1148, Pope Eugenius personally investigated the matter and said that miracles should continue through her. Contemporaries of hers stated that,"...scarcely a sick person came to her without being healed."

_Martin Luther_ (1483-1546 AD) Martin Luther's own hymn states that, "The Spirit and gifts are ours." In Souer's collection, _A History of the Christian Church_ , he describes Martin Luther as: " _a prophet, evangelist, speaker in tongues and interpreter, in one person, endowed with...gifts of the Spirit._ "

_The Quakers_ (c. 1650) Edward Burroughs, a personal friend of Quaker founder, George Fox, described their charismata experience: " _We received the pouring down of the Holy Spirit upon us, and the gift of God's Holy eternal Spirit as in the days of old, and our hearts were made glad, and our tongues loosed, and our mouths opened, and we spoke with new tongues, as the Lord gave us utterance, and as His Spirit led us, which was poured down upon us, on sons and daughters._ " As a result of the gift of God's Spirit being given to them, George Fox and the Quakers experienced many powerful healings and miracles of the Lord.

_The Methodists_ (c. 1751) Thomas Walsh, a personal friend of John Wesley, wrote this in his own journal: " _This morning the Lord gave me a language I knew not of, raising my soul to Him in a wonderful manner._ " John Wesley himself wrote this in his journal: _At about three in the morning, as we were continuing instant prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground...We broke out with one voice, "We praise thee, O God, we acknowledge thee to be the Lord._ " After Wesley experienced the power of the Holy Spirit, more and more of the church hierarchy of the time rejected him. He was encouraged by George Whitfield to travel England on horseback and preach wherever people would hear him—even on the streets. Many gathered to hear his message and God's Spirit confirmed the Word through healings, deliverances, and other unusual phenomena, such as shaking, falling, crying and laughing.

_D.L. Moody_ (1837-1899) D.L. Moody, evangelist and co-founder of one of today's most highly sought after Bible training institutions, said he had an experience of the Holy Spirit subsequent to Salvation: " _I was crying all the time that God would fill me with His Spirit. Well, one day, in the city of New York, oh, what a day!-I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an experience to name...I went to preaching again. The sermons were not different; I did not present any new truths, and yet hundreds were converted...I would not be placed back where I was before that blessed experience for all the world..._ "

_Your Name Here_ (c. 2015) Full of Holy Spirit power and love. He/She made a difference in the world for God's kingdom.

Information derived from the book: _2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity_ , by Eddie Hyatt. ©2002 Charisma House

### And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon

### YOU:

### but wait in the city of Jerusalem, until you are endued with

POWER

### from on high.

Luke 24:49

#  WHERE HAVE ALL THE SUPERHEROES GONE?

Why can't Superman just swoop down and save the day? Why can't we shine the Batman signal in the sky and wait for the Dark Knight to fix all our problems? **Why won't** S **uper Jesus just appear and destroy the evil in this world?** Who will lead us out of this mess?

Late one evening, we were watching the news report on the unexpected passing of a very prominent pastor who happened to die in a horrible plane crash. Soon after, we checked in on a social media site and saw Christians making comments similar to this one:

" _My heart is broken. There's no one else with gifts like he had. Who could replace this great man of faith?_ "

We've heard questions like this time and again—and it's this question, and the mindset behind it, that God ultimately used to bring about His truth and the revelations in the book. Maybe you've heard questions like these before, too:

" _Where are the anointed leaders of God?_ "

" _Who will be the next hero of our Christian faith?_ "

" _Who will be the next Smith Wigglesworth, the next Lester Sumrall, the next John G. Lake, or the next Billy Graham?"_

We've even heard these questions asked in regards to the family—especially from women about men. Many women ask questions like these:

" _Where are the real men of God? When will my husband start walking in the plan God has for him? When will men grow up and take care of their responsibilities by properly leading their children and families in the fear and admonition of the Lord?"_

Finally, we've heard people ask why the general power of God and why the Holy Spirit doesn't seem to be moving on the earth any longer—or why His power seems to be so limited in our churches and in Christian lives.

The answers to these questions and those like it are found in a neglected section of God's Word. For the most part, many churchgoers misunderstand how God's kingdom was designed to operate. We need to make something vitally clear here: God doesn't want us wrapped up in personal kingdoms where one person does all the leading; He wants to use every believer to build His kingdom, and that's a remarkable difference we'll cover in detail as we go on.

_ _ _

God doesn't want us to lead a personal kingdom where one person does all the leading; He wants to build a kingdom of leaders...

As we briefly covered, the main reason most believers have overlooked this amazing truth is because deceived religious men have kept it from them. We must understand that our enemy, Satan, will do anything to keep believers from realizing their real purpose as God's anointed leaders—and one of the main ways he keeps us at bay is by distorting our destinies using man-made religion. Satan knows as long as we're hiding out in religion, with the appearance of having a connection with God, instead of an actual relationship with Him, we'll never walk out our full purpose with the power to take ground away from him for the Lord.

## Desiring a Leader

The desire to follow a strong leader is a natural instinct God put in every person (e.g. Saul in 1 Samuel 8:9-22). God designed leadership and order from the very beginning, but He intended for His leaders to instruct the people in His ways and for them to lead by example, while always giving glory to Him, the true King.

Satan saw this God-given instinct for righteous leadership and perverted it by enticing men (and women) to lust after power for their own advantage. Many of these exploiters made themselves a god, instead of leading people to God.

History is full of accounts of supposed leaders who manipulated and abused people for their own evil agenda (e.g. 1 Samuel 8:1-3)—and it's still occurring today, but it's slightly more difficult to spot. In fact, we've seen many of them employ God's Word as a force field against anyone who might challenge their personal enterprises. Take a look at how one parishioner defended his pastor and his lavish lifestyle while on social media:

Shame on anyone speaking against my pastor! He deserves a private jet and his nice mansion. [The Bible says] touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm. This is an anointed man of God. Why shouldn't he have the best?

Although it can be difficult to recognize, this parishioner's response not only reflects an erroneous belief system, which was likely taught to him from the pulpit, it also demonstrates a larger problem in the local church as a whole. In truth, this pervasive mentality is not the way of God's kingdom. As we progress through this chapter, we will gain insight into the reality of God's kingdom and how believers are to operate in it. Having a proper understanding in this area will allow us to counter the enemy's deceptions. (Please note: you may find this section to be difficult reading, but give it your full attention and you will see some amazing truths like never before.)

## A Temporary and a Permanent Hope

In the Old Testament, God limited His Spirit by _temporarily_ anointing three categories of _leaders_ in Israel to fulfill His mission—prophets, priests, and kings (I Kings 19:16; Exodus 40:15; I Kings 1:34). But this was never the full intention of how He desired His Kingdom to operate. He wanted to make ALL the children of Israel a kingdom of priests, with Him as their ultimate King (I Samuel 8:6).

**And you shall be to Me** (God) **a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These** _are_ **the words which you** (Moses) **shall speak to the children of Israel.** Exodus 19:1-6 (Parenthetical inserts ours)

In the Old Testament, priests acted as a mediator to restore fellowship between sinful humans to holy God. God's plan was to set apart every Hebrew as His priest so they could draw the entire world back into fellowship with Him, their Creator (Isaiah 49:6). Sadly, the children of Israel never fully lived out their purpose as His priests to the world. Repetitive sin and disobedience destroyed their destiny of being God's restorative agents to the world.

Soon after God stated His desire for Israel to be His kingdom of priests, the majority of them erected and began worshiping a golden calf idol (Exodus 32). Most Bible readers are unaware that a sacred calf was a prominent figure in Egyptian religion _called Apis, a supposed tangible intermediary between humans and a supreme god_.[2] The picture here is instead of trusting in God, the children of Israel returned to a false religion they had seen in Egypt. It's implied the reason they did this is they thought Moses, their new leader, had died on the mountain while speaking with God. When the smoke settled, only the tribe of Levi had not worshiped the idol; therefore God took Israel's priestly destiny and gave it to the Levites. (See Exodus 32: 1, 26 and Numbers 8:11, 12).

_ _ _

God had a plan to remove the wall of sin that kept people from living out their created purpose.

Israel couldn't fully live out their destiny as God's set apart superhero priests in His kingdom for one primary reason: sin. The light they were to carry to the Gentiles for them to be able to "see" the Lord's reign was hidden by their own sinful darkness. Because of their repeated disobedience, the Lord had to relate to them in a very limited way. He did this by choosing only certain sanctified individuals to carry His Spirit (Ezra 9:1-2; Habakkuk 1:13). But that wasn't the end of the matter. God had a plan to remove the wall of sin that kept people from living out their created purpose.

God knew the only way to remedy the sin problem was to come to earth in the form of a man (Jesus) to take sin, and the punishment for it, by dying on the cross. A major part of Jesus' selfless, substitutionary sacrifice on the cross was to restore us to the Father so every person could live WITH God's presence in their lives as His priests in an amazing kingdom—not just visit Him in a sanctuary or have a few anointed individuals carry His limited Spirit (Romans 8:11). Read what Peter said about believers after the problem of sin was eradicated in Christ.

... **you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.** I Peter 2:5

God never wanted a relationship with the people through one priest; **He wanted all of His people to be His priests** in order to have a relationship with Him. This is the central theme of God's kingdom—and this will become clearer as we move along.

## Explaining the Kingdom

In the New Testament, when Jesus walked with and taught His disciples, He often explained how His kingdom was truly designed to operate on the earth (Mark 4:11). He gave parables and showed how the kingdom of God was not only a future physical place but could be a present reality in their own lives. He showed them how His kingdom isn't bound to a particular religious denomination, physical building, or geographical location but is realized when Jesus is set up as Lord and King, and when His will is carried out in every area of life.

_ _ _

... _the kingdom of God...is realized when Jesus is set up as Lord and King and when His will is carried out in our lives._

In Jesus' kingdom teachings, He conveyed how believers would be able to do supernatural feats if they submitted their lives to the Lord—like casting out demons and healing people to advance the kingdom on the earth (Matthew 11:4-6). The reason deliverance and healing are symbolic of God's kingdom is very simple: sickness and oppression are part of the original curse when Adam and Eve, by default, chose to live in Satan's kingdom, rather than the Lord's. When a person is freed from these products of Satan's domain, God's kingdom advances and "territory" is taken back from the enemy. ( _See Genesis 3 and Matthew 12:26_ ).

**He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.** I John 3:8

Jesus' main point in emphasizing God's kingdom was to show the disciples that when they walk by faith and live in God's will, they enter an invisible, yet real spiritual kingdom where they play a major role as His ambassadors (Daniel 2:44; I Timothy 1:17). He wanted them to get this revelation so they could walk in their created purpose as His priests, releasing people from Satan's dark, devastating kingdom and bringing them into true _"...righteousness, peace and joy of the Holy Spirit_ " in God's kingdom (Romans 14:17; 2 Corinthians 5:18). [ _See the Kingdom Chart at the end of this book for further details on the characteristics of God's kingdom_.]

Even though Jesus personally revealed the true nature of God's kingdom to His disciples, they still had difficulty receiving the truth because of the erroneous religious views ingrained in them. God's Word says almost immediately after Jesus died, at least half of them went back to their old way of living (John 21)—or we might say they had a "church split." They returned to their old way of life because they didn't understand Jesus' words about how He would resurrect to life and send the Holy Spirit to equip them to be His leaders to build His kingdom by adding souls to it and setting people free (Luke 17:20-21).

When Jesus died, His disciples reverted back to living by their sight, and not in faith—much like the children of Israel did when they thought Moses had died and they returned to an Egyptian style of religion. In each of these cases, they believed their leader had died and would never come back. They acted much like we do when a pastor/leader dies or is caught in sin.

In essence, the disciples thought Jesus would fulfill prophecy as the militaristic leader they had heard about from the prophets, crushing Israel's enemies to establish a literal kingdom (Isaiah 59:18; Acts 1:6). When they witnessed Jesus' death, they lost that hope. Jesus, however, didn't allow His followers to stay defeated. He had spent far too much time with them not to see them through to their real purpose in growing His _spiritual kingdom_ and living out their destiny as His ambassadors. They had yet to understand how they had been trained as representatives of an invisible, yet much more powerful kingdom to take back lost ground from the real enemy, Satan, and his counterfeit kingdom of depravity and death.

The first thing Jesus did for the disciples after His resurrection was prove to them that He rose from the dead. He resurrected their faith when He personally met with them several times after He rose again (John 21). Next, Jesus gave instructions on what He wanted them to do and how they were to go about doing it. Finally, He gave them the promise of the Holy Spirit, which made His kingdom teachings come alive in them to produce a permanent hope!

Read Jesus' last words to His disciples before His ascension:

**And being assembled together with** _them,_ **He** (Jesus) **commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which,"** _He said,_ **"you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."** Acts 1:4-8

The Bible says Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the power of the Holy Spirit to become witnesses for Him to the world. That much is clear, but we need to go a little deeper if we're going to apply this amazing truth to our own lives.

Let's look at **where** Jesus told the disciples to wait. Why did Jesus specifically say to wait in Jerusalem and not Bethlehem or Bethany or Jericho or next to the Sea of Galilee? What was so important about Jerusalem? If it's one thing we've learned from Bible reading, it's that God has a purpose for including every detail in His Word. In this case, Jesus was referring back to the Old Testament time of Solomon's building of the _temple_ _in_ _Jerusalem_. If you know your Bible, you'll remember King Solomon built the first temple for the Lord _in Jerusalem_ (I kings 8; 2 Chronicles 5).

Now, in order to put this revelation together correctly, it will be imperative to have a basic understanding of both Solomon's temple, and its prototype, the tabernacle. The following section will be more detailed reading, but it is vital information for us today.

## The TEMPLE and Tabernacle

After God released the children of Israel from the tyrannical grip of Egypt, He gave Moses plans to construct a place of worship called the tabernacle. The tabernacle was a portable tent-like structure where God could visit among His people, and where they could worship Him as He required as they journeyed toward the Promised Land (Exodus 25-40). The tabernacle, as well as the temple, had three major areas: the outer court, inner court and the Holy of Holies. Inside these areas there were seven articles. The following illustration outlines the basic design and articles within the tabernacle and the temple. (Note: _The only article not shown is the Mercy Seat, or lid, of the Ark of the Covenant_.)

Both the tabernacle and temple had the same main rooms and articles, but the major difference was the tabernacle was portable and the temple was later constructed as a permanent structure.

At the tabernacle, and later at the temple, the children of Israel could worship God and receive forgiveness for their sins by presenting blemish-free animal sacrifices (Leviticus 1:-3-9). When an offender brought an animal sacrifice, they would confess their sins and lay their hands on the animal as a symbol that their sins had been transferred to it as their substitution (e.g. Leviticus 1:4, 16:21). Then the offender would personally slaughter the animal, skin it, cut into pieces and give it to the priest (Leviticus 1:5-6). The priest would in turn present it to God on behalf of the sinner as a burnt offering (Leviticus 1:7-9). This process of making amends for sin and appeasing the wrath of God toward the sinner was very personal, intense, and messy. God wanted the offender to see just how devastating sin is in our lives.

These Old Testament animal sacrifices took the consequences of sin, which was always death, in place of the sinful human who offered it (Romans 6:23). Once offered, with sin confessed and the consequences rendered, forgiveness would be achieved and the priest would be allowed to enter the next room of the tabernacle to worship God near the presence of the Lord.

## The Day of Atonement

Inside the tabernacle and later the temple, there was a special chamber called the Holy of Holies (or Most Holy Place). The Holy of Holies is where God's presence would fall once a year on a special holy day called the Day of Atonement. On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest ALONE was allowed to enter and stand before God's limited presence near the Ark of the Covenant—a gold box that represented a type of God's throne—to atone for the nation's unintentional sins (2 Kings 19:15; Hebrews 9). This act was completed when he sprinkled the lid of the ark (called the Mercy Seat) seven times with the blood of the perfect sacrifice. When God accepted the sacrifice's shed blood, the nation's sins, including the priests', were forgiven and they again became "at-one" with God, their fellowship restored to Him (Leviticus 16; Hebrews 9). This is why it's called at-one-ment.

_ _ _

Jesus is our High Priest and was the ultimate and final sacrifice for sin.

These acts of sacrifice at the tabernacle and temple were a part of what is called the _Ceremonial Law_. The Ceremonial Law was fulfilled when Christ offered Himself on the cross and died for our sins (Note: _this is different than the Moral Law, which is still valid today—Galatians 3:13; Matthew 5:18_ ). This is why we no longer need to offer up animal sacrifices for our sin. **Jesus is our High Priest and was the ultimate and final PERFECT sacrifice for sin.** It was through His shed blood that believers have become at-one with the Father in heaven ( _Read about all this in Hebrews 9_ ).

Jesus took upon Himself the full weight and punishment of sin due to us when He went to the cross. He was our final substitutionary sacrifice, appeasing the wrath of holy God towards us. But not only did He die for our sins, He also rose to life in victory three days later, and now intercedes for us to God the Father (Romans 8:34). Hallelujah, if we sin, we can go _directly_ to Christ and find forgiveness so we can once again worship the Lord, without the hindrance of sin or needing to sacrifice an animal (I John 1:9).

## God's Presence For Everyone

Since we have a basic understanding of how tabernacle/temple worship was conducted through the High Priest, and how it was a _type_ of Jesus dying as our sacrifice for sin, let's take a look at what occurred just after Solomon **built** the original temple in Jerusalem.

When Solomon finished building the temple, the priests moved the Ark of the Covenant out of David's temporary tabernacle and put it into the Holy of Holies in the newly constructed temple. When it came time to move the ark, all of the sanctified priests—not just one priest but **ALL** of them—were able to experience the presence and glory of the Lord. Remember, previously only the High Priest had the privilege of experiencing the presence of the Lord. But because the ark had to be placed inside the temple, God allowed all the priests that were sanctified and present (120 of them) to see and experience the glory of the Lord. Take a moment and read for yourself what happened:

Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the **LORD** to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple... **And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place** **(for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves,** without keeping to their divisions **), and the Levites...with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them** one hundred and twenty priests **sounding with trumpets—indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers** were as one **, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD,** _saying: "For He is good,_ _For His mercy_ _endures_ **forever," that the house,** the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God. 2 Chronicles 5:7-14 (Underlined emphasis and bracketed insert ours)

Notice how the 120 sanctified priests were not divided into their respective groups but were together as one, standing near the altar in the outer court of the temple (v. 11). All 120 priests were allowed to experience the power of God at the temple, not just the High Priest (vv. 14-15). The main point is that God had made His power evident to more than just one man (2 Chronicles 5; I Kings 8), and it's a picture of how **God wants EVERY believer to live with the power of the Holy Spirit to become valiant superheroes for Him!**

## We are the Temple!

Amazingly, the book of Acts records a similar event where **120** believers were waiting for the Promise of God's Spirit **in** **Jerusalem**! What was all of this about? Well, the Bible says Jesus is the " _tabernacle"_ Who dwelt among us (John 1:14, the Greek word for _dwelt_ is _tabernacled_ ). In I Corinthians 3:16, Paul says **believers are the temple of God's Holy Spirit** (see also 6:19). When Jesus died on the cross, this was essentially the end of His temporary "tabernacle" ministry on earth. After His resurrection, He passed on the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit to the disciples in Jerusalem at Pentecost, which was the start of the infilling of God's true and permanent "temple," His Church.

Do you see how all this fits together? In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant—where God would visit with His presence—was moved out of the tabernacle and into the temple. In the New Testament, God's Spirit was essentially moved out of the true tabernacle (Jesus) and was made available to the true temple (believers, the Church).

If you're seeing the truth of this revelation through the eyes of your faith, you're probably going to want to put this book down and jump up and down and give the Lord a shout! Don't let the next section keep you from praising the Lord. He deserves all the glory and honor! (And this is just the beginning of the revelation!)

## Preparing and Building the real temple

Let's back up just a bit to get a fuller picture of this revelation. Understanding how the temple was prepared and built will help bring a clearer picture.

King David, Solomon's father, had originally planned to build the temple, and even though he had prepared the items needed to build it, he wasn't able to completely fulfill his desire. David couldn't build the temple because he had shed blood and he was surrounded by enemies on all sides. In other words, David was preoccupied. Solomon's tenure was peaceful because God had put all of the enemies under his (Solomon's) feet. This allowed Solomon to focus on building the temple (I Kings 5:3-4; I Chronicles 22:6-8). Finally, God allowed Solomon to begin building the temple using the materials that David had set aside for it (I Chronicles 22:6-9).

Just as David prepared the items needed to build the temple (I Chronicles 22), Jesus **prepared** the way for the infilling of believers (His true temple) when He went to the cross. It was there that He shed His own blood for our sin and defeated His enemies. Let me explain further.

Remarkably, the original _preparation_ and _construction_ of the temple in the Old Testament is a beautiful picture of Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Church (all believers in Christ). David represents Jesus, and Solomon the Holy Spirit. Just like David, Jesus did not build the true temple, His Church (aka His Body). He was busy shedding His blood on the cross while His enemies surrounded Him on all sides (Psalm 22:12-16; John 19:23). Jesus' purpose was to _prepare_ for the real temple, His Church, to be built—and He did that masterfully. That's why Jesus often told those who experienced His healings and miracles to keep quiet about Him (e.g. Matthew 9:27-31). He hadn't come to build Himself up and give Himself glory; His main purpose was to die for sin and to prepare the disciples to know the Father and understand the kingdom to be ready to build God's Church—the true Temple. The Holy Spirit's main ministry is to build the Church through empowering believers. In other words, it's our job to share Jesus with the world and to give Him glory. Solomon is a picture of the Holy Spirit because he lived during a time of peace after the enemies were defeated. We live in peace and victory through the Holy Spirit because Christ won on the cross!

We realize this is a lot of information, but it all points to the cross, the resurrection, and the outpour of God's Spirit. If you don't quite understand yet, that's okay. As we move ahead, we will break it all down for better comprehension.

Before we move on from here, there's one other point we need to mention regarding the tabernacle and temple. Please understand that although the tabernacle and temple had similar compartments and furniture, they were different in their overall structure. As we already covered, the tabernacle was a movable tent, but the temple was a permanent structure. You must realize that God never really wanted to set up an elaborate temple. His plan was always to reside inside His living creation, not to take up residence in a cold, lifeless building. Jesus' whole ministry was centered on eradicating sin and the works of the devil to allow us to live with His presence on a daily basis and take Him to the world!

The basic idea that every reader must understand is that **we are to be a people who carry God's presence wherever we go, just as Jesus did.** It's not about going to a place to find God's Spirit; It's about carrying God's Spirit wherever we go. It's not about setting up and beautifying an elaborate building; it's about beautifying people with God's Spirit so He can fellowship with us as He truly intended and so we can build His kingdom with more believers!

Have you ever thought about the world's religions and how they all worship in a particular "holy" building? The Buddhists and Hindus have a temple; Muslims have their mosques, and Jews have their synagogue. Even Christians have the church, so what makes us different? As basic religion goes ( _man's attempt to get to God_ ), there is no difference. But true Christianity is worlds apart.

Christianity is the only faith where God took on flesh in human form (Jesus) in order to die for His creation's sin. But He didn't stop there. After He died, He rose to life and gave His Holy Spirit to believers in order to have a relationship with us and to make us holy, not some building or our actions—as many man-made religions teach. Christianity differs in that God lives inside His creation, His people, making us holy and set apart to share His love and truth with the world (Ephesians 2:22)! Hallelujah!

_ _ _

We are to be a people who carry God's presence wherever we go, just like Christ did.

We don't need to beautify a lifeless building for God, we submit our lives to Him and He beautifies us by His living presence! We don't try and live better by doing more good works. We come to the Lord by faith and allow Him residence in our lives, and once we invite Him in, He lives and does His will through us, including every good work necessary to expand His kingdom (James 2:14-26).

## He's More than a Savior!

If we really want to grow in Christ, we must get this revelation: Jesus didn't just become our sacrifice for sin. Although His sacrifice on the cross is central to our faith, this is only part of what He did. He also provided us with His very Spirit—the same Holy Spirit that raised Him from the dead—to make us kings and priests and to give us gifts to accomplish His will on earth (Romans 8:11; I John 4:13; Revelation 1:6; I Corinthians 12-14). No longer do we need to go to a man to have our fellowship restored if we sin (I Timothy 2:5; John 14:6). We can come directly to Him because of the Holy Spirit in us. There was a picture of this even in the Old Testament.

In I Kings 8:46-52, Solomon asked God to allow the children of Israel to be able to pray to God and be restored if they sinned against Him, regardless of their physical location. Previously, anyone who sinned had to restore fellowship through a sacrifice that was presented to a priest at the tabernacle/temple. The Bible says we are God's priests and can confess our sins to Him directly—and when we do, He promises to forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). But even more than that, through the work of the Holy Spirit in us, we can help others find freedom from sin that keeps them from their true purpose (John 20:22-23).

Believers don't need to seek out another man or journey to a "holy" building to come to God; **if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, and He's your Lord and Savior, you are the living temple** **of His Holy Spirit**. We have God's Spirit in us. We can repent and come boldly to God for restoration irrespective of what we've done (Ephesians 3:12; 1 Corinthians 3:16). When you get the full understanding of what God did through Christ on the cross and how He desires to not just visit a dead building (i.e. tabernacle/temple/church) but infill all believers with His presence to make us powerful ambassadors for His kingdom and to take His presence to the world, it will make your heart leap for joy.

## Where Do We Go From Here?

We don't want you to lose the premise of this chapter. We began by asking about the lack of anointed leaders and why the power of God seems to be far from us and our churches. You must understand the answer to these questions lies in the depths of what transpired in Solomon's Temple when all the priests were allowed access to God's glorious presence. This was NOT a common event during Solomon's day—it was truly extraordinary. It was also an indicator of what would happen thousands of years later, shortly after Jesus died and rose from the dead. And it's a prophecy of what's about to happen again—possibly even in your own life. This is the only prophecy in the Bible that's ongoing. As we move forward, we'll go into further details about all these things, including our original questions in this chapter. Hold on tight; you're about to soar to new heights and see things you never knew existed!

_ _ _

If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, and He's your Lord and Savior, you are the living temple of His Holy Spirit.

_ _ _

Superhero Secrets

The Ark of the Covenant held three items: the stone tablets of the Law, a pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that had budded (Hebrews 9:4)—all rich representations of the Godhead (or Trinity). The tablets represented God the Father because He gave the Law (Exodus 20). The pot of manna represented Christ because He said He's the bread from heaven (John 6:51). Aaron's rod that budded with fruit represented the Holy Spirit because He produces fruit in the believer's life (Galatians 5:22).

When the Ark of the Covenant was moved from David's Tabernacle to Solomon's Temple, two of the three items, the manna, and Aaron's budded rod, were missing. The only article that remained was the tablets of God's moral law (I Kings 8:9). But why?

We've already covered that the beginning of Solomon's Temple is indicative of the outpour of the Holy Spirit in Acts on all believers (Acts 2). The reason the other two items are not in the ark in the temple is in Acts, Jesus and the Holy Spirit were already released to do their work to prepare the disciples and to equip them for kingdom building ministry.

This is a great clue to show that neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit would be confined to a temple but are available to all people. Conversely, God's Law would never pass away, being designed specifically for Israel to bring the world to God (Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 60:3; Matthew 5:18).

Believers have something even more powerful than the Law on tablets. Our law is etched on our hearts through the indwelling Holy Spirit, which produces true fruit to build God's kingdom (2 Corinthians 3:3).

Today, there's speculation as to not only the whereabouts of these articles, but also the ark itself. When the second temple was rebuilt after the Babylonian captivity, the Ark of the Covenant was not placed in the temple because no one knew its whereabouts. This is another prophetic picture showing how God has always desired to indwell believers with His presence and power. True believers know exactly where the ark is—It's within us!

### O God, You are

### MORE AWESOME

### than Your

### holy places.

### The God of Israel

### is He who gives...

### POWER

### to His people...

Psalm 68:35

#  THE DAY GOD GAVE AWAY HIS CAPE

DAY 8: It had been over a week since Jesus gave the command to the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the power of the Holy Spirit, but then He left, vanishing into the heavens right before their eyes. Now, they had to face reality and make a decision. What were they supposed to do while they waited? How long were they supposed to wait? All Jesus said to do was wait; could they be patient enough to do just that? Apparently not. Let's take a look at what happened shortly after Jesus left.

