Dr. Cloud’s Message
Finishing last night’s sermon:
The word that brings confusion is the word ‘filled’. Over 40 times it’s translated as ‘fulfilled’.
Rejections of the filling of the Holy Spirit:
- Dispensationalism (usually among evangelicals). Look down on Pentecostals ‘because they’re ignorant.’ At opposite ends on that. Dispensationalism came in the 1800’s – was a lady’s vision. Gave that vision to Darby, the lawyer who gave it to Scofield who put it in his Bible. And that’s the way they did away with the supernatural. Like our headquarters in Springfield – it’s there because a lady had a vision it was to be there.
Over the years I cut out many articles. (2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity). Gives history of the church Fathers talking about gifts and tongues.
Justin Martyr: testified that Christians in 2nd century continued to exercise gifts of the spirit.
Erraneaous: many brothers in the church possess gifts and speak all kinds of languages.
An old order monastery was found that was doing it – they thought it was just for them.
It has always been God’s plan. People will come if you teach about it especially in the setting you’re in. That’s why David Duplessis was asked to go to the national council of churches to come and preach it.
He had dialogue with the cardinals on this subject and a Catholic can be immersed.
While I was in Premont, CA pastoring (I was concerned) about the church not tithing. We eventually became #6 out of 20,000 churches.
He said to ‘go ye in all the world.’
My son, who’s the dean of a medical school….always heard about the healing of cancer; the healing of my crushed back when a car ran over it; he got permission to do a paper on those things; my medical papers had ‘Miracle’ stamped on them.
In India: Police came to us – I know you have the permits – we know that a group is going to riot in the crusade tonight. The head of that group said – when I raise my hand you raise your hand, shout you shout; news went out; guy said when I tried to shout my voice went down; couldn’t raise my hand – it was paralyzed. A liberal church sued us – because we believed in miracles. In the brief the lawyer listed all the miracles in the Bible. Judge read it, dismissed the case and said, ‘of course, Christianity is miraculous.’
One of my elders was crushed in a machine; all bones crushed; 30 hours after he was crushed, nurses heard the bones come back together and hospital respected our church after that.
The church started in a miraculous way didn’t it? Spoke many languages, etc. Young evangelist, preaching in Pittsburg; I gave a tongue and waited on the interpretation. The tongue was in Italian.
When I was 9.5 my brother was born and my mother started bleeding from the mouth with tuberculosis. Told my mother she would have to go to the sanitorum for two years the next day. Went to church and was prayed for. Went to sanitorum and they couldn’t find TB.
When you go to India, if God doesn’t heal you’re in trouble.
Job 26:7: ‘He spreads out the northern skies over the empty places.’ Years ago they discovered that when I was much younger.
Job 26:8: ‘He wraps up water in the clouds’
We had a lady from Singapore who was afraid to lay hands. She got bold enough and was dealing with a cripple; she said ‘it works pastor’.
I left ICA Cambodia with a brain hemmorhage; I had a scan; began to prepare me for surgery the next day; my wife prayed for me and said please give him one more scan. Stopped the surgery. Sent me down for a special scan. My heart stopped for 10 minutes. Then I had a stroke. I didn’t know any of it. Next morning going to take me to therapy. Doctor said, ‘get back upstairs –you’re in better shape than I am.’ Two US neurologists checked me for an hour, one was a Christian; she smiled and said, ‘but we know what happened. God gave you a miracle.’
Go ye into all the world – that’s the heritage we’ve received as Pentecostals.
2/3’s of Jesus’ ministry was healing the sick.
‘These signs will follow those who believe.”