We don't know the full details of what transpired from the time Jesus ascended to heaven until the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, but we do know His disciples were praying in one accord (even with the women) in the upper room. We also know they decided to take action by casting lots (similar to dice) to replace Judas—the disciple who betrayed Jesus—with another believer. The lot fell on a man named Matthias, and he filled the 12th spot.

Interestingly, the name Matthias means God's gift.[3] Could it be that God was giving them a hidden message, as in WAIT for the real GIFT (of the Spirit)? It was apparent that they believed they needed twelve men to carry on the ministry, but God was about to give them the true GIFT to build His Church through the Spirit, not through powerless dice. This was the last time the disciples cast lots to determine who would join them in ministry. Hereafter, God selected His kings and priests through His Spirit (e.g. Acts 6:5).

Based on what we know of the disciple's character and impulsivity, we're going to stretch your thinking a little by including a creative conversation between Peter and John concerning their actions during the ten days between Jesus' ascension and the disciples receiving the powerful cape of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:3, 2).

Please note, the following conversation isn't explicitly drawn out in Scripture, but it does contain many truths that will be discussed as we proceed.

Peter stood up to address the disciples in the upper room:

" _Quite frankly, I'm tired of waiting around. How long are we supposed to wait for this promise? I know what Master said, but maybe we missed this promise of the Holy Spirit. We missed what Master said so many times, remember? He's been gone for eight days now and nothing's happened! I say we need to get the ball rolling by at least choosing someone to replace Judas. Jesus originally chose twelve of us, and Judas betrayed Master. We need to replace him. Let's get the lots and see who they fall on. Master said to wait, but He didn't give details on how to do that."_

Peter's short message provoked those in attendance to action, but John knew better than to act hastily and disregard Master's instructions. John replied:

" _No, Peter, we haven't missed anything. The Feast of Weeks is starting in just a few days. You all remember that festival, don't you? Moses wrote about it in the Torah (Leviticus 23). It's a celebration of God giving Moses the Law at Mount Sinai; it's also a celebration of the first crop of the wheat harvest._

Our tradition is to travel to Jerusalem to the temple to celebrate God giving the Law to Moses and also to thank Him for the firstfruits of the wheat harvest. Do you remember how our people always presented an offering of wheat at the temple to thank God for the firstfruits of the wheat harvest at this time of year? This is what Master was referring to. He wants us in Jerusalem at the temple because it's a symbol of the first people that will come to Him (remember how He said He is the wheat that must die to have a harvest?). And just like Moses receiving the Law at Mount Sinai, we will be at the Temple Mount waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit, Who will guide us into all truth and give us power with signs and wonders to bring people to the Lord—just like what happened with Moses at Mount Sinai! But instead of the Law being written on tablets, God's going to write them on our hearts!

Also, the Feast of Weeks is the feast celebrated 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits and Passover—and Jesus died and rose again during the Passover feast. I believe we need to wait at least until the Feast of Weeks. We've already waited several days. Let's wait a few more. God always does amazing things on feast days! Something amazing will happen there! It happened before in Jerusalem.

Just look around you, Peter. Do you really think it's a coincidence that there are 120 people who are now believers? Do you remember the story about how God allowed 120 priests to experience His power in Jerusalem at the temple in the old stories? I believe we are about to experience God like never before, and it's going to start at the temple. Obviously, God wants us to wait on this. He said it would help us be a POWERFUL witness for Him, and that's what I intend to receive! I believe we're going to be baptized by the Holy Spirit.

God is going to send down the same (and even greater) power like the 120 priests experienced while they waited near the altar of burnt offerings after they took the ark into the temple in the old stories. They were FILLED with God's Spirit, but we are going to be BAPTIZED! You can fill up the inside of a container, but baptism is an immersion, affecting the inside and outside so everything gets wet! We're getting a power that will overflow to not only how we live and interact with the world, but it will flow out of us until it drenches everyone! Remember how Jesus called the Holy Spirit a river, and how Ezekiel described a river flowing out of the temple (John 7:37-39; Ezekiel 47)? God's going to make us into His true temple, and the Holy Spirit's river of life will flow from us to the world.

Peter, you know God doesn't care about this religious man-made building we call the temple (Isaiah 66:1). He intends to infill us at the literal temple so everyone can see that His Spirit was never to be kept in a man-made building but was purposed to be put in His people. We are the new temple! No longer are people going to come to the temple—the temple is about to come to them!

Let's wait this out a little longer. Let's be obedient to the word Master gave us. On day 50, we need to make sure we're out of this room and in the outer court near the altar at the temple. That's where it happened before and where it's going to happen again.

After we receive God's Spirit, we're not going to need to cast lots anymore; we're going to hear directly from God, as the Holy Spirit is the One Who will add people to Master's flock. Peter, be ready to tell the people what's going to occur; they'll need help understanding."

Peter replied:

" _I hear what you're saying, John, and I'm on board with you and Master, but I still think we should at least start by replacing Judas. Why not? We can replace Judas and still offer the sacrifices at the temple in honor of God's provision at the feast of weeks. Who is with me on this?"_

We need to be clear that although the preceding conversation is fictional, the information about the temple, the Feast of Weeks (now called Pentecost), Jerusalem, and the Spirit of God falling on the 120 priests, is all accurate. The point we want to make is how the disciples knew they needed to heed the words of Jesus before they undertook their mission in sharing the Good News about Christ to the world. They knew they needed the Holy Spirit working in and through them to be effective kingdom builders. We need this same mindset also. It's entirely true that we cannot be effective in sharing Christ to the world without the Holy Spirit's infilling in our lives (Ephesians 3:16, 20). The Holy Spirit of God truly transforms us from ordinary to extraordinary superheroes for the Lord.

_ _ _

... _We cannot be effective in sharing Christ to the world without the Holy Spirit's infilling in our lives._

Take a moment to review this Scripture passage when God gave His cape to the early believers on the Day of Pentecost:

**And being assembled together with** _them,_ **He [Jesus] commanded them not to depart from** Jerusalem **, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which,"** _He said,_ **"you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."** **But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."** **And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a** hundred and twenty **)... When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with** one accord **in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and** it filled the whole house **where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and** _one_ **sat upon each of them. And** they were all filled with the Holy Spirit **and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language...** **So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine."** Acts 1:15, 2:1-6, 12-13

We're going to take a look at the details in this passage of Scripture and compare them to the details of Holy Spirit's manifestation at Solomon's Temple to get a better understanding of the correlation between these two events.

• Jesus told the disciples to wait in **Jerusalem** for the promise of the Holy Spirit. **Jerusalem** is the original location where the temple was located (2 Chronicles 33:7). The temple is where the Feast of Weeks, the Jewish name for Pentecost, took place (see the final _Superhero Secret_ for more details). The temple is where the Jews would celebrate the first fruits of the harvest and the giving of the Law (Exodus 23:14-17; Leviticus 23:16-17; Zechariah 14:16-17).

• There were **120 believers** (who the Bible calls priests-Revelation 1:6) waiting in the temple for the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts (1:15). There were **120 priests** who were allowed to experience the power of God in Solomon's Temple. ( _Read the previous chapter for the Scriptures pertaining to the outpour in Solomon's Temple—e.g. 2 Chronicles 5:12)_ Now, there may be some readers who believe the disciples received the outpour of the Spirit at the upper room, but this is incorrect. The upper room is where they rested (Acts 1:13), but the outpour occurred when they were at the temple (Acts 2:2). Let's take a brief look at the evidence:

_1. Luke 24:53 says after Jesus ascended, the disciples were_ _continually_ _praising and blessing God in the_ _temple_ _. Acts 1:14 says they were_ _continually_ _praying in one accord. Acts 2:46 (after Pentecost) says they were_ _continually_ _in one accord in the_ _temple_ _...praising God._

2. The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) took place at the temple. It was a festival requiring all able-bodied Jewish men to attend and was accompanied by various offerings. The disciples would have been at the temple on this day (Leviticus 23:15, 16).

3. The Bible says the Holy Spirit filled the whole house where the 120 were sitting. That's a lot of people even for a huge house in an American suburb, let alone first century Israel. Also, in both the Old and New Testament, the name for the temple was the "house" of the Lord (I Kings 8:10-11; Matthew 21:12-13).

• The disciples were in **one accord** (In other words, they were united and had all things in common). The priests in Solomon's Temple were **all united** together, no divisions among them (2 Chronicles 5:11).

• The **Holy Spirit infilling was made available to everyone** for the first time in the book of Acts, just as the **Holy Spirit filled Solomon's Temple** for more than just one person for the first time, occurring immediately after the ark was moved from the tabernacle to the temple.

• The disciples who had experienced the outpour of the Spirit in their lives began speaking in tongues, a sign to those nearby that they had received the power of God. When this occurred, it appeared as though they were drunk—their physical body not able to handle the spiritual power of God that had suddenly come upon them. This is also what happened when the Spirit of God came into Solomon's Temple. God's Spirit was so intoxicating that the priests couldn't continue their duties in the temple (2 Chronicles 5:14).

What had occurred in Solomon's Temple was a picture or a shadow of the later outpour of God's Spirit in Acts, when the Spirit of God made it known that His true residence would be in human believers from all walks of life. Even though this event gives us tremendous insight, we need to look at the written prophecy from the book of Joel that was predicted more than 600 years before it was manifested on the day of Pentecost, as it is recorded in Acts 2:

**Then in those days I will pour My Spirit to all humanity; your children will boldly and prophetically speak the word of God. Your elders will dream dreams; your young warriors will see visions. No one will be left out. In those days I will offer My Spirit to all servants, both male and female.** Joel 2:28-29 VOICE Translation

This passage from the book of Joel is precisely what Peter and John cited to the crowd when the Spirit of God had come upon the believers and they all began speaking in tongues on the day of Pentecost (aka Feast of Weeks). The power of God came upon them and it excited the crowd that heard it. Those who stood by and heard the disciples responded:

" _What's going on here? Who are these 120 people from Galilee speaking the wonders of God that we can all understand in our own natural languages? This must be God. Let's see what they have to say about what's happening here. We've been waiting for God to show up like this!"_

Others were more skeptical:

" _I'm not so sure this is God. They're acting like they're drunk!_

As soon as this God-event occurred, Peter began preaching to the people. Read what he said:

**But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel... for the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.** Acts 2:14-16, 39

When the people heard Peter's explanation, 3,000 people were added to God's kingdom. 3,000 total strangers were given new hope in Christ apart from sin as a result of the disciples choosing to heed Jesus' words and put on the powerful cape of the Holy Spirit.

If you read that last passage carefully, you'll see how Peter never used the word _fulfilled_ in describing what had happened for them at Pentecost. He simply said this is what was, " _spoken by the Prophet Joel._ " In fact, he went on to say the promise was not only for them, but to their children, and everyone that God would call. This is remarkable because both Jesus and the Gospel writers used the word "fulfilled" when an event foretold by a prophet had come to pass (e.g. Luke 4:21; Matthew 1:22, 2:17, 12:17, 27:9 etc.). The reason Peter didn't use the word _fulfilled_ in regards to the event at Pentecost is because the prophecy is ongoing—for EVERYONE whom God calls (v. 39). Hallelujah, it's for us, too!

I'm grateful that the disciples heeded God's voice to make a difference in the first and second centuries, but I'll be full of joy when every believer (man, woman, young, old, black, white, or in-between) realizes this same power, this same cape, is available to them to affect our world for Christ!

Take a look at just a few of the powerful exploits that the disciples/apostles did after they received their cape:

### Acts of the APOSTLES THROUGH THE POWER OF THE Holy Spirit

• 3,000 people came to Christ (2:41)

• Healing of a lame man (3:1-11)

• Performed many wonders (5:12-16)

• Supernaturally transported to another city (Acts 8:39-40).

• Healing of palsy (9:33-34)

• Raised a dead person to life again (9:36-41)

• Miraculously released from prison (12 & 16)

• An enemy is supernaturally taken out of the way (12:21-23)

• Casting out of spirits of divination (16:16-18)

• Healing of multitudes (19:11, 12)

• Bit by a deadly snake but lives (28:3-6)

## The Apostles had God's cape. But do we?

I (Scott) don't know about you, but I have to be honest here. Before I truly GOT this revelation, I can't say I was walking in my full potential in God's power. There were many times I told God I didn't want to publish this book unless I could see His power in my own life. Well, God answered that prayer mightily! I have several testimonies I could share, but one that's very close to me is how God healed our daughter, Kerrinton, from a brain malformation—and this happened while we were writing this book!

_ _ _

God is no respecter of persons. He will work through you, too, if you let Him.

Kerrinton, who was seven-years-old at the time, had been diagnosed by three doctors with a brain deformity that was going to require intensive surgery. We had an opportunity to view all the images that showed how her brain was not only misaligned by almost an inch, but was also compressing on the spinal column. Just before meeting with the neurosurgeon, she went in for one final imaging test. When she went in, we both prayed intensely that God would heal her and that it would be a testimony of His power at work today—and we promised to share it with as many people as possible!

Glory to God, not even three hours after she had her last image scan, the neurologist called and said the malformation and misalignment were completely gone. Her brain showed no issues or deformities whatsoever! God had worked wonders through our prayers as a testimony to His character, His love, and His power! And it was also a testimony to how every believer serves a crucial role in His kingdom by allowing us to pray for her to receive her healing.

It's vitally important you realize God is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11). He will work through you, too, if you let Him. In fact, He prefers to work through us. Stay tuned for more details on how we can be mighty ministers for Him.

**How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard** _Him,_ **God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?** Hebrews 2:3-4

**Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.** Acts 14:3

**And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.** Mark 16:17-18

Do you want God's full power through the Holy Spirit to make a difference for Christ, to be victorious in your own life, and expand His kingdom in the earth? Keep reading.

_ _ _

Superhero Secrets

The Birth of God's Superhero

Most Bible readers have read the story of Jesus' birth, but few have seen the seemingly hidden story within it. Not only is this an amazing story on its own, you will see exactly how it fits together with receiving God's cape.

Let's connect the dots, starting with Egypt. God told Joseph to escape to **Egypt with baby Jesus** because Herod was determined to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem (Matthew 2). This also happened with **Moses in** **Egypt** (Exodus 1 & 2). When Moses was born in Egypt, Pharaoh tried to kill all the baby boys; however, both these attempts to kill God's chosen deliverer failed. Moses went on to deliver Israel out of Egyptian slavery, and Jesus, of course, was the ultimate Deliverer by rescuing us from the slavery of sin.

God established Moses as Israel's deliverer and performed through him, turning the water into blood as a sign of God's power (Exodus 7:19). When Jesus began His ministry, He performed an amazing miracle of turning water into wine—a sign of God's power at work in Him (John 2). There are about 40 other parallels between Moses and Jesus, but there's one more we want to examine for this section.

Not only is the beginning of Jesus' life like the beginning accounts of Exodus, Jesus' death is also very similar to the grand finale in Exodus. In Exodus, God told Moses there was only one way to escape the last plague of death (ch.12): every Jewish home had to kill a blemish-free lamb and cover the doorposts of their home with its blood. If they did this, the death plague would _pass over_ their homes and move on. If not, their firstborn would die. The shedding of this innocent lamb's blood is what finally allowed Israel to be released from slavery to Egypt to worship God freely as He intended (9:1). The Jews still celebrate this mighty act today through the Passover holiday.

Think about how Jesus fulfills this role as the perfect Passover lamb from Exodus. Jesus was born in a stable (where animals are kept), born in a manger (a feeding trough for animals), wrapped in swaddling clothes (newborn lambs are wrapped to keep them warm) and shepherds (caretakers of lambs) were the first ones to hear from the angels about the birth of the Savior (Luke 2). No wonder the Greek rendering of the Christmas story expresses the idea that Mary _struggled_ with what the shepherds said about her newborn son being the Savior of the world. She knew what that meant. The signs of Jesus being God's perfect, sacrificial lamb were evident. She knew she had just given birth to the last Passover Lamb. She knew Jesus was God's innocent Lamb Who would die so we could be free from the slavery of sin and worship God as He intended (Exodus 8:1). And now you know why there was no room for them in the inn. Lambs are never born in motels! And John said, " _Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world_ " (John 1:29).

You just read the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Only one question remains: have you applied Jesus' blood to your "house" so that when death comes it will "Passover" you? It's the only way to enter God's promise of heaven to live with Him in eternity. It's also the only way to qualify to wear God's cape of power.

Amazingly, this story fits right into this book. One amazing fact about the Christmas story is when the angels told the shepherds about Jesus, the glory of the Lord showed up (Luke 2). This was unprecedented in the Bible. Usually, the glory of the Lord was contained in the temple. Here we see God's glory—that magnificent, indescribable manifestation of God's presence—coming to every day, simple, and stinky shepherds. But there was a reason for this. Shepherds know lambs. They would be the best people to understand the sign of where to find the fulfillment and the embodiment of the Passover lamb—God Himself in Christ Jesus. It also proved God is no respecter of persons. We would think this announcement should come through a king...or maybe it did and we don't know what kings really look like because we're looking for some sign on the outward while God looks at the heart.

On last note here: archeological excavations have unearthed mangers that were the same size as the Ark of the Covenant from the Holy of Holies in the temple. I'll let you use your superhero powers to connect the dots as to the significance of that discovery. God is simply amazing!

_ _ _

MY CAPE

Little tikes,  
summer swims,  
riding bikes,  
Jumping off sofas with a towel as a cape.

Grown up.  
Summer swims.  
graduated to cars.  
looking at girls and flirting with the world.  
I still want to be superman—Can I?

Thought I was grown up.  
material possessions.  
no swimming here—way too busy.  
Gotta pay for the house and car.  
Get that towel off your back—it's no cape!  
Superman doesn't exist.

The fall leaves,  
seasons change.  
Thought I had it all and wanted more!  
My goal was for me.  
who is superman?  
Oh yeah, He helped humanity when they needed him most.  
I've heard of someone like that—maybe He is real.

Getting off my back,  
I understand more.  
Still growing up.  
Why work to give it all to someone else?  
That's not why We're Here.  
I still want to be superman—can I?  
To help humanity—Can I?  
Will I?

Have you seen where I put my towel?

### ...YOU ARE...

### saints and members of the

### household of God...

### in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a

HOLY TEMPLE

### in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling

### place of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19, 21-22

#  PUTTING ON GOD'S CAPE

Elijah's cape floated down from the sky and landed near the bank of the river just as he vanished into a fiery chariot. All Elisha had to do was pick it up by faith and put it on to begin his superhero ministry where Elijah left off. But as Elisha got closer to the charred and smoking cape, he began having second thoughts. Deep down, he knew God's power was real but he allowed doubt to creep in, meditating on the negative words of several well-known "ministers" from his village. They taught that God's power was no longer at work—and definitely not for "common" people like Elisha. Not only that, Elisha struggled with his past failures; he hadn't lived a perfect life, and he felt unworthy to be used by the Lord in such a powerful way. Elisha conceded to his fears and placed his faith in the "ministers'" words; he grabbed the extraordinary cape, threw into the river, and returned to plowing crops as an ordinary farmer.

Can you imagine what would have happened if the story we just shared had been true and Elisha never received God's anointed cape? Well, we know what wouldn't have happened: the sixteen miracles done through him, including causing a flood to foil the Moabites and saving Israel, raising a dead child to life, miraculously providing food for 100 people, and protecting Israel by supernaturally blinding the enemy—all of which were accomplished after he chose to take up God's powerful cape of the Holy Spirit.

Come out of the Old Testament world for a moment and think about yourself. Do you think God can mightily use you as one of His real-life superheroes, or do you think this is just hyped up nonsense? Is this superhero stuff just for children and single men who still collect action figures or is there something to all of this?

In the introduction, we asked why so many movies and various other entertainments center on superheroes. Let's look at why we tend to gravitate toward these supernatural figures.

Why is it from a very young age boys tuck a bath towel into their t-shirt and jump off the back of furniture pretending to be a superhero? Could it be that God put these thoughts in us to draw us to be His superhero? If that's true, what happens to this longing? Do we stuff it away and hide it behind all the junk of life, thinking this is just an immature idea? Did someone discourage us along the way? Or maybe our own failures drown away this desire. Maybe deep down we think that because we've made mistakes, God can't use us so we push back the instinct to be His hero—another consequence of sin in our lives.

We're not going to pretend we know all the answers here, but we do know one thing: if you're a believer, God has redeemed you and wants to use you as His anointed superhero to expand His kingdom in this world—and if you want His cape to make Him known as the One true King, you're going to want to pay close attention to this chapter (Ephesians 1:7).

## We Must Have Faith

Without a doubt, the primary issue that stands in the way of us being God's superhero is our **faith**. Many of us are operating our lives in Christ on inferior faith. Some believer's faith is so limited, it stops at salvation. Undoubtedly, there are some Christians who picked up this book and after reading a few chapters believe it is nothing more than heretical, false doctrine. And while we thought about covering every detail of how and why this power is real to convince the doubters, we felt as though God didn't want us to deviate down those tracks to defend it and Him on that basis. We believe God has prepared the hearts of a remnant of believers who are ready to go higher, who are ready to clip on God's cape and make a difference for the Lord's kingdom at this pivotal time in history.

_ _ _

We are a people that struggle with faith, and because of our lack of it, we often lose out on God's best for our lives.

One thing is for sure, we are a people that struggle with faith. As a result of lacking faith, we often lose out on God's best for our lives. Just the other day, we bought a superhero outfit for our two-year-old. He loves it—especially the cape part (it's on this book's cover)—and every time he puts it on he jumps off just about anything he can, thinking he's practically invincible. In fact, we have to be careful he doesn't climb on something too high. Not only that, he also has three older siblings, and we noticed if he ever has a problem with them, he'll go and put on his cape and then come back to confront them. He really believes his cape makes Him more powerful—and he got this idea from a mere cartoon series he likes.

Even though our little boy's actions are humorous to us, it illustrates what our Christian life should be like. We are to approach God and the things of God with the faith of a child. All too often we allow our intellect and reasoning (i.e. fear) to dictate our response to what God has for us. God says we need to have the mind of a child when it comes to receiving God's kingdom—and receiving His cape is no different (Luke 18:17). Above all, we must have faith!

Faith in the Lord is absolutely essential if we want to live as His superhero. We build and strengthen our faith by reading God's Word—all of it (Romans 10:17). You might remember that Peter had a glimpse of his then-yet-to-come superpowers when Jesus came to him in the midst of the storm and compelled him to step out of the boat in the midst of tumultuous waters. As a result of faith, Peter was able to walk on top the waters (Matthew 14:22-33). Peter stepped out in faith and did the impossible. Jesus didn't do the walking, He did the encouraging. Peter was able to walk on water because of his faith relationship with Christ. As long as Peter had his faith eyes fixed on Jesus, the waves in his periphery weren't an issue, but as soon as he took his eyes off the Lord and looked at the storm, he got baptized in his worst fears and began to sink.

Peter learned a valuable lesson that day. He came to discover we're not limited by _anything_ when we have a relationship with Jesus and walk by our eyes of faith. No wonder Peter walked in so much power after he was anointed by God's Spirit. When our relationship with Christ is mixed with faith and the power of the Holy Spirit, there's NOTHING we can't accomplish for the Lord (Philippians 4:13; Mark 9:23; I Corinthians 4:20; I John 5:4).

Once we get into God's Word and strengthen our faith, realizing God's cape is real, we then move into a deeper struggle, thinking we are somehow unworthy or unqualified to carry His power. If you believe this about yourself, we want to remind you that EVERY person who wore the cape in the Bible, except Jesus, was flawed. Paul was practically a murderer (Acts 9:1), and God allowed him to write nearly two-thirds of the New Testament Bible. The rest of the disciples were no different; they each had their flaws. If God could use Peter, the guy who publicly denied Jesus three times, or Matthew, who was the equivalent to an IRS tax collector **, God can use anyone! He is no respecter of persons. He has made His power AVAILABLE to every believer regardless of what we've done in the past (Luke 22:34; Matthew 9:9-13).**

In truth, none of us deserve God's power. Not one of us is worthy. And nobody is righteous enough by our own merits (Romans 10:3), but thank God, receiving God's power isn't about us; it's about Jesus and His love for us that has allowed us to have an amazing part to play in His plan (Romans 5:9).

## Requirements For Putting on the Cape

Even though we understand that receiving God's power is based on God's love and grace for us, there are still some requirements that we need to keep in mind if we want the fullness of His power in our lives. Let's look at how the disciples received God's cape.

The first requirement is the disciples believed in Jesus as their Savior and had a relationship with Him. You definitely cannot be in a position to wear God's cape if you haven't accepted what Christ did for you on the cross and believed that He was resurrected from the dead. You **MUST be in the family of God** in order to be qualified for His power. To be in the family of God, you must repent of your sins (turn from your own selfishness and live in God's will), believe in Jesus, and confess Him as Savior!

**If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.** Romans 10:9-10

**But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:** John 1:12

**For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.** Romans 10:13

**Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.** Acts 2:38-39

**Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord...** Acts 3:18-19

Second, the disciples **anticipated** the power of God. Several times Jesus said He would send the promise of the Holy Spirit to them to help them in their ministry. At one point, He said through His power they would do even greater things than He had done (John 14:12). The main point here is the disciples were craving this promise. Jesus had described the power He _would_ give to them to build anticipation and faith; it's like someone sending us a letter in the mail about a present they'll be sending. The message is our promise of the gift and is intended to build excitement in our heart. This is what Jesus was doing with the disciples. He was preparing their faith by encouraging them to anticipate Holy Spirit's power.

Amazingly, the same words Jesus spoke to the disciples were written to ALL believers to anticipate the promise of the Holy Spirit! How about you, do you feel the excitement rising up in your heart? This power is for you, too! We would do well to remember that God's kingdom manifests where His people are hungry for Him. Are you hungry yet?

Third, the disciples **prepared** to receive God's power. This included not only the disciples preparing for the promise but also Jesus preparing them for it. Let us explain.

Many people don't realize Jesus was still on earth for 40 days _after_ He was resurrected before ascending to heaven—and this is when He prepared His disciples for their cape.

(Jesus) **presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.** Acts 1:3 (parenthetical insert ours.)

During these 40 days, Jesus was restoring the disciple's relationship with Him (e.g. Peter in John 21), but He was also solidifying their _faith_ , helping erase any doubt they may have had about His resurrection. The disciples would've never received their cape if they believed Jesus never rose from the dead.

_ _ _

... _God's kingdom manifests where His people are Hungry for Him._

Jesus also taught His disciples about the Kingdom of God to prepare them for their cape. The Bible isn't explicit about the details, but we believe He was teaching the mystery of how the Holy Spirit will build the true kingdom by restoring it to what God intended, with every believer personally baptized by His Spirit to take back lost ground that the enemy had stolen (John 10:10; Matthew 11:12-15). We believe this is accurate because the disciples thought the baptism of the Holy Spirit was when Jesus would restore the kingdom to Israel (See Acts 1:6).

Jesus probably wanted to tell them full details of how His plan was so much grander than just Israel, but He simply said, " _It is not for you to know times and seasons..._ " (Acts. 1:7). Then He told them there was a mission for them to do and power available to fulfill it (v 8). Jesus knew they would fully understand when He gave them the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

**And being assembled together with** _them,_ **He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which,"** _He said,_ **"you have heard from Me..."** Acts 1:4

The last part of their preparation was to wait in a specific location. In other words, they had to **TRUST AND** **OBEY** what Jesus had told them in order to receive the baptism of the Spirit with power. They had to be in Jerusalem, which meant they had to arrange a place to stay. They also _prayed_ and were _united in one accord_ , including the women (Acts 1:14). Their actions were a clear demonstration of their obedience and their faith in Christ to _wait_ for His power.

Many believers have read the accounts of the disciples doing extraordinary feats and being bold witnesses for Christ, and they desired the same power for their own lives (Matthew 8:16, 9:35, 14:14; John 14:11; Acts 2:43, 5:15-16, Acts 6:8, 8:6-7, 28:8-9). As a result, they prayed to God for the power of the Holy Spirit but didn't feel as though anything happened. Now, some believers who read these accounts only prayed a flippant prayer because they were just curious to see if this power was real, but others have actually invested much time and energy praying for the baptism of the Holy Spirit but became very discouraged because the power didn't fall on them when they asked for it.

If you're one of these people, be encouraged that God's powerful anointing wasn't even immediately imparted to Jesus or the disciples. The disciples ultimately waited and prepared over three years. Jesus didn't operate in the full scope of His powerful earthly ministry until He was 30 years old (Luke 3:23). When He finally began, the Bible says He had to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15): Jesus submitted Himself to be baptized by John in the Jordan River (actually it was the Holy Spirit), He fasted for 40 days in anticipation of facing off with the devil (and He won—Luke 4), and before all of that, He was at the temple being about the Father's business (Luke 2:39-52). Jesus waited 30 years to begin His earthly ministry—all because God's Law stated that priests needed to be a minimum of 30 years old to serve the people (Numbers 4:3). Most of us give up after 30 minutes, let alone 30 years.

We live in a world that is accustomed to having things now. We want the fastest internet, the fastest food and even fast love. We don't like to wait things out, even though, as a general rule, we realize the greater things in life require more time to develop. The same is true with waiting for God's cape of power. Don't give in for some temporary counterfeit you are guaranteed today. God will probably have you wait because His Spirit is worth it! If Jesus and the disciples had to wait and prepare for the Spirit, it will be the same for us, too. God will send His cape in His timing; just make sure you're at the place you need to be with the Lord. Above all, don't get discouraged because it doesn't come exactly when you ask. Some crops mature quicker than others (Luke 11:11-13)!

We must remember that God desires a relationship with us. Every quality relationship will be built on trust. God is the same with us. He wants us to trust Him, understanding He has every detail of our lives worked out. Part of trusting is realizing He's orchestrating and giving us His blessings at the right time for our own good and for the good of His kingdom. But if we never wait for anything, how is there an opportunity to trust Him by faith? If you are waiting on God, the best advice we can give is to simply keep trusting and walking with Him. He might just be taking a little time to repair the leaky holes in your life. A _hole-y_ life can't hold the _Holy_ Spirit, but a _holy_ life can.

_ _ _

Part of trusting is realizing God's orchestrating and giving us his blessings at the right time for our good and for the good of his kingdom.

Continue to draw closer to the Lord by submitting every area of your life to Him and before you know it, you'll be sporting a shiny new cape to enhance God's reputation in the earth!

**And we are His Witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.** Acts 5:32

The fourth requirement to receiving God's cape—and one that will take up the bulk of this chapter—was how the disciples remained **separate from the world**. I wish there was a way to actually shout this in writing format, but GOD ISN'T OBLIGATED TO GIVE YOU HIS POWER! If you do not want to be extraordinary, which requires that we live extraordinary, God won't force you to receive His cape. You can certainly live as an ordinary Christian, without the real power of God manifesting in your life. Remember this truth: if you are faithful over little, God will make you faithful over much. If you stumble over little, God won't give you more until you handle what he's already given you (Matthew 25:21). In other words, you're not going to be able to leap over buildings with a single bound if you can't master stepping over the pebble in front of you on the sidewalk. We have to master the pebbles first.

**For by You, I can run against a troop. By my God, I can leap over a wall.** Psalm 18:29

## Live Separated-You Are a King and Priest Unto God!

A main part of the disciples remaining separated unto God was walking in the realization that they were His kings and priests. They knew they represented His kingdom and that indulging in sin would stifle the power of God, causing them to slip back into Satan's kingdom (Colossians 1:13; Acts 26:18). In the same way, if we want to be victorious as believers, it's going to be vital that we understand what it means to live as God's kings and priests and fulfill our role as such in His kingdom.

One of the most powerful representations in this book and one presented very prominently in the Bible, is how _God has made believers His kings and priests_ (I Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6, 5:10). In the Old Testament, both kings and priests received God's anointing of the Spirit, along with unmatched wisdom and special honor.

Kings and priests received these amazing privileges because their purpose was to care for the well-being of God's people. Biblical kings had many responsibilities, but the main one was protecting Israel from enemy invaders. They did this by setting up military forces and fortifying cities. The priest's main purpose was to help restore sinful people to the Lord. They accomplished this by acting as mediators between sinful humans and holy God (Leviticus 16). If you ever wanted to know your basic purpose and why God made you, this is it: God wants you to live as His king to protect His people from the "enemy" (Satan, the flesh, and the world) and to fortify their faith so they can be victorious when they are attacked. He also wants you to live as a priest, sharing with others how Christ gave His life for them as the ultimate sacrifice and to restore them to their destiny. In short, you're to be God's superhero!

Even though God's kings and priests were given special blessings, there were still some who failed to walk as God intended and either lost their powerful, anointed position or even died, unable to see the full blessings of God (I Samuel 2:11-36; 16:14; I Kings 11:11). One powerful example is when God told King Solomon He would remove the kingdom from him because he went against His commands and took foreign wives (I Kings 11:2). He disobeyed and his many wives influenced him to set up high places to pagan gods. This is a picture of how believers even today can grieve the Holy Spirit. When this happens, the amazing attributes of God's kingdom will be hindered in our lives and ministry (Ephesians 4:1-33).

While we may not build up literal high places to false gods today, there are things we do build up that can take precedence over building our relationship with the Lord, the only "high place" that should be in our lives. Some people worship money by building up their finances. Some build up their careers, a significant other, and even their own bodies, but these actions will halt God's kingdom from manifesting in our lives. Let's take a look at how God's kings and priests were expected to live under God's authority, and how it applies to believers in Christ.

God had several requirements for Old Testament kings and priests, and even though they may seem antiquated, we can still apply these principles to our lives today.

God's _priests_ had the amazing privilege of carrying the ark of God as the children of Israel journeyed to the Promised Land; they purified and maintained the tabernacle/temple (and its articles); and of course, they carried out the services of worship, acting as a mediator between God and sinners (2 Chronicles 5:12, 8:15, 19:8, 29:16). Another requirement is they were not to touch anything "dead" (Leviticus 21:1). These are all powerful pictures for believers today. We want to focus on the last requirement of not touching anything dead, as it affects all the rest.

Believers are ALIVE in Christ, and anyone in this world who does not have Christ is dead (Romans 5:12). We must be careful of our associations. If we live close to this world, it will inevitably bring death into our lives, and God's Spirit (His presence) will be grieved (Ephesians 4:30; James 1:15). As a result, our temple (our body) will suffer and become dilapidated, unable to be used as a container for God to take His presence to the world (I Corinthians 6:19).

God's _kings_ were not to multiply horses, wives or money—all of which hold the idea of trusting the Lord and overcoming unhealthy desires that could lead us astray (Deuteronomy 17:14-20; I Kings 11:3). Another quality of God's kings is that they were not expected to drink alcoholic beverages (Proverbs 31:4).

All of these are clear indicators that God's priests and kings should not have anything to do with the sinful pleasures of this world. Read what God told Aaron (the first high priest of Israel) in regards to drinking alcohol when it was time to serve at the tabernacle.

**Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying:** **"Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die.** _It shall be_ **a statute forever throughout your generations, that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean...** Leviticus 10:8-11

Notice how God makes a distinction between being clean and unclean and between holy and unholy. We like how the English Standard Version uses the words _common_ and _uncommon_. At first glance, it seems this passage is saying that the priests could drink alcohol but not while serving in the tabernacle (and later the temple). Yet, there's more to this passage. This command was for the Old Testament priests who went to the tabernacle, but believers today are held to a higher standard because we ARE God's priests and His tabernacle! This passage was merely a foreshadowing of how we're to live our lives as God's priests, putting off the "world" to live with God's power in our lives.

_ _ _

... _we are god's priests and we are his tabernacle!_

Unlike the Old Testament priests, we don't _visit_ where the Holy Spirit is, the Holy Spirit lives in us! Again, we don't go to a tabernacle; we are the tabernacle! Anyone with God's Spirit carries God's presence with them wherever they go (2 Corinthians 6:16). How much more should we abstain from the common things that this world has to offer that can hamper our ministry and keep God's full power from our lives? (And we're not just referring to alcohol, but anything that's worldly and ungodly.)

Our purpose as believers is to show the world eternal life in Christ by sharing Christ's death and resurrection so they can come into a relationship with Him. We can't fulfill our call if we're caught up in worldliness. How could a believer who is caught up in the world be able to free others addicted to the things of the world? It can't happen. Bitter water and sweet water don't flow from the same well (James 3:11). Batman can't fight off the Joker if he's busy as one of his henchmen. Does all this make sense? I pray it does. Above all, we are to remain **separate** to be empowered by the Lord.

We certainly realize that the Bible says God's gifts and calling are irrevocable (Romans 11:29), but that doesn't mean God has to give us gifts and a call, or that our gift and call won't be repressed because of our actions. As we've already mentioned, there were many accounts in the Bible where God's anointed messed up royally and their blessings were either limited or taken away.

## Counterfeits We Must Conquer

There are many believers who are content with their Christian lives and don't care to go deeper in the Lord—mostly because they think they will have to give up something they enjoy, and that it will make them uncomfortable. In my (Scott's) first published book, _Cracking the Wine Case: Unlocking Ancient Secrets in the Christian and Drinking Controversy_ , I shared how many self-professing Christians have no problem drinking alcoholic beverages and partying on a regular basis. They think social drinking is normal, accepted, Christian behavior, and for the most part, it is, but that doesn't mean it's God's will for our lives.

What many readers misunderstood about my book was that my goal was to encourage believers to go beyond normal and live _extraordinary_. A few readers got it but most missed the point.

When I presented the information in my book, there were some that read it and assumed I believed God would send these "sipping saints" to hell for their actions. That was never my point; however, I didn't shy away from sharing how drinking alcohol is not God's will for our lives, nor does it bring the best blessings (Isaiah 27:7, 8; Proverbs 20:1, etc.). Just as pregnant women who drink alcohol can produce still-born births and cause all kinds of medical issues in their babies, an alcohol-drinking believer will have many of their blessings aborted or destroyed because they like the pleasure alcohol gives more than pleasing the Lord.

In reading the book of Acts, and seeing how God's true church came together in one mind and purpose through the power of God's Spirit to enhance God's reputation in the earth, I got to thinking about how Satan has his own perversions and spirits that help build his kingdom and ultimately give him glory.

If you'll take the time to read the Scriptures, you'll see how God's Holy Spirit brought the Body of Christ together in boldness and unity (Ephesians 4; Acts 4:31-32). Think about how the world comes together and relates to one another. What is the one thing we usually see unbelievers doing, whether at sporting events, birthdays, holidays, graduation parties, funerals, business dinners, etc.? I don't know about you, but I always see unbelievers drinking. Alcoholic beverages are at the center of the world's gatherings.

The world is drawn together by alcoholic spirits, as it breaks down barriers and inhibitions, causing people to put off shyness to become emboldened. Personal grudges and dislikes, racial divisions, economic statuses, political views and people you would never be with, all temporarily drown away in the abundance of alcoholic beverages. Yet, alcohol is a temporary counterfeit to what God wants to give us.

God doesn't want us to be united by alcoholic spirits; He designed us to be drawn together by His Holy Spirit. You must understand that **alcoholic spirits are Satan's tool of deception and the counterfeit of God's Spirit**. That's why Paul drew the same comparison in Ephesians 5:18, encouraging believers _to not be drunk on alcoholic drinks which lead to a ruined life, but be continually filled with the Holy Spirit of God (see also Luke 1:13-15)._

Alcoholic spirits exhibit many of the same characteristics as the infilling of the Holy Spirit: There's abundant happiness, troubles fade away, people fall over, there's stuttering speech, and even new relationships are formed. In both cases, our body has difficulty taking in the substance and reacts strangely. The difference is alcoholic spirits are temporary, producing drama, disease, and even death, whereas God's Spirit draws believers together in true purpose, heals diseases, and gives eternal life (John 6:63).

Untold numbers of relationships have been torn apart by the effects of alcohol (and Satan's other perversions), but this is not the nature of God's Spirit. God's Spirit is a blessing, not a curse. His Sprit gives _lasting_ joy and unity with believers, not fleeting happiness that disappears the following morning—and there's no depression or abusive side effects associated with it. God's Spirit creates and sustains eternal relationships, unlike the destructive, life-destroying nature of sensual alcoholic spirits. God's Spirit builds up the internal workings of the Body of Christ; it doesn't cause heart, liver or kidney disease in the body like alcoholic spirits.

Remember, where there's a counterfeit, there must be a real. I would rather have the true Spirit of God rousing genuine boldness to build God's Body of Christ, rather than drowning in a substance that numbs the senses to chase after a strange body that I'll regret having in my bed the next morning.

**You are the body of Christ, and members individually.** I Corinthians 12:27

## An Anointed Person who Chose the Counterfeit

As was briefly mentioned, we believe one of the main reasons people disregard the power of God available for their lives is it will require them to live different, and that can be very uncomfortable. Let's face reality: At the onset, it's easier to live in this world, with all its fleeting pleasures, than it is giving up self and living separated unto Christ for lasting joy and victory. Many people don't want to submit their lives for the superior infilling of the Spirit because it requires work. **The inferior can be had now and is very easy to obtain, but it's an imposter void of power and filled with regrets.**

_ _ _

The inferior counterfeit to the infilling of God's Spirit can be had now, and it is very easy to obtain, but it's an imposter void of power and filled with regrets.

The Bible is full of accounts of people who had awesome opportunities to live in God's power, but sadly, they gave it up for the passing pleasure of sin (Hebrews 11:25). An excellent case study is Samson and his supernatural strength.

Samson's power was a result of him being separated unto God as a Nazarite from birth (Judges 13-16). A Nazarite was a person who voluntarily submitted their entire life to the Lord by the way of a vow or pledge. When a Jew took this vow, they lived differently from the rest of the world, even from Jewish society. The main requirements of their vow involved never cutting their hair, completely abstaining from alcoholic drinks, and never coming near dead bodies (Numbers 6:1-21). In other words, they were to always display their connection to God (their long hair), not get involved in intoxicating pleasures, and avoid the "dead" relationships of this world.

Nazarites, like Samson, lived a separated life unto God. It was this separated life that allowed Samson to carry God's supernatural power; however, he didn't carry this power forever. He actually lost it because of his sin. God was patient with Samson's sin, but there was a limit (Genesis 6:3; Romans 9:22). One night Samson met his match in a lustful temptation—her name was Delilah. His previous sins had weakened his fortitude, and he told her the secret to his supernatural power was his long hair ( _the outward sign of his Nazarite vow_ ). As soon as she cut off his hair, which was a symbol of him losing his power, his super-strength left him and he became vulnerable to his enemies. In effect, Delilah discovered Samson's kryptonite. She discovered that by removing the "vow" it made him common like everyone else. Samson had succumbed to lust, another common counterfeit to God's kingdom, and he lost it all.

Although the Nazarite vow is mentioned in the Old Testament, there is a spiritual principle here that we should heed. Check out how the New Testament describes this principle and how we're supposed to conduct our lives in this world:

**I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,** _which is_ **your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what** _is_ **that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.** Romans 12:1-2

If we're going to conform to this world, we won't be able to conform to Christ. We're not referring to our salvation here, although living close to the world can affect our salvation, we're primarily referring to receiving God's power and keeping it in our lives. As we draw closer to Christ, we must draw away from this world if we want to walk in the full power of God.

As we draw closer to the Lord, realizing our lives are full of the world, we're going to desire to change our ways and flush out the counterfeit toxins from as many areas as possible. How do we do that? We flush out the toxins by surrendering our lives to God to be filled with His Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:43-45).

God's Word says we are a container (2 Corinthians 4:7). We have a choice to either fill our container with the world or fill it up with God's Spirit. **We can either worship God our Creator or make a god out of something He created** (Romans 1:25). The more world we put in our container, the less of God's Spirit we'll have—and in the end we'll feel the result of living close to the world, just like Samson (James 1:15; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

If we don't fill up our lives with God's Spirit, we'll continue to be dissatisfied. God designed us to run on His Spirit. Without God's Spirit, we'll inadvertently fill ourselves up with all sorts of perversions and counterfeits, including over-eating, unhealthy relationships, alcohol and drugs, even illicit sexual sin, all in an attempt to fill the void that's only satisfied by God's Holy Spirit.

## The Counterfeit of Religion

We don't want to get too far off track here, but it's vital believers realize **religion is also a main counterfeit** , and it can keep us from finding our true purpose and living powerful lives in Christ. Religion without a relationship with the Lord is a sinful imitation designed by Satan to keep us from the Lord. Here's an introduction on how Satan first introduced the perversion of religion.

When Satan came to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he told them that if they would just do one thing (eat the fruit) they could be like God (Read Genesis 3). That's what we hear from religion still today. If we just do this thing (e.g. pray more, read more Scripture, attend temple more, feed the homeless, etc.) we will then be more "like" God. However, practicing these things doesn't necessarily prove our relationship with God, nor do they even represent being like God.

When God first created Adam and Eve, they enjoyed a perfect relationship with Him, bearing His image and His likeness on them (Genesis 1:26-27). Satan, however, introduced the idea that they could do something (eat the fruit) to be more "like" God in understanding good and evil. Sadly, Adam and Eve didn't fully realize by partaking of the forbidden fruit, they would inadvertently destroy their most wonderful feature, their supernatural relationship with God, and thereby mar His image upon them. In addition to losing their relationship, they lost other benefits as well, including: unhindered love, health, peace, joy, goodness, etc.—basically every "fruit" and quality available to believers by God's Holy Spirit because of Jesus' shed blood on the cross for sin (Galatians 5:22; I Peter 2:24). Adam and Eve essentially traded in their supernatural, everlasting "fruit" for a natural, temporary fruit that ultimately destroyed them and passed sin down to all people (Romans 5:12-21).

_ _ _

Adam and Eve traded supernatural "fruit" for natural fruit that ultimately destroyed them and passed sin down to all people.

When Satan tempted Adam and Eve to eat the fruit to be more like God, he introduced a works related religion to them. Following the lead of their new father, Satan, they made their own religious system by sewing dead, dry, fig leaves to hide their nakedness. Adam and Eve may have chosen the fig leaves as a covering because there were two trees in Eden that were set apart (made holy) by God (Genesis 2:9). It's possible they believed they could just put a little outward "holiness" over their sin and all would be well. Unfortunately, they didn't realize this act could never restore their relationship with God—it only further separated them from Him. We see this tactic employed today as well.

The fig leaves are symbolic of dead, fruitless religion that keeps people from God. Scripture indicates that's exactly why Jesus cursed the fruitless fig tree in Mark 11:12-25, and then proceeded to confront the religious men at the temple. The fruitless tree was a picture of dead religion pointing all the way back to Eden.

At base, religion implies that if a person will participate in some act that man deems holy, they can become more "like" God—and thereby achieve His approval. What Adam and Eve failed to realize is they were already like God, bearing His image and directly communing with Him daily. When they submitted to Satan's religious and lustful allurement, they lost their unhindered supernatural relationship with God and distorted their likeness with Him. From that day on, humans have been striving through their own merits to come back into what they think is alignment with God, by either trying to know more _about_ Him or by trying to be more _like_ Him through some act, apart from a relationship with Him. Some even go so far as to kill others to try and get God's approval. My, how far we've fallen from our original design (Genesis 4; John 16:2).

Satan knew Adam and Eve were created to live in relationship with God (just as every person is), so he twisted their instinctual desire into something that looked like God but was actually the one thing devastating to their relationship with Him. This is still one of his main guiles today. **Satan knows if he can get us snared in the counterfeit of religion, we'll never come to the truth of a surrendered relationship with our Creator with all of its blessings.**

So, what does God want from us then? He simply wants relationship. He wants us in His family, with Him as Father. That's how He created us. But how do we live that out? We follow our Leader.

Every believer should read and re-read how Jesus lived on this earth and personally interacted with the Heavenly Father. That's a real relationship. We make life complicated when we make lists of moral actions (for ourselves and others) that we must undertake to gain God's approval—all in an attempt to be more "like" Him on our own. Now, please understand, moral living isn't bad—in fact right living comes out of our relationship with the Lord—but moral living without a personal relationship is Satan's perversion. And let's face it, many times our idea of moral living and how God actually wants us to live are decidedly different (Matthew 5; Mark 3:1-6).

Based on Scripture, God is already close to sinners, desperately wanting them to walk in the truth of the restoration He made possible through Jesus' shed blood on the cross; yet they push Him away with their own religiously designed systems in an attempt to get His approval (Mark 2:17; Romans 5:8; John 6:37). Instead of putting faith in what Jesus did to live with new purpose, they put faith in their own efforts. When they can't measure up to their own religious system, they then feel guilty, ultimately blocking God out of our lives because of the shame they created. The Bible simply states, " _Submit to God. Resist the devil...draw near to God and He will draw near to you..._ " (James 4:7-8a). If we'll just surrender to the Lord to establish a relationship with Him, He'll iron out the unrighteous wrinkles in time.

_ _ _

If Satan can keep us locked up in religion, he knows we'll never fully give God the glory he deserves.

It's imperative every believer realizes how our enemy operates against us. Satan has camouflage he uses to lure in his prey—sometimes these sinful enticements are easy to spot, but one of his most cunning devices are found inside religious buildings—even at the local church (2 Corinthians 11:14). It doesn't matter if we're Methodist, Baptist, or non-denominational; if Satan can keep us locked up in religion without a true relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, He knows we'll never fully give God the glory He deserves.

We would do well to remember that Satan's original sin was pride and rebellion (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:14-15). Ever since falling from his position, he has thirsted after glory—and he's not selective in how he gets it. His main goal is to keep us from giving God glory and to keep us wrapped up in ourselves and sin, which keep us from God and ultimately gives him glory. Drugs, alcohol, sexual sin, religion, etc., are Satan's carefully mastered perversions of what is real. If he has you locked up in one of these, it's basically like him getting the glory.

When we engage in the enemies perversions and refuse to see how we hurt others and God, we've entered a dangerous state of pride—and Satan watches and grins because he knows he has us and God doesn't. He then just sits back and waits for us to fall like he did (Proverbs 16:18). We must be vigilant to make sure we don't get caught up in his perversions of what is real, putting aside all selfish glory-seeking, and remember that the glory belongs to the Lord.

_ _ _

We must be vigilant to make sure we don't get caught up in perversions of what is real.

## Called to Be Holy

**But because the God who called you is holy, you must be holy in every aspect of your life. Scripture says, "Be holy, because I am holy."** I Peter 1:15-16

We've already determined that a major part of the disciple's preparation for their cape was to be separate from the world. The word we use to describe being separate is the word, _holy_. It's no secret that God calls us to be holy and set apart for Him. God says without holiness no man will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). That's not a new revelation by any means, but there's confusion about holiness we feel we need to expose and correct.

It's imperative we understand holiness is not us trying to do good works by our own efforts. As we already covered, it's impossible to be saved by doing good works (Ephesians 2:8); however, receiving God's cape is more than salvation—it's power to enhance God's reputation in the earth! And as with salvation, we can't achieve holiness to receive his power by our own efforts.

Many Christians know that _holy_ means set apart, separate, or unique. God in His most basic character is holy (Revelation 4:8). There is no one like Him. Wherever God goes, that place becomes holy. Think about when God came to Moses at the burning bush. God told Moses that the place where he was standing was holy ground (Exodus 3:5). Why was it holy? Was it because Moses had done some amazingly good works there? Absolutely not. It was holy because that's where God was at in that moment. The temple wasn't holy because the High Priest said it was; it was holy (or set apart) because at one time it was where God chose to meet with His people to temporarily remedy sin. Other than that, it was just a building. The same is true of our church buildings. They're holy only when God shows up with His presence.

Jesus is also holy—not only in His deity, but also in His humanity. No other human has ever lived a sin-free life, died for sinners, and then raised to life again to live for eternity. Jesus' resurrection is pure holiness and it's an example of how we are to live in Him as we put fleshly things to death and live in the newness of the Spirit.

**For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.** Romans 8:13

**Holiness for the believer is not necessarily something we do. Holiness is inviting God into every area or every "ground" of our lives, so He can take up residence and then make holy whatever we give to Him.** Basic holiness is putting aside our will to be filled by His Spirit. True holiness always begins in the heart and then manifests in our actions, whereas counterfeit holiness begins and ends in the actions, but there's no real heart change for the Lord.

Let's not forget the word _holy_ is a major part of God the Holy Spirit—it's part of His name! We also need to remember that the Bible says we are to _BE_ _Holy_. Peter was writing to born again, saved, believers in Christ when he admonished them that they needed to BE holy. In other words, they had a part to play in this process. Why would he tell his readers to do something if it was only God Who was participating in their holiness? No, God isn't going to do all the work. He wants us to submit every area of our lives to Him by faith so He can come in to those areas and make them holy by His presence, just as He made every place He visited in the Bible holy ground. It's not about us cleaning up our house for God so He can visit; it's us handing God the keys to the doors of every room of our house so He can come in to clean and then overfill it with His Spirit!

Here's something we all need to take to heart: God wants us to freely give up our will to live in His because it's the one thing He doesn't own. God owns everything in the world (Psalm 50:10); it's all orchestrated for Him. But He doesn't own (or possess) us until we submit our lives to Him (Read Exodus 19:5 closely for this truth). When we submit our heart (everything in us) to Him by faith, He comes in and makes those areas we give Him holy. This act happens by faith and then the good works flow out of that holiness (James 2:14-26).

_ _ _

God wants us to freely give up our will to live in His because it's the one thing he doesn't own.

As was already hinted at previously, it's vitally important we realize religion is not holiness. Religion deals with outward appearances, not the heart. Holiness is NOT attending church, singing in the choir, having the title of elder or giving money in the offering plate. These things may come out of holiness but they are not holiness of themselves. Holiness isn't appearing like we have it altogether and then imitating having a love for others; it's about surrendering EVERY area to the Lord and allowing Him to use us (and those areas) as He wills for His kingdom—and that may or may not involve a title or even acts that can be seen by another person.

If you want to know how to spot someone who is merely religious and not really holy, get to know them personally. Paul wrote that anyone who couldn't appropriately run the affairs of their personal life wasn't qualified to be a leader in the Church (I Timothy 3:5). He gave this instruction to the Church because he knew holiness is easy to imitate (on the outside). But Paul didn't write that just for us to be able to spot fakes—he was writing so every believer could take a personal inventory of their own lives.

If we want the power of God flowing through us, it's going to take surrendering EVERY AREA of our personal and public lives to the Lord. For example, we can't be holy in our careers and in our finances but unholy in our sexuality and expect to have the power of God flowing through us. That's still just religion. With God, it's all or nothing. God wants to redeem and use every area of our lives for His purposes. **Jesus surrendered EVERYTHING to give us His Spirit. It cost Him His life.** Think about and apply it to your life.

_ _ _

Just like glass, religion can look pretty and appear clean, but God's power does not flow through it.

Always remember that the conductor of God's power is holiness—anything else will stop the flow of power into our lives for others. Glass is not a conductor of electricity, no matter how much Windex® we put on it. Just like glass, religion can look pretty and appear very clean, but God's power DOES NOT flow through it.

## Aching for Holiness

Before moving ahead, we want to provide two biblical examples where God's people were affected by a few individuals who tried to trick everyone into believing they were holy. Now, this section will get a little detailed but it's absolutely essential—especially if you're serious about receiving God's cape. Please understand that God's power working in our lives hinges on holiness. We won't be able to neglect this area if we want to be the Lord's superhero.

Many Bible readers will be familiar with the account of Ananias and Sapphira recorded in the book of Acts. Ananias and Sapphira had agreed to sell their property and donate the proceeds to benefit everyone in the early Church (Acts 5). Now, at first glance, it would seem they were really close to the Lord and in one accord with the mission of the early Church, but upon further examination we see how their hearts were rooted in a religious counterfeit. It was evident they didn't have a genuine relationship with Jesus.

Ananias and Sapphira said they had sold their property for a certain amount, but actually they sold it for more and kept some of the money for themselves. We don't really know the full extent as to why they lied—they may have wanted to look good in the eyes of those in the early Church to gain some type of advantage (Matthew 6:1). Regardless of the reason, Peter wasn't going to let their sin slip in and corrupt the early Church. He discerned the type of spirit working in secret and judged them accurately, telling them they hadn't lied to men, but to God. As a result of their deception and corrupt heart, they both died (5:4-8).

_ _ _

If we want the power of God flowing through us, it's going to take surrendering every area of our personal and public lives to the Lord.

Amazingly, there's a parallel of Ananias and Sapphira in the Old Testament book of Joshua. Actually, the entire book of Joshua parallels Acts. Take a look at a few of these:

• Moses died on a mountain because of his sin. As a result, Joshua took over as successor and led Israel into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 34; Joshua 1).

Jesus died on a mountain because of our sin. As a result, He gave the promise of the Holy Spirit to all believers to help lead us to our eventual Promised Land—heaven (Acts 1).

• The book of Joshua is about the children of Israel cleansing the land and gaining physical territory that was promised to them so they could serve the Lord.

The book of Acts is about believers "cleansing people" of sin through spreading the message of Christ and the kingdom, which gains spiritual "territory" for the Lord.

• In the opening chapter, God tells Joshua He would be with him wherever he went. He also encouraged him to be strong and courageous (or bold).

In the opening chapter of Acts, Jesus tells the disciples to wait to be STRENGTHENED with power of the Holy Spirit, accompanying them wherever they went. This caused them to have a boldness to preach to unbelievers (Acts 1:5-8).

It's clear that the book of Joshua is a picture of the book of Acts, but there's a parallel directly related to Ananias and Sapphira we need to examine.

The book of Joshua begins with a mighty miracle of God desolating Jericho by bringing the city walls crashing down. It was evident that God's miraculous hand was on them. In light of what God did there, it seemed Israel was unstoppable; however, in Joshua 7, the children of Israel suffered their first devastating blow in the Promised Land at a small city called Ai. Now, they weren't defeated because the people of Ai were somehow superior to them—it was because someone in Israel's camp disobeyed God and stole some of the treasure when they had sacked Jericho. The perpetrator's name was Achan.

_ _ _

Achan had an aching for what he thought would please his flesh, instead of aching for holiness...he never even got to use what he stole.

While plundering Jericho, Achan stole a beautiful Babylonian garment and some silver and gold and hid them under his tent. In doing this, he disobeyed God. You could say Achan had an aching for what he thought would please his flesh, instead of aching for holiness. In fact, you could say Achan had an aching for a counterfeit glory. Interestingly, the Hebrew word describing the garment he stole is the same word used to describe Elijah's and Elisha's cape, which we know represents God's glory and power.

Just like Ananias and Sapphira, God said that Achan had, " _stolen and deceived_." And just like Ananias and Sapphira, little did Achan know that not only would he never get to use what he stole and covered up, he would also lose his life for them (7:25).

The love of money and the world had taken root in Achan's heart and he was effectively REMOVED from the camp. And when he was removed, the power of God returned. Even though Ai had previously defeated Israel, when they encountered them again, Israel was victorious. It was clear; God was once again with Israel.

In Acts, after Ananias and Sapphira died, it's also insinuated that God's power returned to the Church in a mighty way. Take a look at what happened in the very next verse after Ananias and Sapphira were removed from the early Church:

**And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch. Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.** Acts 5:12-16

## God's Kingdom and Money

Before we close out this section on Ananias and Sapphira, we feel it would be helpful to take a closer look at how believers should view money and giving in God's kingdom. This is an area of contention for many, and Satan uses the love of money to entangle many people, just as he did with Ananias and Sapphira. Part of living in God's kingdom is inviting God into every part of our lives for Him to make holy, and this includes our financial lives.

Think about Ananias and Sapphira's sin for a moment. We don't know how much they gave from the sale of their property, but it was probably way more than ten percent. Now, some people may read their story and say, " _What's wrong with what they did? They probably gave a huge amount of money to the Church_." But this way of thinking is part of the problem. Man always looks at the hand and what's in it (external works) to determine a person's level of faith, but God looks at what's in the heart (I Samuel 16:7).

We need to understand that God doesn't care how much we give, as long as we give with the right motive (Luke 21:1-4; Luke 6:38). God wants our heart and our life (I Corinthians 10:31). And because money is a huge part of our lives, giving money for the purposes of the expansion of God's kingdom is part of worshipping the Lord. In the case of Ananias and Sapphira, their heart had been corrupted; they weren't seeking to worship the Lord, they were merely self-seeking. It was evident they didn't want to completely turn over their finances to God for Him to make holy. Their actions showed what was in their heart, and these frauds had no place in the young Church.

There are many still today who, just like Ananias and Sapphira, give to a local church for their own self-interest, some even to receive recognition and preferential treatment from leadership (Matthew 6:1; James 2:3). This is a significant problem that must be addressed, but there are other issues as well. Another main issue is how local church leaders inappropriately use the Bible to persuade people to give money. This is a travesty, and many people have lost their faith because of it. In the book of Acts, there were no long sermons or guilt trips by the Apostles to try and entice people to give donations. They didn't use God's Word to "beat anyone up" in the area of giving. When the Holy Spirit fell, there was a profound unity and people's hearts were moved to give whatever they had to spread God's kingdom. Too often today, those in local church leadership use worldly methods of extracting donations. The issue is really one of faith and trust. A lack of faith in the Lord produces religious people who use Scripture as a way of manipulation and control—but this is not how God's kingdom operates.

Jesus often dealt with the religious Pharisees of his day who were known for abusing and controlling people using Scripture. One such example is the story of the man with the withered hand. As the Gospel writer Mark recounts, Jesus had entered a synagogue on the Sabbath, and a man was there who had a deformed hand (Mark 3). The Bible says the Pharisees watched Jesus closely to see whether He would heal the man on the Sabbath. According to God's Law, man was not to _work_ on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8). But the Pharisees took this command to an extreme, creating prohibitions that went beyond God's Word. For example, **their** 39 Sabbath restrictions prohibited anyone from baking food, tying or untying sandals, walking more than a ¼ mile, or even writing a letter to a loved one (Mishnah, Shabbat 7:2). In their warped understanding, these simple acts were a violation of God's Sabbath law and were all punishable by death. So, here was Jesus, the One who created Sabbath, and the only One capable of giving this man a Sabbath rest from his infirmity, being scrutinized by religious hypocrites to see if He would heal on the Sabbath—which was apparently another form of work in their eyes—in order to accuse and discredit Him to uphold their traditions and keep their religious positions (Mark 7:13; John 11:48).

_ _ _

A lack of faith produces religious people who use scripture as a way of manipulation and control—but this is not how God's kingdom operates.

These religious men had made a pivotal error in regards to the Sabbath. They couldn't see that God gave this blessing to provide freedom and relief from the bondage of work that all men must undertake because of Adam's sin in Eden (Genesis 3:19). In fact, they turned a blessing into a new form of bondage by their own regulations (Mark 2:27). The Sabbath was an Old Testament glimmer of grace that was given to all men, and was ultimately a picture of Jesus Who came to die to give us our ultimate Sabbath, full peace and rest from sin, sickness, and eventually a permanent rest in heaven with Him (Hebrews 4:9-10).

Just as the Sabbath is a principle that originated in the Lord and gives us rest from the toil of work (Genesis 2:2-3), giving is also a principle (sow and reaping) that originated in the Lord (Genesis 1:2), providing us amazing benefits. But many have erased the restorative properties of these principles through corrupt teaching.

It's easy to take a truth in Scripture and twist it. Just as God intended for the Sabbath, giving to the Lord should also be joyful, peaceful and liberating. If it's not, we're not living in God's kingdom, but a counterfeit. God's kingdom way of giving is based on a personal and willful sacrifice to honor all God has given and sacrificed for us—even His own Son on the cross (John 3:16). Unprovoked giving is based on the very essence of God! Believers also give to support the expansion of God's reputation in the earth (I Corinthians 16:1-2) and to show the love of God to those in need (Matthew 6:2-3). Finally, giving eliminates money from becoming an idol in our lives (Matthew 6:21, 24). Ananias and Sapphira missed these points completely—as do many churchgoers today.

As we've already covered, when it comes to the world's religions, there are many similarities; monetary donations (or obligations) are one of them. Nearly every religion teaches their followers to give a percentage of their income. But God's true intention in this area is very unique; He simply says, " _Give_ " (Luke 6:38). He doesn't want believers to give because He needs our money; He says to give to ensure that money doesn't have control over us—like it did with Ananias and Sapphira (I Timothy 6:6-12).

In the New Testament, God didn't prescribe a specific requirement for giving, but He did say anyone who gives would be blessed (Acts 20:35), and the blessing would be proportional to the gift presented. God knew a strict requirement on giving would leave almost no room to love Him relationally from our heart, as He desires. Here's what God's Word says about how we should give:

**...He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.** _So let_ **each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.** 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

If you can't give to God freely, without feeling obligated, this is not of the Lord. If you are a leader who is putting people into a new form of bondage through more regulations, please reconsider the ways of God's kingdom. As we've already covered, God's Word isn't a tool to manipulate and put people in bondage; the truth of God's Word is liberating, making us free (John 8:32; 17:17). If God's Word is being used as a means of control and oppression, it is no longer truth, and freedom is no longer part of the equation.

If we want God's full power in our lives and churches, this is another area we must get right. When the Holy Spirit has full reign, the result will be true giving from the heart—and as the Bible shows, it often manifests as much more than 10 percent (Acts 4:32-35)! Remember, religion focuses on the hands, but relationship with Christ focuses on the heart. God wants 100 percent of our heart, not one-tenth. We must teach it right. Take time to read the following Scriptures for further study: Matthew 19:21-23, Matthew 6:25-34, Luke 16:13-14, I Peter 5:2, Matthew 13:44-46.

## Unholy Living Affects the Whole Church

When I (Scott) originally studied this section, I decided to share it in a home Bible study with our children. While sharing the stories about Achan and Ananias and Sapphira, our kids asked a great question. They wanted to know why one or two people had affected all the children of Israel as well as the early Church. I believe God gave me a great illustration as to why sin not only affects others in the Church but why He took drastic measures to eliminate the problem.

_ _ _

God's power is activated and maintained by holiness.

First, I reminded them how all believers are parts of the Body of Christ. I told my kids to think about their own physical body and how when one part isn't functioning correctly, it affects the others. I conveyed to them that if someone were to do something crazy and jump out of a tree and land incorrectly, breaking their leg, it wouldn't just affect their leg—it would affect their entire body.

Think about that for a moment. Imagine you fell out of a tree and broke your leg. What would you do? I think most people would head off to the doctor to reset the bone in their leg and to stop the pain from radiating throughout their entire body. Our bodies have 216 bones, but one small crack in one of them can redirect the entire course of our bodies, limiting what we can do. Furthermore, your leg is going to require your arms to pay a tremendous price by taking the weight and moving the crutches until the bone in the leg is healed. Whatever plan you may have made would be put on hold until the body is once again whole. In fact, one small break could affect our entire lives in other areas. What if your broken leg prohibited you from fulfilling the tasks at your job—or what if you didn't have health insurance? Yes, one small crack can cause all sorts of problems for the body.

There's a lot of wisdom here. As I mentioned to our kids, God looks at us individually but He also sees how our lives are a part of the bigger picture and story. When we sin, it affects the entire Body of Christ. That's why God put several Scriptures in the Bible addressing what to do with those who sin in the Church (I Corinthians 5:2; Matthew 18:15-17; 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, Etc.).

In the story of Ananias (and with Achan), God's people were united in one accord and had one mission, but their sin caused each assembly to deviate from their purpose of spreading the kingdom. Instead, they were forced to halt progress in order to address and remove these sinners who had caused discord and who had effectively suppressed God's power. But when they were taken out of the way, God's people were back on track. Yes, sin affects the Body of Christ more than we realize (I Corinthians 12:26).

Both Ananias' and Achan's stories are clear indicators that if we want to have God's power in our lives, we're going to have to obey Him and set our hearts on holy living, instead of craving the things of this world. It's really quite simple. God's power is activated and maintained by holiness! Maybe it's time to take an inventory and see if there's anything hiding under your own tent that might be stunting the power of God. Maybe it's time to make sure no monetary or material possession has taken root in your life that could potentially destroy your relationship with God, hindering His power in your life.

How about it: do you want God's unlimited extra-ordinary power in your life? Do you want to fulfill your role as a king and priest of God? If you do, it's time to live different. It's time to take this tremendous responsibility seriously. Remember, God won't force you to be His anointed vessel. You must surrender every area of your life to Him.

There's so much to say on this point, but I will just quote some passages from God's Word for us to ponder; read them very carefully:

**Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?** **And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?** **And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you** **are the temple of the living God. As God has said:**

" **I will dwell in them and walk among them.** **I will be their God,** **and they shall be My people." Therefore "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.** **Do not touch what is unclean,** **and I will receive you."** 2 Corinthians 6:14-17

... **Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; Go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; so shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider.** Isaiah 52:11-15

## Superhero Food: Prayer and Fasting

The fifth and final part of the disciple's preparation to receive God's power was uniting in one accord in prayer (and fasting).

In the second chapter of the book of Joel, where we find the prophecy of God pouring out His Spirit (the cape) for all believers, the main prerequisite was repentance ( _turning from a life of sin and turning towards the Lord_ ), which involved _prayer_ and _fasting_ (Joel 2:12-14). The disciples also prayed in one accord just before Pentecost (Acts 1:14).

Prayer and fasting are a powerful and prevailing combination. Jesus said even the most powerful demonic forces couldn't withstand them (Matthew 17:21). Real prayer and fasting are not mere religious acts we do to try and influence God; they are what we do to show God we desire to align with what He wants to do in and through us. These two components of our faith are born out of our relationship with the Lord, and we believe they're essential to receiving and maintaining God's cape.

Let's discuss prayer for a moment. In the most basic sense, prayer is simply fellowshipping in relationship with the Lord. Is there a right or wrong way to pray? Possibly. But what's more important is we establish a prayer life with the Lord, period. How to pray isn't as important as just opening our hearts and our mouths to the Lord on a regular basis to commune with Him. The Apostle Paul implied we should always carry an attitude of prayer in relationship with the Lord when he said we should " _Pray without ceasing_ " (I Thessalonians 5:17).

_ _ _

If the Lord isn't speaking, that's not prayer; it's merely a recitation or a speech, void of relationship.

Prayer is also a vital weapon in regaining lost ground for God's kingdom (Matthew 17:21). King David understood this well. David probably spilled more blood than any other person in the Old Testament—he was a man's man—yet God said he was a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). Ultimately, David desired to fulfill the will of the Lord. He also knew the key to overcoming in every area of life was rooted in prayer (I Samuel 23:1-2). In other words, before he fought physically, he first fought on his knees (Psalm 116:1-2).

One thing believers fail to do when we pray is stop talking and listen. Praying with our mouths or in our hearts is only one side of prayer. The other side is when the Lord speaks to us, which is primarily through His Word, the Bible. Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1)—that means we need a relationship with Jesus through His Word. When we open God's Word and meditate on Him, He will speak to our hearts in a tangible way. It's very difficult to describe how this works in human words. All we can say is that it's the most marvelous experience you'll have in this world—to know you're in relationship with the Lord! Please remember: if the Lord isn't speaking, that's not prayer; it's merely a recitation or a speech, void of relationship (Matthew 6:7).

Now, many of us know prayer is speaking to the Lord to fulfill His will for us, but very few believers know about fasting. Fasting is simply denying our flesh some type of pleasure. The Bible speaks of fasting food because that is one of our natural everyday cravings (Isaiah 58). Food is the way we get energy to keep our body of flesh alive. But fasting doesn't always involve food. Sometimes people fast other things their flesh enjoys (computers, phones, relationships, television, etc.) so their spirit man can take precedence in their life. Let us explain further.

_ _ _

Prayer and fasting allows our spiritual man to take precedence over our natural man, keeping doubt from choking out God's blessings, including His power.

As believers, there are two main parts of our body, spirit and flesh, and they are in conflict with each other (Galatians 5:17). Our spirit man (born of God—John 3) is that part of us that commune with God and understands the eternal things of God. Our flesh man (born of Adam—Genesis 2) desires sinful, earthly things that waste away. When we fast, our flesh man fades away and gives way for our spirit man to take the reins (Galatians 5:17). Prayer and fasting is part of the main food for our spirit man, along with a daily intake of God's Word (Matthew 4:4).

Fasting is like saving up money for something we really want. When we save money, we deny our flesh common pleasures to put the money away to save up to buy what we really want, something much greater.

The concept of denying our flesh for something better is a constant struggle we have with our kids. Whenever our kids get a few dollars from grandma, they're tempted to go out and buy the first dollar store toy they see (you know, the ones that break before you get home). We try to encourage them to save their money to buy something that will last much longer. Now this is only a natural example, and we're certainly not saying we can convince God or buy His power through prayer and fasting. We're saying if you want to be a powerful superhero for the Lord, you're going to need to renew your energy source by supplying your spirit with the food of fasting and prayer.

Prayer and fasting allows our spiritual, faith-driven man to take precedence over our natural, emotionally-driven man, keeping doubt from choking out God's blessings, including His power. That's what fasting is, a denial of what pleases our five earthly senses (e.g. what tastes good, feels good, smells good, and what looks and sounds good). Simply speaking, fasting allows our spiritual man to take center stage above all else in our lives. Fasting places God's eternal kingdom and His ways above the earthly realm and our natural inclinations.

Here's a news flash, Batman: our fleshly man doesn't really want to be a superhero for the Lord. Our flesh knows wearing God's cape will require effort. It knows in order to truly discover if God has put His power upon us, we'll have to step out of our comfort zone and put our faith to use in a real life situation. Ultimately, our flesh realizes God hasn't made this power available to us just to keep it to ourselves; it's to help others come into a relationship with the Lord. And let me tell you, our flesh fears stepping out to be used by the Lord. Our flesh will fight us because it doesn't want to pray for that man in the wheelchair. It doesn't want us to pray for the drug addict. Why? Well, the wheelchair guy might not get up. The drug addict might not find freedom. We might get embarrassed. In truth, the flesh is afraid God isn't truly with us. But what's worse: being embarrassed for a minute or two, or never discovering God's power in your life? What's worse, the wheelchair-bound guy has no change in his mobility, or he never gets to see godly compassion in real life—a compassion that could eventually lead him to give his life to Christ?

HERE'S A REVELATION: NOTHING WILL CHANGE UNTIL WE STEP OUT AND ACT ON OUR FAITH!

We already know the outcome of not praying for those hurting around us. If we don't pray, things stay exactly the same. But what if...? What if you have a moment of faith and a heart is healed in a split second? What if God decided to work through you to heal a broken marital relationship?

Every day we have an opportunity to watch God manifest in the lives of those who are hurting and despondent by simply reaching out to them in compassion. The key is us stepping out by faith. You see, the beautiful thing is God's called us to be His Body on the earth. You. Me. We. Take an honest inventory. How are we doing at being His Body? We believe we could all do better. And we know for certain nothing will ever change if we continue to walk by and do nothing with those who are hurting.

_ _ _

When God gives us an opportunity to minister to the hurting, and we refuse to show them God's love, we express our doubt and limit God's hand.

When God gives us an opportunity to minister to those who are hurting, and we refuse to show them God's love, we express our doubt and limit God's hand. For whatever reason, God has chosen to work through us (Romans 3:2)! You must come to understand that every believer is God's hands and feet, His body, in this earth—yourself included! If God gives you a gentle nudge to reach out to someone in your circle of influence and you don't act on it, you're not only limiting God's power in your life, you're keeping a possible blessing from the person who desperately needs God's touch. When we don't step out we're saying we don't really believe God's power is for today. We're saying God can't use us. We're saying those people don't really matter. But how can we expect to fulfill what Jesus said was the second greatest commandment (to love others-Mark 12:31) if we don't put ourselves and our pleasures aside long enough to see the hurting people standing right in front of us?

**Love your neighbor as yourself.** Mark 12:31

**Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble,** _and_ **to keep oneself unspotted from the world.** James 1:27

There's no doubt God wants to fill us and give us His cape; that's not the question. The real question is: do we really want to be filled? Do we want to take up our cross and live separate from the rest of the world? Do we want to put ourselves aside to carry God's power as His ambassador? Ambassadors aren't chosen lightly; they represent their kingdom to a foreign area. We believe the same is true when God puts His Spirit in and upon us.

If we truly want to receive God's cape, it simply starts with asking God with the right motives (Luke 11:13). The context of your prayer should be the desire to help others with God's power. What we do from there will depend on how much we really want to be a major league player in God's kingdom!

We believe there are three main reasons why people don't see the power of God (aka _baptism of the Holy Spirit_ ) in their lives: 1) _Believers lack faith and have been deceived into thinking God's power isn't for them._ 2) _They assume this blessing is for their own personal use_ , when God purposed to give it to us to help others, and 3) _Believers may already have the power but they aren't stepping out to help anyone_. Remember, the disciples didn't just sit on their fanny after Pentecost. They got up and went out to affect change in their world. In other words, get off your bones and go minister to someone! Sometimes we have to stop crying to God and move forward so we can see His hand at work through our faith.

**And the Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward."** Exodus 14:15

## An Example of Receiving God's Cape

One of the most powerful prayers I (Scott) have ever read in the Bible is when Peter and John returned to their companions after being questioned for their faith in Christ by the religious Jews, and were unexpectedly released without harm (Acts 4). God had just used them to heal the lame beggar at the temple, and as the people saw him walking they wondered who could have done such an amazing miracle. This miracle put a bull's-eye on Peter and John because the religious men knew the very name of Jesus they were espousing threatened their religion and their control.

After Peter and John's companions saw they had met with the Jewish leaders and came back to them unharmed, they prayed a tremendous prayer to the Lord to receive the Holy Spirit. Now, we don't exactly know who these praying companions were to Peter and John, but I can imagine they assumed if Peter and John were being questioned by the same religious leaders who killed Jesus, they would probably meet the same fate. But to their amazement, they didn't kill them; they were let go, and Peter and John continued in the ministry of spreading the truth about Jesus. Take a moment and read their powerful prayer for the Holy Spirit:

**Lord, You** _are_ **God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them** **who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:**

' **Why did the nations rage and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.'**

" **For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together** **to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.** **Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus."**  
Acts 4:25-30

These early believers wanted the anointing of God's cape to expand His kingdom. They asked God for the power to have boldness and to be able to work healings and signs and wonders to establish their testimony for Jesus Christ. How do you think God responded? Here it is, straight from the Word:

**And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.** Acts 4:31

Not only did God respond by giving them the power of the Holy Spirit and boldness to preach the Word of Christ, there were other blessings attached to His power as well:

**Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid** _them_ **at the apostles' feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.** Acts 4:32-35

Did you see that? When God gave them His Spirit, He made them His CHURCH, a community of God-minded believers with all things in common, helping each other in order to spread the Good News of Jesus to the world. Don't you long for a community like this? We certainly do. We're tired of everyone doing their own thing and the selfish splits in our churches, our homes and in our cultures. We want the power of God for every believer. We can only imagine what would happen if we all prayed and received God's cape! It starts by simply asking as they did—and then stepping out in faith!

## Summary

We've covered a large amount of information so far. Let's do a recap of the requirements that are necessary to receive God's cape:

• Be in the family of God

• Anticipate the promise

• Believe it's for you

• Have faith to receive it

• Be separate from the world

• Pray and fast for it

• Step out in faith

We need to be completely honest with you here, if you desire to walk in this world as God's superhero, with His power and anointing on your life, there's no direct formula to obtain it. We simply listed several elements involved in the disciples receiving God's cape in Acts. One thing is for certain, the disciples didn't want this power to bring pride to themselves or for their own personal agenda. They knew when they put on God's cape, they took on an alter-ego of sorts—one that belonged to the Lord to further His will. In other words, they put on the cape to help build God's kingdom, not their own.

The Holy Spirit's cape isn't magic; it's us submitting to God and allowing Him to work through us to accomplish His mission. There were people in Acts who wanted this power for their own evil desires, but they weren't allowed to carry His power because they had impure motives (Acts 8:18-21). Above all, we need to make sure we desire God's power to help draw others to Christ and away from this world. We will end this chapter with a Scripture passage from James 4:3-8.

**You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend** _it_ **on your pleasures. Adulterers and Adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"? But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:**

" **God resists the proud,  
But gives grace to the humble.**

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you...

_ _ _

Superhero Secrets

In Numbers 11:16-35, God told Moses to choose seventy leaders who He would anoint with His Spirit so they could help him in ministry. God didn't want Moses to bear the entire weight of caring for God's people by himself. Moses heeded the Lord and picked out seventy leaders and had them come with him to the Tabernacle to receive God's power. God said He would take the Spirit that was on Moses and anoint the seventy at the tabernacle.

When God's Spirit came upon the leaders they began to prophesy,* and the people heard it. While they were prophesying, it was discovered that two of the seventy leaders were missing from the group. They were found back at the camp. Amazingly, although these two leaders had not been with the group at the tabernacle, they still received God's Spirit AND WERE PROPHESYING IN THE CAMP. When this was discovered, Joshua, Moses' assistant, told him to forbid them from doing this. I'm going to quote how Moses responded:

**Then Moses said to him, "Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!" And Moses returned to the camp, he and the elders of Israel.** Numbers 11:30

God has always desired to put His Spirit on every believer! And man has always tried to stifle His work. What's so interesting about this passage is it is directly related to a conversation that Jesus had with John, one of His closest disciples, after he reported how someone was setting people free from demonic power but didn't follow in their group. Take a look at this incident:

**Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us." But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.** Luke 9:49-50

The message is clear: God wants everyone to be baptized with His Spirit and do the work of the ministry wherever they may be. It has never been about fitting into a certain congregation or denomination; it's about are you a believer in Christ and filled with His Spirit, or not? Don't forbid the work of God's Spirit, encourage it! It will help you in the long run. The more people who are filled with God's Spirit, the easier it will be for us to do the work of the ministry and reveal God's kingdom (Acts 28:31).

*Ancient accounts say that when the 70 prophesied it was an ecstatic "bubbling up" of speech that came from God. This is precisely what occurred in Acts 2 when God's Spirit fell on the 120 believers. In each case, this "God-speech" was a sign to those who stood by that they had been anointed by God's Spirit. Source: _Theological Wordbook of the Bible. Moody Publishers. R. Laird Harris, 2003._

#  SUPERHERO RECHARGE

Superheroes sometimes need a recharge—especially after dealing with something that can drain their power. We know what has been covered up to this point is a difficult revelation and may be hard to accept—and there's still more to come. Therefore, consider this short chapter your superhero recharge.

As we progress through the full revelation in this book, it may seem as though you're handling harmful kryptonite, but that's not the case. It's not kryptonite; it's the power of God wrapped in a package many will not be familiar with. In fact, the disciples tried to share this same revelation with the supposed religious leaders of their day, and they were heavily persecuted for it (Acts 13:50; 24). These professed leaders misunderstood the power of God and thought it was the equivalent to kryptonite.

We're not sure why these ultra-religious men were so adamant about silencing the disciple's message because kryptonite only weakens superheroes. In truth, they never had God's power anyway. What we do know is they believed the disciples were trying to ruin their highly-esteemed religious traditions—and they put up a violent defense to a truth that could have revolutionized their lives. Amazingly, some Christians still put up their defenses against God's truth even today. In fact, we've dealt with this recently. If it's one thing we've learned, religious people will fight with a never-before-seen fierceness to protect the box they've put God in. Let us explain this further.

Not long after the Holy Spirit fell on the 120 believers in Acts, they began sharing the Good News of Jesus to anyone who would hear them ( _even the despised Gentiles were able to hear the truth—Acts 10_ ). After they received their own cape, they realized God's power was essential for every believer to spread the word about Jesus. They immediately began to share how the Holy Spirit's cape is available to anyone who believes—not just them or a select few, like in ages past. Take a look at what happened to one of these true superheroes of the faith when he shared this truth with some of the religious men of his day.

## The Day a Superhero Died

Let me introduce a little-known superhero to you. His name was Stephen. Stephen received the Holy Spirit and immediately began doing signs and wonders and telling people about Jesus. When the religious men heard about what he was doing, they brought him before the Sanhedrin Council and charged him with denouncing the holy places and the law. Read this summary of what Stephen said to the council in defense of God.

" _You remember Abraham, right? He heard from God when he was living in Mesopotamia...How about Joseph? He went to prison in Egypt, but God was with him there too... Let's move on to Moses...Moses heard from God in a fiery bush! And guess what? The people rejected Moses too...even after witnessing God working through him by signs and wonders... (Sound familiar?)"_

" _Do you remember how Moses gave our ancestors the tabernacle?...How about David? Remember how he wanted to build God a house? He wasn't able to build it, but Solomon, his son, did...."_

" _And even though Solomon built God the temple, that wasn't what God desired. God doesn't dwell in man-made temples. The point of all of this is to show you that God doesn't show up where you think He will. He cannot be contained. God's same Spirit that visited the temple is alive and working in me right now!"_

" _You people are just like your fathers who persecuted and killed the mouthpieces of God who came thousands of years before me to tell of the coming of Jesus. And when Jesus finally came—the Tabernacle of God Himself—you killed Him! Your fathers and you also have cut down anything that doesn't fit into your religious mold. You are all stubborn! You always resist the move the Spirit of God!"_

When they heard this, the council rushed at him in one accord and dragged him to the edge of the city and stoned him to death. Based on Acts 7

Do you see the main point that Stephen was making? He was showing the religious men that God works outside of buildings and deals directly with people. It was never about building God a temple, but allowing God to make us His temple by giving us His Holy Spirit! Take a prayerful look at these Scriptures:

... **the temple Jesus spoke about was his own body.** John 2:21

**Don't you know that your body is a temple that belongs to the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit, whom you received from God, lives in you. You don't belong to yourselves.** I Corinthians 6:19

**Don't you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him because God's temple is holy. You are that holy temple!** I Corinthians 3:16-17

Do yourself a huge favor. Stop reading right now and pray! Pray the Lord will open your heart to the complete revelation of this book. We know what we've shared so far, and what we're going to share in the next few pages goes against the grain of what you've been told, read and experienced about the Christian life; however, we believe anyone who genuinely submits to the will of the Lord in prayer will be allowed to see the truth for their self.

We need to warn you that this next chapter will be even harder to swallow than what we've already covered. Would you please consider putting this book down for a few minutes and pray to the Lord to prepare your heart to receive what's next? We believe this is a vital step in receiving this profound truth.

We know this word of truth is powerful; it's so powerful Satan will kill to keep it silent. He didn't just provoke the death of Stephen; he's eradicated truth-bearers throughout the centuries.

After you finish this book, take some time to read about the Anabaptists and the Quakers. These were believers who brought reformation to God's Church, teaching how all believers were ministers for the Lord, not just a select group or one man. Moreover, they stressed the Spirit over a building and saw tremendous signs and wonders done by the hand of the Lord. Many of these men and women desired to return to the purity of God's original design of the Church and were either arrested or killed for sharing the truth of God's kingdom. Yet, even though they were greatly persecuted, they lived in a relationship with the Holy Spirit and experienced His power on a level few have seen.[4]

Please know that we didn't share these details to bring discouragement to you, but to show how important it is to be prayed up and vigilant while reading and sharing these truths from God's Word. It's true that many believers have suffered (and are still suffering) for the kingdom, yet most believers today can openly share God's Word without the fear of death or imprisonment. In other words, we have no excuses; we can all share the truths of God's kingdom with those who need to hear it. Now, there may be a time when that changes but that's not our concern. Our mission is to share God's Word and His will with all people.

As Christians, we don't need to worry about life and death; that's not our place. Our responsibility in God's kingdom is to make sure this truth doesn't die in us by keeping it silent. We MUST bring it to the masses!

_ _ _

Superhero Secrets

There are two very interesting world events that have been gaining momentum as of late. The first event is the growing Muslim-terrorist group called, ISIS ( _Islamic State of Iraq and Syria_ ). ISIS is a barbaric group that kills just about anyone who doesn't follow strict Islamic-Sharia Law. They have grown to an army of hundreds of thousands as Muslims from around the world left behind jobs, possessions, and even families, to join in the mission to spread Sharia Law by all means necessary—which often involves killing victims by severing body parts.

The second event is the blood moons, appearing in direct alignment with the Jewish feast days in 2015. The blood moons will be visible to Israel and the Middle East, and many Christians believe there is end-time significance to them. Entire books have been written about the connection of the blood moons and biblical prophecy, but there's an overlooked, interesting parallel that draws these two events together.

Although these two events seem distant and unrelated, there's a connection that's beyond coincidence. For one, ISIS' main goal is to sweep across the world to gain as much ground for Islam as possible. They've already listed one of their main targets as Israel, which is full of Jewish people. Second, the blood moons are mentioned in the Bible in accordance with the outpour of God's Spirit. Jesus gave us the promise of the Holy Spirit to enable us to have power to be EFFECTIVE witness for Him and to bring the Gospel to the world. Do you see any connection yet?

**And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh... The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.** Acts 2:17, 20-21

We believe the blood moons are a symbol that there's about to be a great awakening in the Body of Christ where widespread believers will become endued with the Holy Spirit and power similar to what occurred at Pentecost! This awakening isn't going to cause believers to travel across oceans to join a rogue, barbaric, and evil army to inflict pain and bondage, but will cause unity in the Body of Christ like never before to spread the Gospel to the world. Unlike ISIS, who operate in Satan's dominion of darkness to kill others and promote the oppression of Sharia Law, this genuine move of God will give true **life** and **freedom** from sin. Moreover, unlike ISIS' body part severing tactics, this move of God will see believers rise up as the Body of Christ to advance God's invisible kingdom, praying for and restoring people to Christ—even allowing God to work through us to have limb's grow back. If Satan can take away, surely the Holy Spirit is more powerful to give back what was stolen by the enemy (Judges 7:9).

In the Old Testament book of Joel, there's an interesting concept about restoration. God says He would restore the years that the locust had eaten (2:25). The context of the entire book of Joel is people handing over their dominion to Satan because of sin. But what's interesting is God promises to restore the people through repentance and then finally through receiving the power of the Holy Spirit to make spiritual war against Satan and His dominion of darkness that will ultimately affect reality (2:28-3:21). We believe we're knocking on this door of this even as we write this book. The question is, are you ready to be a part of it?

### But YOU will

### Receive

POWER

### when the

### Holy Spirit

### comes upon YOU, and you shall tell the whole world about

### ME!

Acts 1:8

#  WHEN SUPERHEROES UNITE

When I (Scott) was a kid, I came across an illustrated book called the _Justice League_. The Justice League consisted of several different superheroes, including Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, each uniting together to use their individual powers to fight a common enemy. Even though these superheroes had unique and powerful individual abilities, they were still susceptible to their enemies; however, when they united together as the Justice League they became an unstoppable force.

The basic storyline of my old Justice League book reminds me how believers should be operating in the Church and in the home. Alone, we can be minimally effective battling the forces of darkness, but there's a special power when we unite our strengths with other cape-wearing believers to expand God's kingdom. We'll describe the dynamics of how this works as this chapter progresses.

Now, you may be tempted to skip this chapter, thinking you have a good idea of what we're going to present, but stay the course—the full revelation of this book hinges on the truths we're going to explain in the next few pages.

## Proper Leadership for the Church and Home

In order to understand how we are to unite as believers, we'll need to understand God's perfect unity. When we grasp the beautiful subordinated relationship of the Persons in the Trinity, it will be clear how we're to model unity in the family and Church.

God designed the proper function of His institutions to be modeled after Him, the Godhead (aka Trinity). The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist as ONE perfect union, even though they have varying roles in regards to the unfolding plan for humanity. In other words, they realize the overarching plan requires them working in unison, and no Person is more important than the other because they each bring different functions and needed roles to complete it. ( _Note: Believers identify the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as Persons because they relate to each other personally._ )

The work of each Person of the Trinity has the same goal, never excluding another for an individualized will. Their will is aligned to the collective whole, yet carried out individually by each Person in their proper function and subordination. The Father is the Creator (Gen. 1; Isa. 44:24), the Son is the Redeemer (Gal. 3:13) and the Holy Spirit is the sanctifier (Rom 15:16). Each Person of the Godhead is completely God in their essence, even though their work and function are varied. The best way we've come to understand this unity, although not perfect, is to compare their likeness to that of the United States Government.

Just as the Trinity is One with Three Persons, the United States Government made up of people is one with three different and distinct branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial; yet, even though there are three different branches, it's still one government.

The legislative branch makes the laws for the country. This is symbolic of God the Father. He is the One who gave the laws to Moses at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19). The judicial branch interprets the law. This is symbolic of God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity (Jesus, the Word). Jesus is the One who interprets and provides understanding of what God requires (Matthew 5:38). The executive branch is responsible for carrying out the law. This is symbolic of God the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2). He is God's "arm" on the earth, carrying out what God speaks through His Word. ( _By the way, the founding fathers derived the three branches of the government from the Bible in Isaiah 33:22_ ).

Another way to think of the unity of the Trinity is to compare them to the human body. The human body has three main functions: thought, word, and deed—or thinking, speaking and doing. Again, these three are symbolic of the Trinity. The thought is the Father, the Word is the Son, and the deed is God the Holy Spirit. We see a picture of this analogy in Genesis 1. In the beginning creation account, we see God (v. 1), we see Him speaking (v. 3), and we see Him doing (v. 4). Each Person is working together to accomplish their plan for mankind. Now let's apply this to God's Church and the home.

## The Body of Christ

Just as the Godhead consists of distinct Persons with different roles and functions, so also does the Church. Although God designed the Church to model Him, most do not walk in unity and oneness—and we believe much of it is due to a misunderstanding of Christ's body.

We've already covered how believers in Christ—His Church—are considered the Body of Christ (I Corinthians 12, Romans 12:4-5, Colossians 1:24), but what does that really mean? Think about a human body for a moment. We all know every part of our natural body is absolutely essential to living productive lives. Now, imagine some part of us was missing. Imagine we didn't have a heart or a lung or our eyes or ears. Now, imagine if we were just one big ear or a great big eyeball; that would be terrible. But break it down even further: what if we were missing fingernails or knuckles or elbows? Life would certainly be different and challenging. God designed our bodies with all the right parts to relate to this world and to carry out His purpose. Missing parts create untold problems and can even cause death.

_ _ _

Just as the godhead consists of distinct persons with different roles and functions, so also does the church.

Even a child knows we need all the parts of our body to live out our lives, but did you know this is the exact picture the Apostle Paul used to instruct the early Church on how to conduct themselves as one unit to expand God's kingdom? Read the metaphor for yourself in First Corinthians 12. Paul stresses the idea that EVERY part of a body is necessary for life. The same is true of the spiritual body of the Church. We can't all be the hands of the body because we need feet to move the body so they hands can work. We can't all be the eyes because we also need our hearing, etc. Just as every Person of the Trinity is necessary to unfold God's plan for humanity, EVERY part of the Body of Christ is essential to achieving our purpose in Christ and growing God's kingdom.

**For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we,** _being_ **many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another**. Romans 12:4-5

No one in the Body of Christ can tell another they're not needed. The hand could never convince the body it would be better off without a foot or vice versa (even if these parts don't understand the function of the others). We take these parts of our natural body for granted, but if we would lose them, we would soon realize their importance. In the same regard, if we take a little time to view the Body of Christ without a certain part, we will see how every person is intrinsically valuable to our mission. Paul made this concept very clear to believers. He knew misunderstandings in this area could be problematic and create unneeded tension. Allow us to share a story that'll bring this into perspective:

One day a parrot was teasing the old dog of the house because he couldn't talk or fly—he could only eat, sleep, bark and slobber. The parrot believed she was so much better than old dog because she could mimic her owner's words perfectly—even speaking a few short sentences. And every once in a while, she would get let out of her cage to flap her wings in old dog's face in a prideful display, soaring through the rooms of the house. Parrot just knew she was superior to old dog. Every day she would puff out her chest feathers and strut around her cage squawking about how she was better than him; that is, until a thief showed up one day.

Parrot saw the intruder first. She knew just what to do. She began speaking all the words in her small vocabulary, but she couldn't understand why the robber wouldn't leave. Next, she flapped her wings with might, causing the cage to swing back and forth in a violent manner. Finally, she squawked and chirped as loud as she could, but still the robber broke through the glass and entered the home. Just when she thought all hope was lost, old dog rounded the corner. He was moving slower now because of his old age, and just when he was about to ask what all the commotion was about, he looked up and saw the black-hooded burglar.

When old dog saw the intruder, he mustered up every last ounce of energy, belting out the loudest bark and growl parrot had ever heard. His quiet demeanor turned into a fierce protector with teeth bared and his body poised to attack with full force. The robber took one look at old dog and began backing out of the house very slowly, ultimately sprinting to get away. At that very moment, parrot realized her weakness and old dog's strengths. She saw how she had been wrong and apologized to old dog. Old dog thought about her apology and barked out, "I accept your apology, but we worked together on this one. You woke me up with all your relentless jabber, and I chased the robber away."

Many of us could learn a vital lesson from this entertaining story. Most believers haven't really thought about the concept of how believers are the Body of Christ and how each person is part of a bigger plan, bringing with them intrinsic gifts for God's ultimate mission. Now, when believers are called the Body of Christ it is more than just a simple title. **We are the embodiment of Christ on this earth while He is preparing a place in heaven for those who come to Him (John 14:3).**

_ _ _

We are the embodiment of Christ on this earth while He is gone preparing a place in heaven...

Sometimes people ask where Christ is in the midst of all the turmoil in the earth. Is He only watching from heaven, or does He still visit the earth? The answer is, yes! He's in heaven, but He's commissioned _us_ as His body to represent Him on this earth. He's given us the glorious responsibility to make a difference in this earth through His Spirit indwelling within us and His cape upon us to build His kingdom!

## Gifts for the Body

Believers are part of the Body of Christ, and the Lord Jesus is our Head. When Christ ascended to heaven, He gave His gifts to believers through the Holy Spirit to fulfill their individual function of His corporate body to build His kingdom (Ephesians 4:8; I Corinthians 12).

In Exodus 31, God filled certain individuals with His Spirit and gave them gifts to build the tabernacle. This is a powerful picture of Christ giving us gifts to build His true Church. Here is a list of the gifts He provided for us to bring restoration to people, by faith:

• **Power to heal** - _giving people complete soundness in their physical, emotional or mental faculties (Acts 3:2-10). [Note: It would do us well to remember that sickness, disease, emotional instability, etc. are all byproducts of mankind's sin and fall in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve effectively allowed Satan's dominion into our lives. But there's no sickness, disease or lack in God's kingdom (Revelation 21-22). Not everyone has the gift to heal, and even those who have it cannot call upon it at will, but if we're obedient to the voice of the Lord, He will manifest kingdom qualities through us when our objective is showing people love with the intent to destroy the works of Satan in their lives. Jesus came to destroy the works of the enemy, and Jesus is still on earth in us. I Corinthians 12:7, 9; I John 3:8; I Peter 2:24; 3 John 1; Luke 5:13.]_

• _Power to work miracles_ - _supernatural signs displayed as a witness to the truth of Jesus (Acts 8:13)._

• _Power to discern spirits_ - _the understanding of certain demonic power(s) working behind the scenes in order to accurately judge heresy or oppressive wrongdoing in order to protect the Church and expand God's kingdom by destroying devils (Acts 13:6-12)._

• _Power of wisdom_ _-information given by the Holy Spirit concerning something in the future (Acts 16:6-10)._

• _Power of knowledge_ _-information given by the Holy Spirit concerning something happening presently (Acts 7:51-60)._

• _Administration powers_ _-organizers who make sure the body is steering toward accomplishing God's will (I Corinthians 16:15-18)._

• _Helps powers_ _-assistants who support and undergird the Body by fulfilling meticulous tasks that are essential to accomplishing God's will. An example could be those who help feed the poor, etc. (Romans 16:6, 12)._

• _Power of faith_ _-standing in agreement with those who may be spiritually weak and unable to "see" God's will in a matter (Acts 3:2-10)._

• _Power of the prophet_ _-those who speak forth God's messages of encouragement to the Body (Acts 21:9)._

• _Power of the evangelist_ _-those who bring in souls with demonstrations of signs and wonders, and those who help equip the Church in training up ministers to have a heart for the lost (Acts 8:4-13)._

• _Power of the pastor_ _-those who help guide groups of believers into the truth and protect them from heresy and deception (I Peter 5:1-4)._

• _Power of the teacher_ _-those who can convey Bible truths simply and effectively (Acts 18:24-28)._

• _Power of the apostle_ _-those with a gift to set up and organize groups of believers to be guided by a pastor (2 Timothy 1:11)._

• _Power of tongues_ _-believers who can communicate the Gospel to people in their indigenous languages. Note: this gift is different than the personal blessing of speaking in tongues (see Romans 8:26; Ephesians 6:18; Jude 20), which happens when a person is baptized in the Holy Spirit, subsequent to salvation (I Corinthians 14:21-22)._

• _Power to interpret tongues_ _-a special message given by the Holy Spirit to understand what was said by a person speaking in various tongues (I Corinthians 14:27)._

[ _For more on the Gifts of the Spirit, refer to the timeless teaching and book_ _Gifts of the Spirit_ _by the late Dr. Lester Sumrall._ ]

... **walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.** _There is_ **one body and one Spirit...** **And He** (Jesus) **Himself gave some** _to be_ **apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ...** Ephesians 4:1-13

These aforementioned gifts are available to every believer to advance God's kingdom through healing, deliverance, teaching, discipling, worshiping and prophesying, etc., but for the most part Christians have misunderstood the basic idea behind these gifts. **Not only are these gifts from Jesus,** **they** **ARE Jesus**. These are gifts He used while He ministered on the earth. The following is a small sampling of the supernatural gifts Jesus used in His ministry:

[*NOTE: Jesus speaking in tongues is not explicit in these passages. It must be studied to come to a proper conclusion. Just before Jesus came to Lazarus, He "groaned in the Spirit." The Greek word for _groaned_ means _strengthened_. If you'll compare John 11, Romans 8:26, along with Jude 1:20, you'll see how Jesus was speaking in tongues to prepare for the raising of Lazarus back to life. His groaning had to be either audible or visible for John to be able to write about them. The Bible calls the disciples "witnesses" of Jesus—Acts 1:8; it also says they testify of what they have _seen_ and _heard_ —I John 1:3. Jesus also said that those who followed Him would speak in new tongues—Mark 16:17.]

When Jesus ascended to heaven, He left behind His gifts to His Body, the CHURCH! Each believer who has been empowered by God's Spirit has at least one of His gifts and may have more than one, but no one has all of them (I Corinthians 12:11). Only Jesus had all of them while on this earth (Colossians 2:9; John 3:34). This is undoubtedly why Jesus chose twelve disciples to succeed Him in ministry—they each received a vital spiritual gift, and through their unity they represented Him on the earth.

The key here is that in order to be most effective, we need the power of God individually so we can unite together corporately. We can't be the full Body of Christ unless we are united and anointed with the gifts of the Spirit (Ephesians 4). Every believer must be willing to do their part—and it starts with knowing and understanding YOUR own gift.

If you think about what we're saying, you'll see God's amazing wisdom here. God orchestrated His Body of believers perfectly. In giving each person a specific gift(s), it eliminates pride and jealousy, knowing we have to unite with other believers and their gift(s) to be fully effective in God's kingdom.

**But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.** I Corinthians 12:11

## Christ in the Home

The principle of the Body of Christ and powerful unity is a basic outline we can use for the home as well. The home is God's first true Church. The home has all the essential components of the Church: 1) _leaving behind old ways_ , 2) _joining in unity together_ , and 3) _producing God-honoring offspring_ (Genesis 2:24). This is what happened with every believer in Acts. In Acts, every disciple left behind their old life and united in one purpose with the Church to expand God's family by producing spiritual offspring.

_ _ _

The home is God's first true church.

Read about any of the first families in the Bible and you will quickly see how God used them mightily for His purposes. In fact, one way God's Spirit spread in the early Church, as well as today, is through the laying on of hands (Acts 19:6). The principle of laying on of hands and imparting a blessing was first instituted in the family unit, or the home (Genesis 48:14-15). But amazingly, the way the family unit is run today is a contention in not only secular but Christian circles as well. The reason for this is we again misunderstand our purpose and the power God has made available to us when we are united together. When we understand our true purpose in Christ, no one will get stepped on and no one will try to usurp anyone's role. _(It is very easy to spot a family that doesn't understand their gifts. They are marked by confusion and dysfunction with everyone competing for control._ )

_ _ _

Each person in a family has special gifts to carry out the mission God has set aside for them.

The family unit should have perfect subordination; it's not to be a dictatorship. God designed it as a perfect, dynamic relationship between husband, wife, and children, much like how subordination exists within the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The **husband** isn't to rule his wife and kids with an iron rod. He's to _love_ and protect his wife and kids, admonishing them to walk out their destiny in the Lord, which includes encouraging them to engage in God's plan and the power/gifts available to them (Ephesians 5:25-33). He's also to protect the family, guiding them into the truth of God's Word (Ephesians 6:4). The husband is to recognize his own gift(s) and operate with Christ (the Word of God) as his Head (I Corinthians 11:3). The **wife** is to _respect_ her husband, encouraging him to walk in the Word and the power and gift(s) God's provided for him to fulfill his role in the family and in the Body of Christ (Ephesians 5:22-30). She fulfills this while walking in her own gift(s) for the family/body. She also helps to encourage their children to discover their own gifts and to mightily serve the Lord, not necessarily _in a church, but as God's Church_ (Proverbs 22:6)! The **children** are responsible to learn the Word and gifts God's provided to them. Moreover _, each person_ in the family unit has the responsibility of sharing the Gospel with anyone they can influence to help build God's kingdom (Matthew 7:11). When each person in the family fulfills their role, there is perfect unity and bond. A family working together in this model is powerful and indivisible!

Each person in a family, whether the husband, wife or child, has special gifts to carry out the mission God has set aside for them. In Genesis, God took a rib from Adam and created the first woman, Eve (2:21). He took that rib from Adam's side. A common saying about this is that _woman wasn't taken from Adam's head to be ruled by him, nor from his feet to be stomped on by him, but from his side to be equal with him, from under his arm to be protected by him, and from near his heart to be loved by him_. How God chose to create Eve is indeed a picture indicating that the woman is equal with man in God's plan (Galatians 3:28)—just as Jesus is equal to God the Father or the Holy Spirit in their essence. Only in their _role_ is there any variance. Both man and woman are perfectly equal in God's plan, but their roles are very different.

We personally believe God put part of His main characteristics in men and part of them in women, and when husband and wife are united together in relationship, they exhibit a fuller picture of God. Stay with us here. Take a look at Jesus. John said Jesus was full of grace _and_ truth (John 1:14). Grace is the compassion of God. Grace is when God gives us His power and purpose even though we're sinners and don't deserve it. Grace is sending Jesus to die on the cross for worthless and sinful humans and giving us tremendous blessings regardless of our actions (Ephesians 2:8-9). On the other hand, truth is the part of God that is factual and logical. Truth is unbending and unyielding. The truth of God holds men to a high standard. It is that part of God that will judge mankind if they do not accept His grace in Christ by faith (Acts 17:31).

Together, these two main attributes of grace and truth describe most men and women. As a general rule, men are full of truth and logic and relate to the world as such. They often make great judges and peace officers because they see the benefits of the law and will not yield to lawbreakers. Conversely, women are generally full of compassion and make great caregivers and counselors. There's nothing like falling off a bike and getting a boo-boo and running to mom. Mom is usually the one with the most compassion. That's why moms are better listeners and sympathizers. When both of these qualities combine in the home, there is a perfect unity for raising children. Now think about how that might apply to the Lord.

In the family unit, each person has a vital role in God's plan, just as each person of the Godhead is essential. Amazingly, the same word that describes the Holy Spirit, Who is God's comforter, counselor, and advocate, is used to describe Eve, Adam's wife, in Genesis. That word is the title of HELPER (John 14:16, Genesis 2:8). One of the main roles as helper is she is to be ever vigilant of dangers that might encroach upon her husband. This is also one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11). I (Scott) think most married men can relate to this reasoning. I know my wife is great at telling me the things I need to work on and the potential dangers to my walk with Christ. Many men might resent this quality in women but it's truly a blessing in disguise. Read this passage from Ephesians for the final word on this matter:

**Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so** _let_ **the wives** _be_ **to their own husbands in everything.** **Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her...So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord** _does_ **the church. For we are members of His body,** **of His flesh and of His bones. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."** **This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.** Ephesians 5:22-33

## Satan's Goal: Destroy Unity

Satan knows what most Christians don't—that there's power when believers walk in unity. He will stop at nothing to divide our churches and homes. Jesus said, " _Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am..."_ (Matthew 18:20). Even before Jesus sent the full power of the Holy Spirit, He had his disciples minister in twos (Mark 6:7)—this is because there's power when believers walk in agreement and unity.

**And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.** Mark 3:25

In my (Scott's) first book, _Cracking the Wine Case_ , I included a chapter called _The Jewish Truth Secret_ , explaining the significance of two and three and why those numbers are repeated throughout Scripture. In short, the number two means witness, and three means perfect witness. They are symbols of Gods tri-unity. This is why Satan attacks us so hard in this area. When we agree in unity with other believers, we exhibit the very essence and character of God. This is precisely why Satan attacks marriages. Satan hates any semblance of the Lord. He also knows how destructive divorce and separation are, and how it can leave everyone involved in it, especially the children, devastated and hopeless. If divorce is so powerful in the natural realm, think about how powerful unity must be in the spirit, as it is the very essence of who God is and how we're supposed to live to accomplish His will on the earth.

_ _ _

... _There is power when believers walk in unity._

I recently had a conversation with a Christian man (we'll call him Mr. C) who had no idea he was being used by Satan to cause division and disunity in the body. Mr. C was deceived into thinking it was his mission to uncover false and deceptive ministries, but when I asked how he defines a false ministry, he couldn't give me a direct answer. In fact, every time he brought allegations against an "evil" ministry, he would cite personal opinion and controversial, denominational doctrines as his evidence. Basically, according to Mr. C, any church or ministry that didn't line up with what he was taught at his church was equal to the spawn of Satan.

On one particular occasion, Mr. C used his social media soapbox to bash a well-known minister, who is known for mass healings in his meetings. These were his actual words:

" _This 'minister' is operating in false doctrine. I just don't understand why anyone has to go to a particular minister to get healed."_

I responded with the following:

" _That's because you don't understand the Body of Christ and believer's gifts. God can heal as He wants, but He's given every believer different gifts and there are some who operate within the gift of healing (I Corinthians 12:9). This is not something they do of their own will, it is God's Spirit in them manifesting through them (12:7). Just because you don't understand this minister's gift, doesn't mean you should discount it or talk negatively about this person or his gift (essentially cutting down the Holy Spirit). Pray about what you're doing and that you receive God's power and discover your own gifts to be effective in the Body of Christ."_

Not only was Mr. C attacking a believer and his gift, when I asked him what his gift(s) is/are for the Body of Christ, he couldn't give me a valid response. He claimed he had the gift of evangelism—to tell the world about Christ—but this is not a gift of the Spirit; it's what Jesus said every believer would do (Mark 16:15-18). There is a gift of the evangelist, but that's not what he was referring to. I found it deplorable how he was spiritually barren and was cutting down another believer for using his gift to expand the kingdom.

Mr. C was abusing this minister because he lacked love and didn't understand how he was personally redeemed to be used by Christ and be empowered by the Holy Spirit's gifts (Matthew 7:16; I John 4:8). He was using Satan's tactic of accusation to tear down and destroy God's kingdom, all while unknowingly building Satan's dominion (Revelation 12:10). And Mr. C is not an exception; there are many churchgoers that fall into this same trap of the enemy.

## Disconnected from Christ

Like Mr. C, most churchgoers don't know their purpose and the gift(s) Christ has made available to them to be an essential component in the Body of Christ. Instead of discovering their gift(s) and using their talent(s) to be the mobile Body of Christ, with Christ as their Head, they look more like a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic, glued to the pew with a drooling mouth, waiting to be spoon-fed by their "daddy" in the pulpit.

Are we being too harsh here? Well, Jesus didn't hold back when it came to those who had heard His Word but didn't follow through with action, calling them fools (Matthew 7:26). When Jesus saw how the religious people had turned the Court of the Gentiles (the place for non-Jews to worship) into a place to make money, He went in with whips and turned over tables (John 2:15). We're not quite ready to make a whip and visit the local church, but maybe anointed words will rock people out of their little lullaby, prompting them to grow out of their religious crib.

Here's the deal: many churchgoers say they're part of the Body of Christ, but there's a major disconnect. The Bible says Jesus is the Head of His body, which means we don't do the thinking or the even the moving. In a physical body, the head (brain) controls the thinking, the speaking, and the movements to take the body where it wants to go. If we say we're in the Body of Christ but we're not thinking His thoughts, going where He said to go, and saying what He said to say, there are only two possible problems: either there's a neurological malfunction in the head or there's a disconnect _from_ the head—and we all know the problem is the latter.

Amazingly, whenever we ask churchgoers what their gift is, they almost always share their position in their local church. They may say they're a good singer in the choir, a dedicated usher, or a talented children's church worker. While all these positions are a part of running traditional church programs, they don't necessarily denote God-given spiritual gift(s). How can a believer say they are connected to the Head (Christ) if they don't know the standing orders and the gift(s) God's given them to fulfill His will?

How about you? Do you know the gift(s) God's given you to expand His kingdom? If you're not sure, I challenge you to seek the Lord in this matter. The Church needs every believer equipped with God's cape, and actively using their gifts!

## The Believer's Greatest Ally

In Ephesians six, Paul wrote about the spiritual weapons and armor we need to be successful in taking back lost ground that had been surrendered to Satan to build God's kingdom. That's exactly why Jesus said His kingdom is led by force, and the violent are seizing it (Matthew 4:8-9; 11:11-15 _Aramaic Bible_ ). We are in a battle with the forces of darkness, but this isn't a physical battle with natural weapons—we're fighting a spiritual battle, and our weapons are the Word of God, prayer and fasting, faith, righteousness, and the gifts God's given us through His Holy Spirit (see Ephesians 6 and I Corinthians 12 for details).

_ _ _

Unity alone is very powerful, but there's a special power available when God's anointed work together to accomplish His will.

In Ephesians six, Paul used a powerful illustration of a soldier and his armor to show how believers are in a spiritual battle. Think about a typical soldier in an army and his/her greatest asset. A soldier's greatest asset isn't his armor or his weaponry. His greatest ally is the person next to him in the battle and the collective army as a whole. Any soldier knows he/she can do very little on their own. Can he/she be effective? Well, imagine a lone soldier standing in the open desert trying to fight off another army. How long would they last in the fight? Now, unite the same soldier with tank drivers, air support pilots, naval fleet captains, and intelligence experts and this soldier becomes part of a force no one would want to fight.

Every soldier realizes in order to truly be effective they need their brothers in arms standing with them. When an army stands united, each person using their gifts and strengths, they are then a force to be reckoned with. This is the concept we must keep in mind when we consider how God's Church should be operating to engage in spiritual warfare. Alone we can be minimally effective, but the real power comes when we combine our gifts, uniting with other believers ready to fulfill God's will (Deuteronomy 32:29-31).

When we join forces and work together as one unit, we can do amazing things. Unity alone is very powerful, but there's a special power available when God's anointed believers work together to accomplish His will. Do you remember the Tower of Babel account in the Old Testament (Genesis 11)? The people had united together through a common language and nothing was impossible for them. But God wasn't pleased with their actions because their unity and the power generated from it were used to build their own kingdom. As a result, God confused their language and halted their progress.

Have you ever thought about how the Tower of Babel account is a rich symbol representing Spirit-filled believers? Think about the details of Genesis 11. There's a common tongue, fire, unity, confusion, and the building of a tower attempting to reach heaven. When we are anointed by God's Spirit, He gives us heaven's **language** (tongues) as a sign (Acts 2:4, 10:44-46, 19:6), **uniting** us together with other like-minded believers. This anointing (or " **fire** " as Acts 2:2 calls it) molds us into heaven's " **building** ," the Church, which is to give earth a mighty taste of God's kingdom through our connection with the Lord! There's much **confusion** surrounding this facet of God's kingdom, but God has always provided spiritual understanding to those who " _have ears to hear_ " (Acts 2:6, 14-21).

God gave believers a powerful clue concerning unity of the Spirit in the account of the Tower of Babel (and the people from Babel weren't even believers). We believe if we would all unite in the Spirit, all of us speaking the same spiritual "language" _(i.e. all of us united with the same mission and using our gifts_ )—instead of dividing over minor matters—we would be unstoppable! Our enemy would not stand a chance; that is, as long as we're building God's kingdom and not our own.

Just to be clear here, the unity we need transcends joining together under one roof on a Sunday morning. It's more than coming together for a spiritual warfare Bible study. We're talking about everyone doing their part within the context of bringing people into the kingdom—not just one person doing all the leading and everyone else watching. Ponder this question: how many soldiers in an army sit back and watch the fight like it is some type of cinematic movie? Here's the answer: None. Anyone sitting and watching without action would be considered, at the very least, a coward, and would most likely be branded a traitor.

Any army, whether physical or spiritual, is only effective when every person uses their abilities to join in to accomplish the greater goal. Moreover, when believers work in unity, everyone realizing their gifts and their significance in the fight, it's extremely difficult to be sidetracked by egotism, arrogance, and jealousy.

## The Believer's Kryptonite

Soon after Jesus' resurrection and subsequent ascension to heaven, God's true Church began to grow. On one hand, it's a beautiful story of how Jesus initiated the prophecy and sent the Holy Spirit to all believers to be His powerful force at work on the earth to enlarge His Kingdom—but there's another story as well, one where men set up a not-so-new type of religious system and essentially appointed the equivalent of a dictator to rule the people through manipulation and coercion. Although the participants of the latter called their assembly "church," it was a counterfeit of God's true intentions. What they built was based on man's ideas rather than God's. In truth, these religious institutions essentially became the kryptonite that kept us from uniting in power and purpose as God's superhero force on this planet.

_ _ _

... _religious men perverted the truth of God's Word and set up an inferior and fleshly counterfeit in place of God's true church..._

Not long after Pentecost, religious men returned to the Old Testament way of seeking God and began setting up a "holy building" as the central place of worship (just as the Jews did with the temple) and a "holy man" to officiate regimented services. This was a result of refusing the cape that God had set aside for them to use to build His Church correctly. Unbelievably, this mindset continues today. God's true intention has always been to infill EVERY believer (His true CHURCH) with Himself and for us to carry His presence to hurting people, not for us to make hurting people go to a specific building or a certain person to meet with Him.

Please understand, we're not demeaning anyone for coming together in worship and assembling in fellowship to encourage one another (Hebrews 10:25). We also don't want anyone to think we're against the true work of the pastorate. That's not our intention. **We definitely need to assemble in fellowship, and we need God's anointed pastors and overseers—just as we need every believer and their gifts.** Our main point is to show how religious men perverted the truth of God's Word and set up an inferior and fleshly counterfeit in place of God's true Church, simply because they didn't have faith to seek out the Holy Spirit's cape.

When we read the Bible, we see Jesus in conflict with the religious leaders of His day who were misrepresenting God to the people. He often rebuked them for esteeming the outside, or the flesh, rather than the inside or the spirit (Luke 11:39-51; Matthew 23:27). Even though many pastors preach against this very thing today, their hypocrisy can be seen every time they emphasize coming to a building to hear them rather than heeding God's voice of being His hands and feet and living as part of God's true Church.

We can see the effects of religion very clearly today. Religion focuses on beautifying the outside (ourselves, the buildings, etc.) because deep down we know something is missing on the inside, and we're subconsciously trying to make up for it. Maybe that's why many congregations spend an untold amount of resources emphasizing the building and advertising the main personality and their many programs with catchy one-liner billboards and media commercials—all designed to entice people to attend their church. Maybe that's why the youth room looks like a dark club, pumping out popular secular music so the youth group can compete with the enticements of the world. Maybe that's why they give out free video game systems to the kids who attend the most—and, yes, we've seen all these things happen at local churches. The only reason a church would use worldly tactics to entice people to join is because they don't have God's power flowing in their lives.

We tried to soften this section, but we know if there's going to be positive change, we're going to have to mention some hard things. We feel compelled to tell every pastor and church council member they don't need worldly methods to draw people. **We can offer something the world can't—true purpose** **through Jesus and amazing power through the Holy Spirit.**

If you're a church leader and after reading this you feel anger rising up towards us, please pray to the Lord to see our heart in this matter. We don't want our words to become an offense to keep you from seeing the truth and being used mightily for the Lord. Here's what we know: our worldly methods aren't working—they are only producing false converts and people who are disenfranchised by a "cleaner" version of the world. Remember, how we draw them is how we'll have to keep them. We would rather leave the drawing to the Holy Spirit, rather than using worldly ways.

As we move ahead, there will be more opportunities to get in the flesh and become offended. It will be imperative to keep an attitude of prayer and unity to see God's truth and allow His kingdom advance through you.

## The condition of the Average Church Congregation

Most church congregations today can be compared to a beautiful sports car. Just like an exotic sports automobile, many churches have impressive trim lines, beautiful paint jobs, and supple interiors. They even have state-of-the-art sound systems with high-definition displays. Nothing rivals their appearance. But there's just one problem: these churches don't possess the key (the power of the Holy Spirit) to start the car—and that's why they're not going anywhere. You can't effectively move the car without the key. Without the key, there's no purpose for the car.

Many of today's churches are fit for a showroom, but they're not fit for being used to increase the Kingdom of God. H _ow can the local church encourage people to put their faith in Jesus, if they don't believe themselves?_ And that's why, for the most part, healings, miracles, and widespread evangelism are missing; that's why many church congregations seem to have a dictator rather than an under-shepherd; that's why churchgoers gossip and envy one another, why priests abuse children, and why there's rampant moral and ethical confusion. Furthermore, this is why there are racism, sectarianism, denominationalism, and just about every other _ism_ that exists today, locked in tight behind her stained glass and practiced among her people. Yes, you read that correctly. Anyone practicing these types of behavior doesn't belong to Christ; they belong to the church they claim.

This is going to be a hard saying, but most churchgoers haven't been anointed by the Holy Spirit; they've been "anointed" by their church. That's why when witnessing to people to find out if they know Jesus as Lord, they often respond along these lines: " _Oh, sure I do. I've been going to the First Church of the House of David of Love, Tabernacle of Praise and Shekinah Glory Almighty since I was seven!_ " In other words, they give proof of their supposed salvation based on their affiliation with a specific local church. However, as we've already covered, attending church isn't sufficient evidence of a relationship with the Lord.

_ _ _

Most churchgoers haven't been anointed by the Holy Spirit; they've been "anointed" by their church.

Do you know why churchgoers continue to hurt and abuse others? Do you know why they can't find freedom from sin? Do you know why they're nearly indistinguishable from those living in this world? It's simple. They've never been taught why they exist. They don't know their own purpose in Christ and, therefore, can't see anyone else's purpose. **Once people see their life through the lens of God's kingdom and how they've been redeemed to be His agents of change on this earth, their lives will begin to matter and it will affect their heart—and they will treat people differently.**

Shortly after the power of God fell on the day of Pentecost, it broke down cultural and religious barriers, uniting all social, economic and ethnic groups in Christ to expand God's kingdom ( _see Acts 8:5 with the previously despised Samaritans and Acts 10 with the rejected Gentiles_ ). The same occurred during other revivals throughout the centuries. A powerful example was the Azusa Street Revival in 1906. In the early 1900s, the United States was still boiling over with racial tension, but not at the Azusa Street Mission. At Azusa, William Seymour, a black minister, had been praying and anticipating a powerful move of God that would release the Holy Spirit for people to live holy lives and bring unity to the Church. He also prayed for sinners to come to know Christ. That's exactly what happened. People from all walks of life, young and old, man and woman, black and white, rich and poor, all gathered together to worship the Lord Jesus. It was a time of unprecedented unity and amazing power—and it all started with a culturally-derided black minister who discovered his value and purpose in Jesus Christ, living it out with the cape of Holy Spirit power.[5]

_ _ _

Kingdom-minded believers don't accept or reject based on outward appearances; Acceptance is based solely on faith in Christ.

When we realize our real purpose as God's anointed superheroes the deep-rooted, potentially divisive issues we face in our country, our churches, and our homes will dissipate. Denominational elitism, racism, and sexism cannot exist within the anointed Body of Christ because these things belong to this world's system.

When people are encouraged to live in the Spirit and not the flesh, real power and life will spring forth. **These controversial areas become non-issues because God's kingdom is spiritual (invisible), not natural—in other words, no one is focused on the exterior but on living in the power of the Spirit, which transcends our lowly flesh and outward characteristics.**

Real believers don't focus on skin color, gender, or someone's taboo tattoo; these things don't matter in the invisible, eternal, Kingdom of God. Kingdom-minded believers don't reject or accept someone based on outward appearances; acceptance is based solely on faith in Christ.

**Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."** **But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid** _him,_ **for he who is not against us is on our side.** Luke 9:49-50

When people realize their purpose in the Lord and carry His power to be His representatives of redemption in this world, they will no longer identify with race, sex, culture, nationality, church denomination etc.—they'll identify with the kingdom. It's very unfortunate that more believers don't declare where the real power is found. Our enemy knows where the power is—and that's why he induces us to identify ourselves by the inferior. He knows real power isn't in a title, a degree, a cultural identity, a skin color, a church association, where you live, your net worth, etc. Real power is in the image of God and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in our lives. **Nothing will ever change in our society until we begin to uphold the image of God in every person, and how we're ALL capable of being great, anointed leaders with the cape of God's anointing on our lives.**

_ _ _

God wants to redeem every part of us to use us mightily for his kingdom.

Satan is very clever at twisting God's Word in this area. Recently, we've seen people castigate God's Word by saying that it promotes slavery and male chauvinism, etc. This is just another deception of the enemy. Not one time does the Bible endorse slavery (see Exodus 21:16; I Timothy 1:8-10); nor does it say that only men can have leadership positions in God's kingdom ( _Deborah was a judge in Judges 4; Esther saved Israel in the book named after her; Priscila taught a man about Jesus in Acts 18:18-26, etc._ ).

When people receive God's Spirit and read the Word for themselves, they will see how God's kingdom actually liberates people of all walks of life, providing value and purpose. God has always desired for all people, regardless of how they are labeled by society or a church, to be major players in His kingdom. This is why we see the prophecy of God's Spirit falling on people of all walks of life (Joel 2:28-29) and the _initial_ fulfillment of it occurring in Acts 2.

When we truly achieve our purpose, when everyone is focused on encouraging one another, these controversial social issues drown out in the sea of community found ONLY in the Body of Christ. The only difference God sees is believer or unbeliever, faith or no faith.

**For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.** Galatians 3:26-28

We will never understand our own value or the value of others unless we are truly in Christ and are living with His presence in our lives. When we walk with God's presence, we will begin to see how God doesn't just want to get us _saved_ , **He wants to** **redeem** **every part of us** by giving us His gifts and allowing us to use our talents. Once we get the revelation that God has redeemed believers and given us gifts to restore ALL people to become the beautiful Body of Christ, this will keep us from sin and from hurting others. Remember, superheroes don't hurt people—they help them. But if you don't know that you're a superhero...

## Looking for a Leader

It's essential we get the revelation that God's CHURCH is much more than us sitting in a building on Sunday to sing a few songs and listen to a bad comedian give a short oration behind the pulpit. We must change our thinking. Many Christians aren't living as God's Church because they don't really have a relationship with the Lord; they think they do, but they are merely putting their faith in their pastor's relationship with God. Their pastor does their Bible reading, their devotions, and all the praying for them. But how can we say we have a relationship with Jesus (the Word of God—John 1) if we don't open up God's Word for ourselves on a daily basis, allowing Him to speak to us? **God never intended for us to put our measure of faith into another person or an inanimate object. He wants us to put our faith in Him alone (Romans 12:3)!**

The following Scripture passage gives a clear picture how God wants to use His power to minister to and through us, without us being dependent upon another person:

**But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things... By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down** _our_ **lives for the brethren.** I John 2:27, 3:16

John was saying EVERY BELIEVER can truly know and have a relationship with the Lord; in fact, this is non-negotiable (Jeremiah 31:34)! Every believer needs a personal relationship with the Lord. This is how we were originally designed. Jesus shed His blood at Calvary to allow us to come to the Father in a personal relationship that is unhindered by sin or circumstance (Colossians 1:20).

Second, John said God anoints us all with His Spirit to bring God's love to the world. This is a far cry from much of what many Christian churches teach today. Many churches teach, or at least insinuate, that the pastor or priest is the only one with the connection to the Lord. Yet, this is a counterfeit. This mindset keeps believers from fulfilling their purpose in Christ. **God wants to teach EVERY believer, leading them into truth in a personal relationship—and He wants to use them mightily through their connection with Him as kings and priests in His eternal kingdom**.

When Jesus began His earthly ministry, He initially chose twelve men to train to be His leaders and carry on His ministry. Jesus knew the way of the Kingdom of God, and He conveyed the message perfectly. As His ministry progressed, all walks of people were following Him, learning how to carry God's presence to the world. But even though Jesus spent three years with His disciples, training them to be His hands and feet on the earth, they still missed the main revelation of the kingdom. When Jesus was arrested to be taken to the cross to be crucified, EVERY disciple deserted Him, and their mission (Mark 14:50). The disciples immediately reverted back to their base instinct of wanting a visible leader, instead of being one (Luke 17:20). They were hopeless and despondent because they misunderstood one of God's vital kingdom principles.

It's easy to forget the disciples were people like us with the same weaknesses. When Jesus was arrested and they fled in fear, their flaws became evident. They figured it was the end of Him and their ministry. They misunderstood what God wanted to do with them the entire time; they didn't grasp that Jesus had been preparing them to be His leaders and carry His presence to expand the Father's reputation as sovereign King in the earth.

When Jesus was arrested and carried off to be executed, the disciples pretty much imploded. They demonstrated exactly what we do when **our** leader dies, or even when they fall into some type of sin. Our despondency is often so pervasive that it can destroy entire congregations. **This is precisely why Jesus promoted the eternal Father in heaven and the kingdom, rather than His frail humanity that would be taken from them** (Luke 18:19). He wanted them to stop viewing Him with their natural eyes and look at the kingdom through their eyes of faith to operate as His leaders. They initially failed; yet, Jesus still took the opportunity to restore them to finish their mission (John 21). Eventually, they began to operate as His leaders in sharing Christ with the known world.

The disciples are a great study, but let's get back to us. Why do we feel hopeless when our chosen leader dies? Why do entire congregations collapse because of one man's sin? It's for the fact that we invest our faith into a man, instead of placing it in Christ. The common denominator in most churches isn't Jesus, it's the pastor, and this is a monumental problem we need to correct.

## A New Reformation

Here's a truth we must take to heart: the true power of God isn't manifest when one self-proclaimed "anointed" person _rules_ over others. True kingdom-building and satanic influence stopping power is realized only when EVERY member of a household is empowered by the Holy Spirit, operating as God's kings and priests.

_ _ _

Every member of the body of Christ sits at a round table and no person is greater than the other.

Real power is when the pastor drops the reigns of control, turning them over to the Holy Spirit, encouraging the _entire congregation_ to embrace their calling to make a difference in this sin-saturated world through the gifts given to them by the Holy Spirit—and then leads by example!

Real power isn't a man ruling his wife and kids with a strong arm. Real power isn't a woman who is determined to prove her worth by "wearing the pants" of the family. Real power isn't kids controlling their parents. Real power is when husband and wife work together through love and the anointing of the Holy Spirit to encourage their children and each other to be spiritual leaders and influence others.

Answer this question: What was more powerful? When Jesus walked the earth with His disciples, or when Jesus empowered them all at Pentecost with the Holy Spirit? Remember, even Jesus Himself said His disciples would do greater things than He would do because of the Holy Spirit (John 14:12).

**Two** _are_ **better than one,** **because they have a good reward for their labor.** **For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.** **But woe to him** _who is_ **alone when he falls,** **for** _he has_ **no one to help him up.** **Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;** **but how can one be warm** _alone?_ **Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.** Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

The model we're encouraging all believers to live by isn't some new heretical doctrine to eliminate proper roles in the family and church. Actually, the formalized doctrine of the priesthood of all believers came through a valiant Church reformer named Martin Luther (Germany, 1500s). Luther saw how the Catholic Church's hierarchal system abused the people through control and manipulation for their own benefit. It was clear to Luther that these power-hungry men cared nothing for God's Word or His Church, and he took drastic action to bring change. Luther began teaching how all believers could come to God directly through Jesus Christ and that a church ordained priest wasn't necessary to mediate on behalf of the people. He took it a step further when he cited Scripture, conveying how all believers are God's priests and should be ministers in the kingdom.[6]

**But Jesus called them and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. It must not be this way among you! Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant.** Matthew 20:25-26 NET

Just like Martin Luther, we too have seen many church "leaders" misuse their gift simply because the rest of the congregation didn't realize who they are in Christ as His kings and priests and how he's given them their own gifts in this spiritual fight—and that's a real shame. Let us be blunt here: **the gift of the pastor is NOT the greatest gift in the Body. Every member of the Body of Christ sits at a round table and no person is greater than another (Galatians 3:26-28). When certain gifts are neglected, we tend to exalt the others. When leaders say certain gifts were only for the early church (e.g. apostle, prophet, etc.), it creates glamorizing of the others—including the office of the pastor.**

_ _ _

We must encourage one another to fulfill God's design for their life and not leave anyone behind.

Churchgoers often exalt the gift of the pastor because they are living in the flesh, instead of the spirit. When we live in the flesh we desire fleshly things, including flesh and bone leaders (so we don't have to get our hands dirty with work). However, believers should be living by the spirit (Galatians 5:16). When we live by our regenerated spirit, we see the qualities of God's invisible kingdom through the eyes of faith. We will know when we're living by faith because we will recognize believers in their kingly and priestly authority under the Lord Jesus, even though they aren't wearing a literal crown and cape. It's only through the Holy Spirit that we understand how kings and priests of God's kingdom are more real and important than what we see in the flesh (I Samuel 8).

**God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of his Son...** Colossians 1:13 GW

... **I am sending you to open their eyes so that they turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'** Acts 26:17-18 NET

Before we move on, we want to make mention of another reformer named Martin Luther. In fact, you'll probably be more familiar with this Martin Luther. His full name was Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968).

Many people know Martin Luther King, Jr. was a black civil rights leader who was assassinated in 1968 for his equality message, but few know the details of his life, especially the significance of his name. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born with the legal name Michael King, Jr., being named after his father. But that changed after the elder King traveled to Germany for a church conference where he visited many of the historical sites depicting the impact Martin Luther had on the culture and on the Church in the 1500s. The elder King was so moved by Luther's challenge of the powerful Catholic Church and bringing reformation that he not only changed his own name but also his son's to Martin Luther King.[7]

Even though Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr. were separated by 400 years, the Atlantic Ocean, and the color of their skin, they were each powerful reformers in their own right. Martin Luther brought reformation to the organized Church at a time when religious men abused and treated the common person as second class citizens. Similarly, Martin Luther King Jr. helped pave the way to equality for blacks in America at a time when they were being abused and did not have full rights in society. King was also a minister and helped bring racial unity in segregated churches.

Libraries are full of books on the lives of these two reformers, but we want to focus on just one element that many people miss—the power of intentional blessing. When Martin Luther King Jr.'s father changed his name from Michael King Jr. to Martin Luther King, Jr. he set in motion a powerful spiritual truth: that believing fathers and husbands can literally direct the course of their family. It was true of Martin Luther King, Jr. and so many others. It's not a far stretch to imagine what Martin Luther King, Jr.'s amazing legacy would have been had his dad been absent or in prison. Surely, it would have been a different story if Martin Luther King, Sr. was only concerned with selfishness and sin rather than purposely imparting spiritual truths to his son and encouraging him to grow up to be a reformer in similar fashion to Germany's Martin Luther.

Just like Martin Luther King, Sr., each of us, whether we realize it or not, can make a tremendous difference in someone's life through spiritual mentoring and intentional blessing. There's someone in our lives we can impart a blessing to, and it begins with recognizing people's gifts and motivating them to service for the Lord. This is a Bible truth so few understand and walk in.

## Wrapping it up

As we've already covered, unity in the Church and the family is one of the most powerful defensive weapons the Body of Christ can deploy against our enemy. In fact, unity works like a force field against Satan's schemes. The only way for the devil to breach the line and have his way is to wait for us to divide over something seemingly insignificant. Just to be clear, Satan isn't doing the dividing, we do that just fine on our own; he's merely watching and waiting for someone to "twist their ankle" through a "small" offense, so he can move in for the kill.

The Bible says the devil is a lion, seeking out whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8). A lion is a master hunter. He waits near a heard, hiding out in tall grass, just waiting for an animal to either stray from the group, or become injured. When he finds a weak animal, he then pounces on it and makes it dinner.

What we just described is a vivid illustration of how the devil operates in our churches and in our homes, just waiting for someone to become marginalized and alone. He is out looking for that alienated soul who was either hurt by someone in the church or by a spouse or parent. Our enemy also seeks out any person who thinks they can lead the local church by their self. This may be why we see so many pastors fall. Many pastors believe they are the most anointed one in the church because people look to them for all the answers. As a result, they try to do too much on their own, never allowing the local church he/she oversees to truly operate as a live body but is simply the "leader" of a dead building. And the devil can smell this type of death like no other. He lives for this type of situation. If we're going to be truly effective in the kingdom, we're going to have to address these areas of pride and come together in unity and power. Again, please don't miss our point. We love our pastors and we genuinely want God's best for them; we want to see pastors get the most out of their gift in the kingdom.

When we are united in the Church and the home, every believer knit together fulfilling their purpose, we are the most powerful! When we are truly united as one, the devil can't penetrate our forces. He can't focus on one hurt wildebeest if everyone in the herd is doing their part to run full force at him with all they've got!

We must encourage one another to fulfill God's design for their life and not leave anyone behind. If we want the full power of God in our lives, we must come to realize:

• _None of us are more or less important than the next believer (but sometimes because we are sinful people we tend to give one person more attention than others). And sometimes we tend to RECEIVE too much attention without correcting this behavior. We may not correct it because our pride enjoys it.) We should resist this urge and seek out everyone's gifts, encouraging them to use them for the Lord._

• _God made us to work this life out together to further His agenda._

• _We can't expect heaven to invade earth to make a difference for God in the lives of people until we submit our lives to the Holy Spirit to be equipped by His power (Cape)._

Even though many don't recognize it, every anointed believer is part of God's royal kingdom and should be using their spiritual gifts to accomplish the goal of expanding His kingdom. Our mission is to show others the Good News of how Christ gave up His life to bring us out of the kingdom of darkness to walk valiantly in the kingdom of light, so they can put their faith in the Lord Jesus and live forever with the real King!

Once we get this full revelation, not only will life be easier, God will entrust us with the next level. Remember, God won't give us greater if we can't conquer the lesser. Operating as an effective member in the Body of Christ is fundamental to growing in God.

_ _ _

Superhero Secrets

In John 20:22, Jesus breathes on the disciples and tells them to receive the Holy Spirit. Now, we know this was not the baptism of the Holy Spirit that took place in Acts 2, so what was Jesus doing here? We believe it was a symbol of the restoration of man. Think back to the Garden of Eden. Every Bible reader knows Adam (the ancestor of all mankind) lost his relationship with God because he sinned. As a result of Adam's failure, the sin nature was passed down to every person who has ever been born, save Jesus. Whereas Adam brought us death, Christ brought us life (I Cor. 15). Take a look at this comparison of Adam in the garden and the restoring ministry of Christ (Based on Genesis 2, 3 & the Gospels):

**Adam** \- lost his fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden.

_Jesus_ \- restored us to God beginning in the Garden of Gethsemane.

**Adam** -Sin enters by eating the fruit hanging on a tree. Adam was expelled from the presence of the Tree of Life.

_Jesus_ \- Took our sin when He hung on the cross (a tree of death). All who eat of Jesus (think communion fruit/juice) has restored life.

**Adam** -Thorns come into play after he sins.

_Jesus_ \- wore a crown of thorns upon His head.

**Adam** \- the snake (Satan) convinced the first couple to eat of the fruit. They died spiritually because of their sin.

_Jesus_ \- became the snake (sin) on the cross so mankind could live again spiritually (John 3:14).

**Adam** -A wife was taken out of Adam when he went into a deep sleep. She was taken from his side.

_Jesus_ \- The last place Jesus bled on the cross was from His side. He was already dead (sleeping) when this happened. This is symbolic of the birthing of the Church, Christ's bride.

There are other parallels between Jesus and Adam but let's get back to our original question. Why did Jesus breathe on the disciples after His resurrection? As mentioned, we believe this was ultimately symbolic of Jesus _restoring_ mankind's spiritual life back to God. Jesus performed this act shortly after His resurrection, rather than in Acts with the full outpouring of the Spirit; this lines up perfectly with how the first Adam began his relationship with God in Genesis. You'll probably remember how Adam was given life _first_ in Genesis in the garden. God literally molded the dust of the ground into a man and then breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life (Gen. 2:7*). It wasn't until later that Adam was put into a deep sleep and Eve was taken out of Adam to be his "helper." Eve is a picture of the Holy Spirit because she had the same title and characteristics of the Holy Spirit ( _e.g. both are helpers-Gen. 2:18, John 14:16. etc_ ).

The perfect picture is Jesus restoring what Adam lost (all the disciples were men who were molded by Jesus during His ministry) by breathing upon them. Jesus then sent the promise of the full Holy Spirit by breathing upon the woman (the Church as God intended, the full family) with His full power a short time later in Acts. God knew Adam needed an Eve to bear children for the Lord. This is why Jesus told the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit (their perfect Eve) in Acts before trying to build God's family (Romans 7:4). They needed their helper! This is a great mystery, but just like Paul, we're referring to Christ and the Church!

Side note: _if you want to know just how much importance God puts on women in building the Body of Christ, just think of her importance to building the family in Genesis. No man can build a family without a "helper."_ And we can't build the Church without the Holy Spirit (our spiritual helper).

* _The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, uses the same Greek word (emphusao) to describe Jesus breathing on the disciples AND God's act of breathing life into Adam in Gen. 2:7._

### THE

### KINGDOM OF GOD

### Is not in word, but in

### POWER!

I Corinthians 4:20

#  WHY WE NEED GOD'S CAPE

_KAL-El_. You may have heard this name before. It's Superman's Kryptonian name, deriving from the Hebrew language, meaning the _voice of God_. The name of Superman's real father, Jor-El, is also Hebraic, and his name simply means _God_. These are not coincidental names, either. The Superman comic series was created in 1938 by two American men of Jewish descent to give American people hope in the midst of the Great Depression and a worldwide war. Their intent was to create a messianic, Christ-like figure with supernatural power to destroy evil. The result was a Super-figure who resembled Jesus Christ.[8]

Think about the details of the Superman storyline: Superman was from another planet but was sent to earth. After arriving to earth as a baby, he was discovered by a couple on a farm in Smallville, Kansas, who adopted him and raised him as their own. Eventually, Superman's concern for the people of earth led him to reveal himself (at age 33) as a man with supernatural powers to rid the world of evil. Likewise, Jesus ( _the voice or Word of God, John 1:1_ ) was not-of-this-world, but was sent to earth by His heavenly Father to be raised from birth in tiny Nazareth, Israel, by Mary and Joseph, His adoptive parents (I John 4:14; Matthew 1, 2:23). And when Jesus turned 30 years old, He was revealed as the Son of God to offer humanity hope by destroying the works of evil, culminating at the cross at age 33 (John 12:46; Matthew 26; Luke 3:23, 4).

The correlation between Superman and Jesus couldn't be clearer. But there's one major, overarching difference. The character of Superman is fictional, but Jesus is very real, and He walked the earth as the God-man with amazing power to defeat sin and restore humanity to the Father in heaven. If that wasn't profound enough, Jesus didn't just walk with power; He made His power available to everyone who believes in Him as Lord and Savior. Check out what Jesus said of Himself in Luke 4:18:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed.

The main point of this book is to emphasize our purpose in this life, and that's to use every area of our influence to enhance God's reputation on this earth, just as Jesus did.

Take a closer look at how Jesus described Himself in Luke 4.

• anointed by the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel

• sent to heal the broken-hearted

• sent to preach freedom to those held captive [in sin]

• sent to heal the blind

• sent to set the oppressed free by offering freedom

Indeed, Jesus was a real-life superhero! What else would you call someone with the power to defeat demons in people's lives? What would you call someone who heals broken hearts, blindness, and raises dead people (both physically and spiritually) back to life? What would you call someone who can release despondent people from addictions and restore their lives with meaning and purpose? Yes, Jesus was the ultimate superhero; and, as we've already covered, this same mission and the power to fulfill it are available for every believer. Remember, the Bible isn't a comic book written for you to MARVEL at; it's God's Word designed to show us what it means to live as a Christian, anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit.

_ _ _

If we're not following Christ and loving like him and reaching out to give hope to others...we should stop calling ourselves Christians.

If we're going to continue to call ourselves Christians, we're going to have to start living it. To be a Christian is to be Christ-like. The Bible says we're to imitate God and Christ, and be conformed to His image (I John 2:6; I Corinthians 11:1; Ephesians 5:1-2; Romans 8:29). Many churchgoers are content with their lack of faith and don't seek to really imitate Christ, only religion and churchy things. But if we're not following Christ, loving like Him and reaching out to give hope to others by offering to let God use us as His instruments to give healing, miracles, prophetic encouragement, deliverance, etc., then we should stop calling ourselves Christians. It's time to really walk our talk. It's time to be known for more than the group that doesn't " _smoke, drink, chew or hang with those who do._ " When we think of Jesus, the image that comes to our mind isn't a prudish Bible-thumper, snubbing His nose at anyone not following the commandments. The image that comes to our mind is the holy Son of God, moved with extreme compassion to restore every human, releasing people from sin, disease and worry (i.e. anything that would keep us from Him). And that's the very image believers should walk in.

What we just shared here may upset some folks, but it's the truth. Why is it non-offensive to say we need to be conformed to the image of Christ in regards to His love, His character, His compassion, and selflessness, but when it comes to how He put His character to action by healing, offering deliverance and working the wonders of God for people, demonstrating how we should be living victoriously in His kingdom, it becomes an issue?

Walking as Christ did on this earth comes down to our faith level and our unity with believers. This whole Christian journey is about faith. Read Hebrews 11. You'll see all kinds of people from all walks of life who were used mightily by God because of their faith in God—and these were the children of Israel who didn't even have a full revelation of Christ like we do. They didn't get to hear about Jesus or the disciple's ministries that were marked by miracles and wonders. Even Samson is mentioned as a hero of faith in Hebrews 11:32. As we covered in a previous chapter, Samson had all types of issues with sin, but God allowed him to repent, and when he did, he was given a supernatural strength to defeat his enemies (Judges 16). And that's just one example of many.

We're not sure where you're at in your relationship with the Lord, but we do know this: **we** want to believe all of God's Word. We don't want to pick and choose. Religion picks and chooses the parts it likes and offers excuses for the things it doesn't. Religion uses one Scripture and twists it to say God's miracles and His power were only for the establishment of the early Church and to bring about the full canon of the Bible, but nowhere are those words or even the concept found in the Bible. As we briefly mentioned, there's two reasons religious people suppress the teaching on the Holy Spirit's power: for **fear** that it would destroy their religious system and the benefits from it, and for a **lack of faith**.

It's time to get into God's Word and build up our faith in Christ, not in what a denomination or another minister told us we should believe. We need to believe what God says (Acts 4:19). The Church isn't yet perfected; it's still being built by cape-wearing believers who are rescuing people out of Satan's grip (Ephesians 4:12-13). If it's not yet perfected, we need every believer's gifts to complete it!

## You Want Me to Do What?

If we opened this last section and simply said God gave His cape to believers for one reason, to evangelize the world (which it is), that would probably conjure up some uncomfortable thoughts in your mind. In fact, most readers would cringe at the thought that their entire existence and purpose in God is merely for the sharing of Jesus to our neighbors. The reason why evangelism seems to be a negative idea to us is, 1) _we've been taught to believe that evangelism is merely sharing our church_ , and 2) _we've experienced rejection when we tried to share our church (or maybe even Jesus)_.

On occasion, the local church will get an epiphany that they need to be doing more in the community. Some think that means to meet at the church and split up to canvas neighborhoods like the pesky Jehovah's Witnesses on an early Saturday morning. And while the local church may have good intentions, this isn't necessarily what Jesus did, or what He expects us to do.

How many people did Jesus invite to the temple or the synagogue? None. How many people did Paul or the other disciples invite to church? Zero. They preached the Gospel truth in love and people knew it was real by healings and miracles the Holy Spirit did through them wherever they were—and hardly any of it was done in a place where people think God would be found. In fact, whenever Jesus performed miracles in the religious temple or synagogue the "religious leaders" got offended and tried to kill Him.

Receiving God's cape doesn't necessarily mean hopping on a bicycle and hitting up every house in the neighborhood with a pamphlet. It doesn't necessarily mean opening a church, teaching behind a pulpit, opening up a food pantry or starting a backpack-giveaway ministry. What are we to do then? God may ask us to do these things, but above all we're to simply live as Christ in this world, reaching out in love _wherever and whenever we can_. **Jesus expects us to walk in our purpose with the same anointing that was present in Him to fulfill His mission** (Mark 16). Let's repeat that for emphasis: Jesus wants us to fulfill our purpose by living our lives with the full anointing of the Holy Spirit! Jesus didn't go around knocking on doors to pass out witnessing tracts. He didn't put on a white collar and wait for someone to come into His pristine building. No, people actually came to where He was already ministering among the people. They came because _He had genuine compassion and had the power of the Holy Spirit_ to shut down Satan's dominion in people's lives, ushering in His kingdom's qualities. Trust me, when people around you get free from addictions, when the blind receive sight, when the love of God shines through you, people will come.

_ _ _

When people around you get free from addictions, when the blind receive sight, when the love of God shines through you, people will come, and no light show will be needed.

Not only did these things happen with Jesus and in Acts after Pentecost, we've experienced it in our own lives. Just about every week someone contacts us about a life issue—and these are people who have their own pastor. It's an opportunity for us to reach out to them with the love and power of God to give hope and healing.

## How to Spark a Real Revolution

We believe when EVERY Christian truly realizes we can carry God's power and presence wherever we go, a real revolution will begin, and lives will be won back from the darkness for the Lord. The reason many Christians are not victorious is because they don't believe God's Word and they're not doing what He said to do **. In short, most Christians aren't living as kings and priests of His kingdom—therefore, they are ineffective in pursuing, taking and occupying spiritual territory for the Lord. That's why Jesus said there's lots of work but few workers (Luke 10:2).**

We've lost entire generations of people simply by promoting God at a building and encouraging people to come to a specific church, rather than being the loving Church to show people that the Lord is over all and can work and move anywhere He pleases. Satan laughs at us because he knows as long as we limit God to Sunday morning and never take His presence into our world to impact culture his realm of darkness will never be affected.

Our enemy is not worried about our amazing church services. He doesn't care if we post signs around the city announcing revival. He doesn't mind if our worship leader has the voice of an angel, or if the pastor can preach 500 words in one breath. He will start taking notice only when we restore lives and influence culture—and as of the writing of this book, we're not being as effective as we could be. In fact, most Christians aren't doing anything for the kingdom. In order to spark this revolution, we need to take a quick look at who we are presently. If you're a Christian, most likely you're in one of two different churches.

_ _ _

We've lost entire generations of people simply by promoting God at a building, encouraging people to come to a church, rather than being the loving church ...

The first church style is what we call _Foundational Church_. Foundational Church stresses proper doctrine, typical evangelism, moral uprightness, and has great worship music and preaching. At Foundational Church, you will hear great sermons on living holy and how homosexuality and abortion are ripping apart our nation. Foundational Church stresses the Bible and Judeo-Christian values. As far as sound preaching, teaching proper doctrine, and encouraging right living, Foundational Church has it down. Another name for Foundational Church would be Fundamentalist Church.

We call the second church style _Love Church_. Love Church has been gaining momentum in the past several decades and has one main message: love everyone. Love Church's main philosophy is making sure everyone's physical and emotional needs are met. Love Church centers more on social responsibility: making sure everyone's bellies are filled, the environment stays green, and ensuring people of all races, genders, and sexual orientations receive equal treatment. At Love Church, you won't hear preaching against taboo issues—and you may even find a homosexual working at the church in some capacity. Love Church isn't necessarily concerned with preaching sound doctrine or right living, as they believe these lead to "holier-than-thou" attitudes that tend to ostracize people from being a part of the congregation.

For the most part, Foundational Church and Love Church are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Some may even say that Love Church was started by people who used to be members of Foundational Church but became disenfranchised with their hypocrisy. Another name for Love Church would be Liberal Church.

Neither Foundational Church nor Love Church truly operates as the Body of Christ. Foundational Church looks the part and they preach the Gospel, but they aren't impacting culture. Love Church is very inviting, embracing all people and flows with culture, even incorporating upbeat worship and illustrated sermons, but they are missing a main component—the Gospel. If you haven't put it together yet, here's the proper equation:

Gospel (with power) **+** impacting culture **–** religion = kingdom advancement

There's one Church we haven't mentioned yet. This Church lives according to the above equation, and it's called God's Church, or the **Body of Christ**. What does God's true Church look like? Well, there's no exterior markings by which to identify it (Luke 17:20). It doesn't look like a traditional church. Those who are living as Christ's body aren't concerned with making sure the church building has the best carpet, prettiest chandeliers, and the right programs to get people in the doors. Believers in His Church don't just preach about homosexuality and abortion; they don't just take up an offering to give to local ministries reaching those involved in these sins; they don't just say they love people and then gloss over harmful sins. Believers in God's true Church operate with power, love and sound doctrine that's born out of a living relationship with Jesus. **Moreover, the Body of Christ is on the front lines of the battle, ministering to the oppressed wherever and whenever God provides the opportunity.**

The Body of Christ doesn't encourage or wait for people to come to a church building in order to minister to them at the altar. The Body takes the presence of God to hurting people—and we're not just talking about door-to-door evangelism. If that's how you make an impact, that's commendable, but we should have our spiritual ears open to God's leading to ensure that our time is being used wisely—just as the disciples did. Jesus' disciples looked for those who they could influence who were already impacting culture (e.g. Acts 25). What will that look like for us? It may mean ministering to a boss, a college professor, a judge, a mayor, etc. It may mean reaching out to those who are influential in the arts, music, and media industry. It means simply being open to God's leading.

_ _ _

God wants to use your gifts and abilities to impact culture.

## Using Our Gifts for the Kingdom

God has given every believer gifts and talents to use to bring Him glory and to expand His kingdom. If we recognize a certain gifting, we should develop it for the Lord. Many people think if they come to Christ, their gifts and talents will be stifled, but this is again a misunderstanding about the Body of Christ, confusing it with the local congregation. God wants you to use your gift(s) to impact culture. The Body of Christ will not place a talented singer into the nursery just to give you a job. The Body of Christ isn't going take a graphic novelist and make them an usher. The Body of Christ will not see a talented actor and make them the bagger in their food pantry. These things happen in mismanaged local churches, from leaders who don't understand their own purpose in God's kingdom.

In Exodus 31, God called and filled those who were the artisans, or the artists, to build his tabernacle (notice it wasn't Moses' job to build it; he didn't have that gift). This is the first place in the Bible where it mentions God purposely infilling someone with His Spirit—and it started with the artists. God always makes room for those who have gifts and talents that are submitted to Him—in fact, it is through our gifts that we will greatly impact our culture.

**A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.** Proverbs 18:16

If we'll submit our lives to Christ and His will to expand His kingdom, He will place us in front of people of influence with opportunities to use our gift(s) for Him. This is where most of our churches have failed. We aren't making an impact on the culture. We've systematically removed ourselves from culture in an attempt to appear holy, but that's done nothing to expand God's kingdom. Drawing back from the world isn't holiness—it's cowardliness. Jesus prayed that we wouldn't be taken out of the world but that we would be kept safe from evil as we go into it (John 17).

Have you ever wondered how the homosexual community, comprised of only a tiny percent of the population, is able to make such an impact on American culture, even able to rewrite laws? They certainly didn't do it by withdrawing into their own communes and keeping their beliefs in their bedrooms; they injected themselves into every area of culture (mostly the arts) to draw sympathy from heterosexuals to weaken the moral standard. What could happen if the vast majority of American's who say they're Christian would truly live as Christ and not only talk what they believe in church but live it out in everyday life using quality gifts to spread God's kingdom?

It's sad we have to use an example of how Satan's depraved dominion is expanding just to make a point of how believers should be impacting culture. If you're interested in becoming a person of influence for God's kingdom, instead of just watching and talking about Satan's darkness filling the earth, keep reading. **We believe God's preparing a remnant of believers to come out of their religious closet in order to step into God's supernatural phone booth to change into powerful heroes for Christ!**

## Taking the Next Step

What are we saying in all of this? Well, we want every reader to know we're not trying to put a guilt trip or imply we're any better than the next believer. At one point, we identified with the Foundational Church. We were great at telling anyone around us what was wrong with our culture, but we didn't do anything to change it. But as we grew closer to the Lord, He took us deeper and we began to live in the kingdom. We started believing God's Word, and we saw there was more to the kingdom than a religious Sunday morning where the only thing we anticipated was leaving for lunch.

_ _ _

The goal isn't to close down churches. We're advocating for a 24-7 church where every believer walks in the power of god wherever they go.

We've simply committed our lives to being perfected in God's Body, and we desire this for all believers. In fact, since writing this book, we see people, especially Christians, differently. It's like we see the true purpose for their life in the spirit—and it hurts our heart when we see them drowning it out in the pool of religiosity and licentious living, simply because they don't have full knowledge of who they were created to be. That's the point of this book—to awaken people to their destiny in Christ.

Over the past five or so years, God has been dealing with us about these issues and how He wants us to truly walk out our destiny as His powerful Body. This has been a process for us. It really started when we heard some inappropriate, prideful messages at our local church. We also saw how the leadership of the church mistreated anyone who wanted to do ministry a little different to impact culture. Finally, we were shocked when a member didn't even receive a visit from anyone in the church when they lost a loved one, and how a certain couple on the prayer team was responsible for the break-up of three marriages by their own "Christian" counsel.

When we watched these situations unfold, our heart began to weep because this church wasn't operating as Christ's body, but was pushing people away—and we were right there connected to it. There were other issues we noticed as well, but we'll leave out the details. Let's just say their inappropriate actions led us to take an inventory of our lives and those around us, realizing this WAS NOT GOD'S BODY and they were acting contrary to the kingdom. We began to see ourselves and others through the Lord's eyes, realizing there was little personal victory, and no one had God's power in their lives to make a difference for others in His kingdom. Long story short, we began seeing the destructive nature of the religious spirit and the hypocrisy it created. We knew something was drastically wrong when self-professing Christians kept getting tripped up by sin when they should have been powerfully ministering to others (Hebrews 5:12). That's when things began to change. That's when God began revealing to us how we are His kings and priests to impact this world for Him.

Please don't misunderstand our intentions. Our goal isn't for believers to leave the local church and close them down. Quite the contrary, we're advocating for 24-7 church where every believer walks in the power of God wherever we go! Where we meet isn't the problem. It's really not the building at all; it's the mentality. We've got to get this revelation: **Church isn't going to mass to be served by the priest; Church is EVERY believer realizing they're God's priests to take God's presence to the masses!**

## A Superhero who Forgot His Cape

There once was a man who thought he could become a great superhero. He planned everything out just right. He had acquired all the knowledge and knew all the right things to say when it came time to apprehend criminals. But there was one small problem. He didn't have any real power. There wasn't anything supernatural about him at all. He didn't even know a marital art, and he refused to carry weapons. How long do you think he was able to stand against the evil forces of his city?

The story I just shared illustrates what's happening in most of our churches today. Many of our churches have all the right plans, know the right lingo, and have acquired much knowledge. They know how to spot false doctrines and what other churches do wrong, but when it comes to truly making a difference in people's lives, they fall short. How do we know? Well, because we've dealt with believers who have attended these spiritually dead churches. Many of these believers are so bound with sinful addictions and fears that if you saw them on the street you couldn't tell they were any different than an unbeliever. The simple reason why this is happening is they haven't submitted their lives to God's Spirit. They're not operating with His cape. And because they don't have His cape, they have no real power to affect change in anyone's life—including their own. In essence, they are spiritually dead. They say they're alive, but there's no proof of it (Revelation 3:1).

_ _ _

We are Jesus' kings and priests because we are in him!

As I (Scott) was writing this book, I ran across some old church friends on a social media website. Let me just say that what I saw shocked me to my core. Not only were these people living in blatant sin, the current pastor of the church was also involved. After praying about it for two days, I woke up at five o'clock in the morning and wrote out the following:

_Many of us grew up in church._  
_We did a lot of attending but never any surrendering._  
_Now you're older and you're done pretending._  
_(I know, I used to be where you're at)_  
_Nothing's going your way._  
_Jumping from one person to another._  
_One vice to another._  
_Smothering in a life of hell._  
_But the minister said if I just got there, dropped in my fair share and did a little prayer..._  
_What, that it would all work out for you?_  
_Deep down you know that's fake._  
_A "good enough" religion for your conscience sake._  
_Are you satisfied yet?_  
_Oh, I bet I know what you're thinking._  
_You're bracing for the punch line._  
_Waiting for me to tell you what to do, so you can get your happy ending._  
_Is that all you want?_  
_Happiness?_  
_Lust?_  
_Greed?_  
_Look at your troubles._  
_Can't you see that's where they all started?_  
_Me. Me. Me._  
_Gimme. Gimme. Gimme._  
_Jesus for an hour on Sunday and "me" the rest of the week._  
_But why am I so weak and powerless?_  
_Why isn't this working?_  
_What do I need to do?_  
_Voodoo._  
_Here's a place to start:_  
_Stop treating God like a Sunday or bad someday genie._  
_Rub up against Him and think He's gonna grant your wish._  
_You wish._  
_The answer is in the second line of this rhyme._  
_That's all you need. HIM!_  
_...not your favorite sin._  
_If you listen closely you'll hear He's knocking right now._  
_Maybe you should let Him in._

## Spiritually Dead Church

There's a passage in Ezekiel 37 that perfectly describes those who don't have God's cape and are religiously going through the motions of attending church. In this passage, Ezekiel recounts a vision God gave him about a valley full of dead man's bones. God said the bones represented His people who had lost all hope. In the vision, God showed Ezekiel how the bones were restored. First, God took the bones and attached the sinews to them. Then he covered the bones with flesh. The final act that made them come alive was when God breathed life into the dry bones, which, of course, signifies the power of the Holy Spirit for believers.

Today more and more leaders of our local churches realize they need to work together to accomplish God's will. More and more church leadership are reaching out to one another and crossing denominational lines like never before. They are learning how each part of the body is vitally important to God's mission on the earth. In learning this facet about the kingdom, they have effectively attached the sinew to the bones. They've even covered the body with attractive flesh, but the most vital element that gives life is still missing—the Spirit of God. Just like the not-so-super hero at the beginning of this subsection, many churchgoers are missing their cape. They have a type of godliness and religiosity, but they lack the true anointing of God's Spirit (2 Timothy 3:1-9). Some of our churches adopted a name associating them with the living power of God, but they're actually dead. Jesus gave a stern warning to anyone in this church in the book of Revelation, chapter 3. In fact, He alluded to the fact that the power of the Holy Spirit is what's missing to make them alive (v. 2).

If we want to be effective for Christ, if we want to be more than just dry bones lying lifeless in some forgotten valley, we'll need the anointed cape of God's Spirit. Remember this simple truth:

**The body without the Spirit is dead...** James 2:26 (See also Job 33:4)

## Every Believer is Important in the kingdom

As God was downloading the truths in this book to us, we passed them on to our children. We wanted them to see how important they are and how they can serve in God's kingdom, even as children. ( _Again, age is only a factor in the natural realm, not the spirit—Timothy 4:12; Luke 18:16_ ).

As believing parents, we take a proactive approach and invest in our children because we know the enemy understands the value of our youth and will try his hardest to fill them with his counterfeits. Even politicians know gaining the hearts of the youth are a major key to spreading a certain agenda. In fact, this is one main reason why we choose to homeschool. We know kids are important in God's kingdom and are a threat to the enemy.

We want to share an occasion where we used a living illustration to solidify exactly who our kids are in Christ and their importance in the kingdom to counter the deception of the enemy. In fact, we believe there's relevance here for everyone.

Our son, Caden, had been playing on a flag football team for a few months and in one of the games a teammate had gotten hit a little too hard and fell to the ground, clutching a hurt ankle. We watched as the typical people ran onto the field to check his condition. The kid's mother was there along with both coaches— but our son, Caden, was missing. In truth, he was the one person who could've had the most impact on the player and the spectators. Now, we don't know the full extent of the gifts God's given Caden—or our other children for that matter. We don't know if he could've run onto the field, laid hands on the young boy and healed him through God's power, but we do know he could've shown his teammate and anyone watching the love of God by running out onto the field and putting his hands on his teammate to pray for his well-being and quick return to the game.

When we shared the idea of Caden showing his teammate love and compassion in this situation, he immediately understood, and we believe that's because he hasn't been inundated with the religious counterfeit. Just one week after sharing with him how God wants him to be His representative on the earth, walking in power as part of His body in everyday life, we received confirmation from the Lord. While we were watching a college football game, the halftime news report shared an interesting story about a rival game in another state. They report began with how a starting quarterback had been severely injured in the game. But we soon realized this wasn't the average injury story. While the quarterback was lying on the field in sheer pain, the opposing team's quarterback ran out onto the field and laid his hands on the injured player. It wasn't clear if he was praying for him or just encouraging him, but the response this compassionate quarterback showed a rival teammate shocked announcers, fans, and the entire football world. The next day, the university where the injured quarterback attended sent the rival quarterback a formal letter thanking him for his kind actions on the field. One small act made the news on every media outlet and was shared around the world. Caden looked at us and smiled at the report because he knew God was giving us confirmation that He desires us to walk in His ways of love, power, and truth at every opportunity—no matter what we're doing.

In another situation, I (Scott) was waiting in line at the post office and the clerk behind the counter began ministering to a customer about prayer, the Holy Spirit, and sharing Christ with others. Amazingly, the clerk was so bold that everyone in line (about six other people) could hear their entire conversation. " _But this clerk was just a postal employee, what was he doing ministering to a stranger?_ " And Clark Kent was just a newspaper reporter. This clerk was a superhero in disguise, living out his faith as a member of the Body of Christ—and this is what every believer is called to do!

There are so many other stories we could share where we've either been a part of ministering to others outside of the church building or witnessed other believers in everyday situations rescuing people from darkness and bringing them into the kingdom of God's light. Truly, there are so many opportunities to use our cape in this dark world. Remember, Batman didn't do his crime fighting in the Bat Cave! He had to go out to be effective.

## Think outside the Building

We know this will be redundant, but God often repeats concepts in His Word because we're a little hard-headed. If we don't come to understand that Church is so much more than our Sunday morning meetings, we will continue to live segregated lives with no power.

**God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.** Acts 17:24

Most local congregations and their leaders are not walking in this revelation. Quite frankly, they don't have the faith to receive it. They are content with **doing** church behind closed doors instead of **being** the Church wherever they go, and we believe that's why we find God manifesting Himself only in segmented and sporadic _revivals_ in various locations. If we choose to live "according to the building," God will surely give us the building—big, brilliant, wonderful buildings. But that's not God's best; that's a limited God, a limited presence, and a limited power. However, even though He longs for us to experience Him to the fullest, He won't force Himself upon us. If we don't want to believe His power is for us, if we're content with living "Old Testament," He'll let us continue in that direction, but His mercy is so amazing He'll also keep putting truth in our path to lovingly push us into His will.

_ _ _

Most congregations and their leaders ...don't have faith to receive this truth. They are content to do church, instead of being the church.

When believers become unified as one body, as one temple, and "move out of the buildings" to take God's presence to the world, religious systems will cease to exist—and along with it any benefit that it gives them, including pride (e.g. positions) and monetary benefits. This is why, during the days of the early Church, demonically-inspired religious men persecuted and killed believers to no end. They took drastic action against anyone touting the name of Jesus because His ways threatened their entire livelihood.

Recently, I (Scott) shared a story on social media about an inmate who approached me to tell me his testimony after I ministered at the prison. The following is my original, unedited post, outlining this inmate's experience with the Lord in His jail cell:

Last night while ministering in prison, a man approached me to share what happened to him on Christmas day while he was in the "hole" (he called it segregation). He shared how he had grown up Catholic but never really believed [in Christ], thinking it was all just man-made...He claimed he was an atheist. So, sitting alone [in his cell] on Christmas day, he had the audacity to ask the guard for the Bible. He wasn't getting any presents so he thought he could at least read the Christmas story. He said he started in Matthew and read through Luke. Amazingly, he said after reading he was led to confess his sins and pray to Jesus for salvation. He wasn't in a church, and no minister was there to encourage him. He just got a hold of God's Word (which he said he had never read before) and began worshipping Jesus. But there was more. He said not long after confessing his sins he felt warmth all over him, that it was hard to describe, and that he began speaking what he believed was a foreign language. He had been baptized by the Holy Spirit right there in that little cell. After he got out of segregation he said he had been sharing what happened with other Christians in the [prison] but they were trying to dissuade his faith. They said it wasn't a real experience and that speaking in tongues is long gone. Isn't it amazing what God can do in the most unexpected places?

This inmate (let that sink in) had discovered Jesus just by getting into the Word. What started as something to erase boredom turned into him trusting in Jesus as his Savior. He even got presents from the Holy Spirit on his new spiritual birthday—and none of it happened inside the walls of a typical religious building. Think about it for a moment. How can the true Church be a building when there are many believers who can't leave where they reside to attend a local church? What about shut-ins or the hospitalized, or those in hiding because of Christian persecution? My (Scott's) 97 year-old grandmother is a part of the Body of Christ, but she can't leave her home because of obvious physical limitations. Every month our entire family ministers the Word of God to the elderly at a nursing facility, because they can't get to a local church. Yes, the true Church is much more than an inanimate building.

We realize there may be some readers who are inspired to present this revelation to the religious people they know—whether a friend, neighbor, a pastor or the Imam at the mosque down the road. Please remember, however, that if you step out to share this truth, you MUST be prayed up and ready for the spiritual fight of your life. As we already noted, Satan will go to any length to protect his greatest weapon of religion because he knows as long as a person is trapped in it, they will never experience God in His fullest and become a threat to his dominion. After the inmate received his salvation and the gift of the Holy Spirit in our previous story, other "Christians" tried to destroy his new faith. This was the enemy at work. Satan didn't like how he had been set free from the religious notions of his youth that had stifled him from fully believing in Christ (and maybe even caused him to come to prison.)

Also, if you're going to share this revelation, you must **keep the banner of love at all times**. Refuse to get discouraged. Operating in our gifts without love is useless (I Corinthians 13). God gave us His powerful gifts so we could have loving compassion on sinners and show how they were restored by Jesus at the cross to bring them into the kingdom by faith.

_ _ _

Satan will go to any length to protect his greatest weapon of religion because he knows as long as a person is trapped in it, they will never experience God in his fullest.

Without a doubt, religious people (even family, friends, and other "Christians" in your church) will castigate you for sharing this revelation. Jesus dealt with all levels of the religious spirit throughout His entire ministry. He even got a dose of it when He took His closest disciples with Him to the Mount of Transfiguration to see the Glory of God.

When the disciples saw how Jesus had some special connection with God, they immediately wanted to build three tabernacles of worship, one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for Jesus (Matthew 17). They did this because it was the religious norm and because they misunderstood that God is Spirit and must be worshiped as such. They knew the tabernacle was a symbol of God's presence, but they didn't realize it was just a temporary type of Jesus.

On another occasion, Jesus dealt with the Samaritan woman and had to deal with the religious, theological question of where the "right place" was to worship God (John 4). The Samaritan woman said the custom of her people was to worship on the mountain ( _Mt. Gerizim: because they believed this is where God originally chose to put His tabernacle_ ), whereas the Jews said it was in Jerusalem ( _because this is where God said to put the temple-Psalm 132:13-14_ ). She wanted to know the truth of who was really right in their worship of God. Read how Jesus responded to this question:

**Indeed, the time is coming, and it is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. The Father is looking for people like that to worship him. God is a spirit. Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."** John 4:23-24 GW

Do you see how Jesus responded to her religious inquiry? He said God is spirit. Worship isn't defined at a certain location. Worship is done in the spirit and in truth. Worship is a daily lifestyle. Religion dictates and sets up locations and methods of worship. God just says to worship Him wherever and whenever, in everything you do—not just on Sunday morning (I John 3:24)! God is Spirit. He has no limits apart from evil. He's not to be contained in a religious box. God simply wants all of our heart. There's no way we can give God our entire heart if we reduce our worship of Him to a specific method or location.

_ _ _

Until we wake up and walk in the Holy Spirit's power, we will never realize our full potential in Christ.

Jesus warned His disciples that people would take godly practices and make them into a methodical religion (Matthew 6:7). That may be why He consistently changed His methods. The truth He walked in never changed, but the way it manifested through Him did—and it was very diverse. Take Jesus' various ways of healing as an example. Jesus touched people and healed them (Matthew 8:3; 20:34), spoke a word and healed (Matthew 8:13), put His fingers in a man's ear for healing (Mark 7:33), and on one occasion, He spat into the dirt and made mud pies, spreading them on a man's eyes to heal blindness (John 9:6).

The point is Jesus wasn't bound to certain methods in His earthly ministry. He didn't get His ordination papers from the _First Church of the Mud Pies_ , "where healing only comes through mud and God can't work any other way." Jesus knew God's kingdom operates by faith and truth in love, and that nothing earthly can dictate or restrain it.

Jesus operated in power—not a method, a title, or a man-made doctrine. We can walk in His power, too, but we must put off our man-made, religious notions and simply believe that God can work through us.

## Our Mandate as Kings and Priests

God's given every believer a mandate: our orders are to share the redemptive Gospel with unbelievers, not just with words, but with power! The goal is to tell everyone how God desires a personal, intimate relationship with them—and that through this relationship they will have their purpose and calling in life awakened. We're to help people overcome unbelief to see how Christ redeemed them to be His kings and priests, and how He has amazing gifts waiting for them to fulfill their destiny in Him.

Have you wondered why God's Word calls His anointed believers kings and priests—especially since Jesus is our true King and our High Priest? Jesus is certainly the King of kings and He's also High Priest, but when we walk in the gifts He gave us to fulfill His mission on this earth, we are living as His body—in other words, we are kings and priests because **we are in Him**! We're also kings and priests in the sense that we each have our own kingdoms we have influence over. These areas might be homes, or congregations, a job, a specific ministry, among friends, with a hobby group, etc. We are each unique in God's kingdom, and He's given us areas and people only we can touch and influence. When we rise up to take that "territory" for the Lord, bringing people to Him, we allow God's ultimate kingdom to take over our individual kingdoms, where He can come in to rule and reign.

If the Lord is prompting you to be a part of His Body, it begins by rejecting religion and receiving God's cape of power to live in this world as His king and priest,[9] taking your faith to an unstoppable level. (Oh, yeah, and kings used to wear capes in the old days.)

There is a desperate need for Christ's body to awaken to their destiny, realizing God has a cape of Holy Spirit power for every believer. Until we walk in His power, we will never realize our full potential. We can read scores of books, listen to endless sermons, and sing worship songs until we lose our voices, but without God's Spirit, we'll continue to struggle to find hope, freedom from sin, and true power to build the kingdom as God desires.

_ _ _

Superhero Secrets

Why did John the Baptist say he came to baptize with water, but Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11)?

In order to get the full meaning, we need to observe the context. The context here is cleansing vs. restoration. John was looking back at Noah's flood, a type of outward cleansing but was also looking forward to Jesus' baptism of the earth with fire—an all-consuming fire bringing total restoration. It's the difference between religion and relationship with the Lord.

Water baptism only cleans the outside. It's mostly symbolism, as it only washes away the outer dirt. The Jews practiced this in their ritualistic cleansing pool, called the Mikveh. They used the Mikveh for several religious purposes, including ritual bodily purification, anytime someone converted to Judaism and washing new eating utensils. This outer cleansing was mostly ceremonial and symbolic.

When God destroyed the world with water in Noah's day, it was a surface cleansing. All the fountains of the deep were opened up and rain fell from the sky (Genesis 7:11). This cleansing wasn't complete because it didn't affect everything. One way that it didn't affect everything on earth is the water creatures. They were not impacted by the flood, as this was their natural habitat. Today, we are baptized in water as a symbol that we will live for Christ, and that we've died in Him and been raised anew (Romans 6:3-4).

Fire baptism is different than water baptism. Fire baptism is the event which precedes total restoration, affecting everything (2 Peter 3:10). In the end, God will destroy the earth by fire. Just like the Noah's flood, the fountains of the deep will pour forth, but instead of water, it will be lava and fire. Fire will probably come from the sky as well (Psalm 11:6). This act of baptism will cleanse any impurity in the earth to usher in the time of perfection and full restoration. Both John the Baptist and Jesus talked about these things (Luke 3:16; Acts 1:5). The earth is longing for this day (Romans 8:22), as are we. Our bodies are made from earth and we creak and groan, too—just ask anyone with a little age on them (Psalm 103:14).

Check out exactly what Jesus said in Acts 1:5.

For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

What was Jesus saying here? Are we going to be burnt up by the Holy Spirit? Yes and no. Jesus was drawing a contrast here between water and fire, between religion and a true relationship with Him. He was showing how even though water is pervasive, it only affects the surface. Fire affects everything. Unlike the Jews Mikveh, and even Christian's symbolic baptism, Jesus baptism in the Holy Spirit will "burn" through to the inner man. It will recreate our spirit man, not just touching the outside. But there's even more. When a fire is started on the inside, it can't help but to catch anything that comes near it on fire. This is that power for witnessing to the lost.

The rich symbolism here is that believers who submit their lives to being baptized by the Holy Spirit get a marginalized dose of the same power that is coming to consume this world, cleansing any impurity and ushering in total restoration. The fire of the Holy Spirit for the believer consumes the flesh so we can live in the Spirit and bring hope to this lost world.

We don't know about you, but we would rather have the Holy Spirit's power in our lives now, than to be a part of those who will be burnt up for eternity because they didn't make Jesus Lord and Savior.

Remember this: water baptism is only part of the process of coming to Christ. There's a power available through fire baptism that works from the inside out—the way it should be. Water baptism alone is merely religious (even the Jews have that). Fire baptism affects everything. We pray that you won't allow what someone has told you about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit hinder your faith for living as God destined you to live. His power is available for right living and powerful ministry today.

#  CONCLUSION

We pray this small book has encouraged you to seek out the Lord to receive the cape of His anointing and power to give true hope to this lost world. We want to reiterate that this promise was not just for the disciples or only until the early Church was established—God's power is available for every believer even today (Galatians 3:14); and if you're a believer, it's available for you, too! God wants you to fulfill your royal position as His king and priest to represent His eternal kingdom to a lost and hurting world. Read how Jack Hayford, in the _Spirit-Filled Life Study Bible_ , explains our responsibility as God's kingdom ambassadors to this world:

"Man is responsible and accountable for Earth's problems and—reinstated by God—is intended to become the agent for their solution. However, he can only become such by drawing on God's sovereign wisdom, power, and resource, that is on God's "kingdom." Just as man's sin and fall have damaged the potential partnership between the Creator and His appointed heir to this planet, redemption has set the recovery in motion. Renewed under God, the redeemed man, in fact, partner with God and thereby decisively assist in the reestablishment of God's rule over circumstances and situations on Earth. But this only operates under divine grace and through man's receiving power by God's Spirit."[10]

What an amazing privilege to be able to offer people healing, peace, victory, faith, deliverance, prosperity, joy, and love to those who have never experienced the real qualities of God's kingdom. What an honor to be able to show the world how submitting under the sovereignty of Christ is truly liberating, restoring our purpose and destiny—and this journey begins with receiving God's cape!

If you are a believer in Christ, God expects **you** to minister as His king and priest in every capacity possible—whether at home, school, work or play. **God's called you to lead, and He's made His Holy Spirit power available to you to be successful.** Put another way: God wants to take you from ordinary to extraordinary. He wants to make you a superhero to your world to represent Him and enhance His reputation. He wants you to be His special agent of freedom and redemption.

While that was super easy for me to write, it's going to be more difficult in real life. We've already mentioned that God expects us to be diligent in our faith. That means we must continue to abide in Christ, walking with the Lord and remaining set apart for His use. God can't use us if we're being used by someone or something else. A prisoner can't set another prisoner free. Only a free person can set an imprisoned person free. Crime-fighting superheroes can't be effective if they're committing crimes. Part of putting on God's cape is finding freedom and actively living in God's kingdom in order to help others be free. We can't do that if we're caught up in one of the enemy's counterfeits to God's kingdom. Remember this: don't give up your destiny of living in God's amazing castle for a right-now, inferior mansion full of rooms of regret and fleeting passions.

Are you ready to walk in your purpose with divine power in your life? Do you have compassion and love to help others truly know Christ and be released of destructive addictions, healed of untreatable diseases, be free from the bondage of religion? Well, what's stopping you? He's ready to give you His cape! Submit to the Lord and allow Him to reign as the King of kings in every area of your life and you will live as powerful nobility in His kingdom.

Finally, there's a small segment of believers reading this that have experienced the power of God in the past but feel as though His power has been drastically diminished because of their choices. If this resonates with your heart, it's not too late to get rid of the stains that may have gotten on your cape. It's not too late to turn back to Christ and be used mightily by Him. Above all, remember, Jesus didn't die to get us into a church building to live a moral life; He died to make us His buildings of holiness, living through us to reach the world. What an amazing role and responsibility. Live it out wisely!

_ _ _

Superhero Secrets

In 2 Thessalonians, there is a passage of Scripture that has perplexed many theologians and Bible scholars for centuries. Here is the main text in question:

**And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.** vv. 6-8

Scholars and theologians are stumped about this "Restrainer." Who or what is it? Well, you're about to find out. Here are the clues:

1. Paul (the writer of 2 Thessalonians) gives us two clues when he writes, "...you know WHAT is restraining..." and "He who now restrains..." Paul indicates that there's someone behind this restraining and there's also a power coming from the person, which is causing the restraint.

2. Paul writes that the lawless one will be consumed by the "Breath of [God's] mouth."

Interestingly, there's another instance in the Bible where the text indicates that "He" both "restrained" and "consumed" with "His breath." We find this in the book of Exodus. When the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea (Exodus 14-15), God restrained the waters in a heap with His own breath until the children of Israel could cross over safely. Then He used His same breath to inundate and consume Pharaoh (the main lawless one) and the Egyptians. God's breath was not only the saving power for Israel, but also the destructive force against their enemies.

This is an amazing picture of our lives in Christ. As we've covered previously, the breath of God is synonymous with the Holy Spirit. From God breathing life into Adam, all the way to Jesus breathing on the disciples, and even the wind at the temple on the day of Pentecost, God's Holy Spirit has shown up as a mighty breath!

Just like the children of Israel at the Red Sea, the Holy Spirit in our lives is creating a dry path for us to walk on until EVERY person in God's family can cross over to God's holy mountain (Ezekiel 20:40; Revelation 21:10). When we are taken out of the way (the rapture, I Thessalonians 4:17), God will then be free to bring about a destruction this world has never known.

_ _ _

Superhero Secrets  
(BONUS section)

Pentecost and the FEAST OF WEEKS

One of the main features of this book is the fulfillment of the day of Pentecost when God's Spirit fell upon believers to be POWERFUL witnesses for Him (Acts 2:1-31). While many believers know this detail, few know about the "Pentecost" in the book of Exodus. Pentecost is what Christians call this extraordinary day in the book of Acts, but the Jews had a different term when it occurred in Exodus, and when they celebrated it in successive years. They called it the Feast of Weeks (or _shavuot_ ).

The Feast of Weeks was one of Israel's prominent feasts. It was the celebration of God giving the Jews the Law at Mount Sinai fifty days after the Passover. In other words, we could call this the Exodus Pentecost. Amazingly, the day of Pentecost, when the disciples received God's cape, has direct parallels to the Exodus Pentecost. Let me provide a summary of how these are related:

In Exodus, when God gave Israel the Law (Exodus 20-40), He had already released the Jews from their enslavement to Pharaoh and Egypt (Exodus 12-14). The giving of the Law occurred fifty days after the destroyer had "passed over" them to release them from their captors (this is why they celebrate Passover). The Law that God had given them was an outward guide that would preserve and set Israel apart for God's purposes. Through the Law, Israel was supposed to draw all nations (pagan or otherwise) to the Lord God when they saw God's miraculous provisions and blessings on the nation of Israel as they followed His Law (Deut. 4:7; Isa. 51:4). Moses was with God forty days communing with God and also receiving instructions in the Law before He presented it to the rest of the children of Israel on stone tablets.

At Pentecost, Jesus had already gone to the cross and died to release us from the slavery of sin (salvation). Jesus was with the disciples for 40 days before the Spirit of God was presented to all the people. Unlike the Law God had given to Moses in stone, God's Spirit was to be a guide on in the inside, within our heart (2 Corinthians 3:3; Romans 8:2). Jesus gave the promise of the Holy Spirit with confirming signs, miracles, and wonders to confirm His message of salvation with anyone who would hear the disciple's message. Unlike the rigid guide of God's Law, the Holy Spirit was to come as a comforter to keep and preserve us until Christ returns (John 14).

Check out these other parallels between the original Pentecost (the Feast of Weeks) at Mount Sinai and the outpour of God's Spirit in Acts:

Both occurred on a mountain. In Exodus, God met with Moses on Mount Sinai. In Acts, God met with the disciples on the Temple Mount.

Before Moses went up to Mount Sinai, his father-in-law gave him instructions to pick other leaders who could help him in his ministry to the nation. Just before the outpour of the Spirit in Acts, the disciples made sure they had 12 leaders to carry on Christ's ministry (Acts 1:15-26).

In Exodus, the children of Israel heard God speak to Moses and were afraid (20:18-22). They asked Moses to speak to God and to hear from Him and communicate His will to them. In Acts, God's Spirit fell on the believers and they spoke in tongues, a spiritual language (or as some call it, the language of God). This event caused widespread confusion, but it allowed the disciples to communicate God's will to the people.

In Exodus, God gave Moses the pattern of the Tabernacle so God could go with the children of Israel on their journey to the Promised Land. In Acts, God sent His Holy Spirit to "tabernacle" with us. We carry His Spirit wherever we go as we await our final restoration in the promise of heaven. Whereas the tabernacle was constructed in the Old Testament for God to commune with His people, in Acts God indwelt people as part of His true tabernacle, building it to perfection until we are taken to be with Him in eternity.

In Exodus, God met with Moses and told him to tell the people to recall all that He did to release them from their captivity in Egypt (Exodus 19:3-6). Moreover, He told them that if they would obey Him, they would be His special treasure above all people because the earth is His. He was saying that although He owned the earth, the cattle on a thousand hills, the trees and everything that grows, He didn't own (or possess) people. He gave Israel a choice in whether they would follow Him with the free will He had given them. If they obeyed His voice, they would be a special people to Him with abundant blessings. In Acts, Jesus met with the disciples over and over to erase any doubt they may have had of His resurrection. During this time, He spoke to them of the things of the kingdom and gave them instructions to obey. He wanted them to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit. If they gave up their will and obeyed His commands, they were to be a special people with rich blessings (Acts 1:1-13).

In Exodus, God's presence was manifested through a thick cloud, lightning, the sound of a trumpet, and smoke and fire. God said He would come in this manner so the people would "hear" Moses and believe and live forever (Exodus 19:9; 16-20). When God manifested Himself, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice! In Acts, God's Spirit came down in the form of a mighty wind. When His Spirit came upon the 120 disciples it appeared as though flames of fire had set upon them. As soon as God's Spirit fell upon them, the disciples began speaking in tongues and the sound drew a crowd. God used this so those nearby could believe and live forever.

In Exodus, shortly after Moses received the Law and experienced the presence of God, the children of Israel committed sin by constructing a golden calf idol (Exodus 32). 3,000 people died for this transgression. In Acts, shortly after God's presence fell and the Holy Spirit was given to all, 3,000 people were saved and added to the Kingdom of God (Acts 2:41).

In Exodus, the children of Israel camped at Mount Sinai until God told them to move out toward the Promised Land (Exodus 19:1-2; 33:1). In Acts, the disciples waited in Jerusalem (near the Temple Mount) until they received the power of God. From here, they eventually left and ministered throughout the known world (Acts 19:31)

In Exodus, God promised that His presence would go with them wherever they went (Exodus 33:14). As a result, they began preparing and set up the tabernacle in the midst of the camp (Exodus 35-40). In Acts, God promised that the Holy Spirit would be with the disciples anywhere they went (John 16). In Acts, God prepared and set up His true tabernacle, His church!

But Wait, There's More...

The book of Ephesians tells us that Jesus descended to the lower parts of earth and then ascended on high, lead captivity captive, giving gifts to men (4:8). The Scripture Paul was quoting from in Ephesians was Psalm 68:18. Interestingly, there are historical Hebrew paraphrases provided by ancient rabbis (Called the Targumim) on Psalm 68:18 that point the text back to Moses and the events at Exodus. This makes perfect sense because the context of Psalm 68 is about God defeating His enemies and there's also a reference to Mount Sinai (see Psalm chapter 68). You may recall that God defeated the Egyptians for the children of Israel at the Red Sea not long before they reached Mount Sinai. Psalm 68 also refers to God taking the "solitary" and setting them into "families." In Exodus, the children of Israel were not united as one because they were held as slaves to the Egyptians.

There are many biblical scholars who believe that, based on several supporting Scriptures, Jesus went into the " _lower parts of the earth_ " and defeated His enemies. It was there that He took the keys of death and the grave while He was in the tomb for three days and nights, just before He rose from the dead (Revelation 1:18; Mark 8:31). Now, not only was Jesus in the " _lower parts of the earth_ ," Moses went there too. Let me explain:

In Exodus, just after the Passover event, Moses led the children of Israel through the Red Sea. It was here that God miraculously allowed Israel to cross the sea on dry ground. This was also where God used the same sea to destroy the Egyptians who had pursued Israel. God had destroyed His enemies, and this was done at the _lower parts of the earth_. Here's what the Bible says:

"... **the Lord...** has become my salvation... **Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.** The depths have covered them **...You sent forth Your wrath;** It consumed them like stubble **...** The depths congealed in the heart of the sea **. You stretched out Your right hand;** The earth swallowed them **..." For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.** Exodus 15 (Underline emphasis mine)

After reviewing Psalm 68 and Ephesians 4 and comparing them to Moses and Exodus, it's clear that there is an amazing correlation, yet we can take it further. In both Psalm 68:18 and Ephesians 4:8, there is mention of gifts being received from men (Psalms) and gifts that were given to men (Ephesians). Again, this points to Moses and the children of Israel in Egypt.

Just after the Passover event, the children of Israel asked the Egyptians for articles of gold, silver and clothing (Exodus 12:35). The Egyptians gave it to them without struggle. It was these items (or gifts) that the children of Israel used to build the tabernacle. That's why the Psalm text says that the gifts were _received from men_ , and the Ephesians text says the gifts were _given to men_. On the one hand, Jesus went to the lower parts of the earth and took the gifts from our enemy that were previously used to build a worldly, evil kingdom, and then restored them to be used to build God's kingdom. Paul says these gifts came from Christ _to equip the saints for ministry, to edify the body of Christ, till we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man...grow[ing] up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ..._

Jesus gave the Body of Christ His gifts to build us into **Him** , for ministry, edification, etc. but how does this fit into Exodus? Well, Jesus gave these gifts at Pentecost through the outpour of the Spirit (and still gives them today). You'll remember that Pentecost is also the Feast of Weeks, a celebration of Moses receiving the Law at Sinai. A major part of Moses receiving the Law was the instructions for setting up the tabernacle where people could meet with God and have their sins forgiven. We've already covered how the Body of Christ is the tabernacle. When Moses received the instructions for the tabernacle, God didn't leave him without the tools necessary to build it. In Exodus 31, God provided Moses with individuals who were GIFTED and FILLED WITH GOD'S SPIRIT to build the tabernacle. This is the foreshadowing of Jesus giving us gifts to build the Body of Christ, His true tabernacle. He gave gifts to us to build His kingdom, with Him as our King, just as He gave Moses gifted workers to build the tabernacle.

**Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: "See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have** filled him with the Spirit of God **, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship...I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the** gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you: the tabernacle of meeting **...** Exodus 31:1-7a (Underlined emphasis mine)

**Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.** Exodus 40:34-38

**When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.** Acts 2:1-4

It's clear that the day of Pentecost and the Feast of Weeks are closely related. It's amazing to see how God has worked through His people throughout the centuries and how He CONTINUES working today.

#  God's Kingdom Vs. Satan's Kingdom

#  Other Scriptures on God's Kingdom

**Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as** _it is_ **in heaven.** Matthew 6:9-10

**Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.** Luke 12:31-32

[Believers have...] **tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come.** Hebrews 6:5 (Brackets ours).

**He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed** _us_ **into the kingdom of the Son of His love.** Colossians 1:13

Matthew 6:33  
Matthew 7:21  
Matthew 12:25-26  
Matthew 13:43-45  
Mark 9:1  
Luke 9:2  
Luke 17:20-21  
Luke 4:43  
James 2:5  
Luke 10:9  
John 3:5  
I Corinthians 4:20  
Hebrews 12:28  
Mark 10:15

#  God's Kingdom in Action

Every journey, no matter how great, starts with a single step, and the Kingdom of God is no different. We already know God's kingdom does not manifest by faith alone; it takes faith working by love and accompanied by action (James 2:17; Galatians 5:6). We must take loving action to live God's kingdom way. Before you put this book down, take a few moments to ask the Lord how you can personally apply the principles in this book to begin making a difference for His kingdom—and then write it down in the space provided below.

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We also realize that several readers will desire to change the way their churches operate—from members to the pastors—but this can be very difficult. We must remember God's kingdom is not to be forced upon anyone. Our place is to live as God's superheroes wherever we go, in whatever we do, not to use the principles in this book to bring contention and division. Above all, we need to remember that this is a faith matter.

Here are some things you can do:

• If you're a member, present these truths to your pastor (maybe just give him/her this book), walk away, and then pray he/she enacts them; just make sure you're doing your part to live out your faith by putting your gifts in action for the kingdom. Pray about the changes you can make.

• If you're a pastor, begin to discover your congregation's gifts and get them motivated and involved. How might this work? Well, here's an example: we attend a homeschool co-op where every family participates in teaching the kids. In this setting, no one sits and watches on the sidelines. At the beginning of every semester, parents are asked what gifts they have and are placed in an area where they will be used to help instruct the children. Every week, families rotate to cover the responsibilities to make the educational enrichment classes run smoothly. This could be a great model to use in our churches and homes. In God's kingdom, every person has value and can add a greater dimension to the church, as well as in our homes. Begin today and see the Lord's blessings!

#  Other Books by Scott Smith

**Mystery God** : _How Homosexuality, Abortion, & Radical Islam will Usher in the End Times_ (314 pages)

**Cracking the Wine Case** : _Unlocking Ancient Secrets in the Christian and Drinking Controversy_ (252 pages)

**Unbroken** : _Finding Heaven When Life Hurts Like Hell_ (170 pages)

#  Other Books by Scott & Raven Smith

**God Loves to Color, Too** : _Helping kids discover how each person is uniquely created by God while learning about color_ (40 pages)

#  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

**SCOTT SMITH** is a graduate of _Valor Christian College_ , formerly _World Harvest Bible College_ (Columbus, OH). He continued his studies at _Indiana Christian University_ (Noblesville, IN) where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Ministry. Scott has appeared on _Daystar Christian Television_ , as well as on other radio programs. He currently teaches inmates in _Texas Department of Criminal Justice_ prisons how to live victoriously in Christ and find lasting freedom from addictive behaviors.

Scott has written four other books, including: _Cracking the Wine Case_ (bestseller), _Mystery God,_ _Unbroken_ , and a children's book called, _God Loves to Color, Too!_

**RAVEN SMITH** attended _Oral Roberts University_ (Tulsa, OK) and _Valor Christian College_ (Columbus, OH). She has been involved in various ministries, serving in numerous ministry capacities. Currently, she ministers to patients who are suffering from memory loss diseases as well as being a full-time wife and mother.

Scott and Raven have been married for nearly 15 years and live in Houston, TX with their four children, Caden, Christian, Kerrinton, and Kingson.

Scott & Raven would love to hear from you. You may contact them through email at scottsmithbooks@hotmail.com.

#  ENDNOTES

[1] The Pulpit Commentary. Electronic Database. ©2010 by Biblesoft. Used by Permission.

[2] Flinders, W.M. _Religious Life in Ancient Egypt_. 1924 (virtual-egyptian-museum.org)

[3] Packer, J.I., Tenney, M.C. _Illustrated Manners and Customs of the Bible._ (Nashville, TN. Thomas Nelson Pub. ©1980) p. 640.

[4] Eddie Hyatt _. 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity_ (Lake Mary: Charisma House, 2002), 78-93.

[5] Hyatt, Eddie. _Azusa Street Revival_. (Lark Mary, FL Strang ã2006). p. 9.

[6] Luther, Martin. _On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church_ & _To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation._

[7] Branch, Taylor. _Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63._ (New York, NY). p 44.

[8] Garett, Greg. _Holy Superheroes_ (Westminster John Knox Press), p.17-21.

[9] Are kings and priests only male titles? Kings and priests in biblical days were simply the highest positions on earth. Priests were the highest authority in religion and kings were the highest authority in the land. Even though these are traditionally males roles, exclusion is not the intention of the biblical writers (see Galatians 3:28).

[10] Hayford, Jack. _The Spirit-Filled Life Study Bible_. Kingdom Dynamics, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson) P. 551
