The Holy Spirit has worked with mankind and for mankind from the beginning of the human race. Today, however, He works differently than He did in the beginning; today we live in the Holy Ghost dispensation. God the Father had His dispensation; Jesus the Son had His dispensation, and now for almost two thousand years, the Holy Ghost has had His dispensation. Although a dispensation belongs to each member of the Godhead, the three have never been separated; always they have been in one mind from the beginning. In creating man, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost worked together.

The Holy Ghost is doing marvelous things in His dispensation today, but study the amazing ways He worked in Old Testament days. Some people believe that the Holy Spirit did not start working until the Day of Pentecost. No, He has worked from the beginning. The Day of Pentecost was when He began His “office work” on planet Earth. Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts (Zechariah 4:6). By His Holy Spirit His work is done, not by the might of man. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:16-18,26). Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come (John 16:7-13). Treasure the Holy Spirit; give place to Him.

Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife (Revelation 21:9). Come with me to the Old Testament and see the Bride of the Lamb in a veil of types and shadows. Wherever you find a shadow, a type, a mist of the Bride, you find the Holy Spirit working. Then in the New Testament you see the Bride emerge from the mists and shadows into living reality. See her in her power, greatness and might. To have a real foundation for the Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit today, discover how He moved in Old Testament days. In both Old and New Testaments, the Holy Spirit reveals the greatness of Jesus. God through His prophets told about the coming Savior, tried to bring people into His righteousness and holiness. When Jesus came, He promised the Holy Ghost to believers; and now the Holy Ghost is getting the Bride ready for Jesus’ second coming. Softly He whispers to you, As he is, so are we in this world (I John 4:17). When he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is (I John 3:2).

The first workings of the Holy Spirit that we have record of are found in Genesis 1🔢 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that lives and dwells on the inside of believers today, took part in creation.

In the first Adam and the first Eve we have a type and shadow of Christ and His Bride. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man (Genesis 2:21,22). A deep sleep of death came upon Jesus as He hung upon the cross, and His side was opened. From the wounded side of Jesus our second Adam, a “rib-company” is formed today, a Bride who will soon be brought to Jesus to be His wife and helpmate forever. Man sinned in Eden, stood naked before the Lord, and the Lord had to shed blood to clothe him. Mankind was naked in sin, and Jesus had to shed His own blood for the remission of sin, to make a cloak of righteousness for the people. You cannot have the Holy Spirit without the blood; you cannot reach Heaven without the blood.

Types and shadows: Cain and Abel. Cain tried to please God without the blood; he tried good works, brought the fruit of the land to God; but no blood was shed, no blood to give protection. Good works are not enough. Many people try to get to Heaven through good works, but without the atoning blood of Jesus they will never make it. However, when a child of God comes to Him with the blood of Jesus on his heart, God will not turn him away. Coming with the blood, he commands the respect and approval of all Heaven.

A heathen king recognized the workings of the Holy Spirit in the life of Joseph: And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the spirit of God is (Genesis 41:38)? Joseph was sold into slavery, but the Holy Spirit used the gifts of wisdom, knowledge and discerning through him. The Holy Spirit gave Joseph dream interpretations that changed the history of Egypt and made Joseph second to Pharaoh himself. See the greatness of the Holy Spirit as He raised up a slave boy, a boy stolen from his home, and made him a great ruler.

We read of the Holy Spirit in the book of Judges. And the spirit of the LORD came upon him [Othniel], and he judged Israel…and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. And the land had rest forty years (Judges 3:10,11). Because of disobedience, Israel had been under great bondage at this time, serving Chushanrishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, eight years. When the Children of Israel cried out, the Lord raised up Othniel, a deliverer. The Holy Spirit came upon Othniel, used him. The same Holy Spirit is using people today—not just one or two but everyone who will yield to Him.

In reading about Israel and Judah, you find that the people were in and out with God. Refusing to listen to the Holy Spirit, they would go into great bondage, much darkness. God would send judgments in an attempt to shake them, to get them to turn to Him once again. Sometimes they would be in slavery many years before they listened to the Holy Spirit, cried out to God. Although the Holy Spirit would speak through the judges and prophets of God, all too often people would not listen until they had suffered and been beaten down into the dust. Then they would turn back to God for a period of time, come out of their bondage. Things would go well, but as time passed they would forget God, take on that old spirit of arrogance and stubbornness that so many people have today.

Another judge, Jephthah, rose up. Then the spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah…So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands (Judges 11:29,32). The Holy Spirit came on Jephthah and he won a great battle over the children of Ammon who had kept Israel in bondage for many years.

Powerful Samson came on the scene as Israel was once again in bondage to the Philistines. Samson’s mother, who had been barren, was told by an angel: For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines (Judges 13:5). Samson became a powerful man; as long as his hair was not cut, he had superhuman strength. And the spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol (Judges 13:25).

One day as Samson was coming into a vineyard, he met face to face with a roaring lion. And the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him [the lion] as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand (Judges 14:6). Samson killed a lion with his bare hands, tore him to pieces.

Samson married a Philistine woman. His parents were not pleased. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel (Judges 14:4). At the wedding feast, Samson told thirty of the Philistines that he would give them thirty sheets and thirty changes of garments if they could solve a riddle. If not, they would give him the same things. They answered the riddle—because his Philistine wife told them the answer. And the spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle (Judges 14:19). Because the Philistines used deceit—and God hates deceit—Samson slew thirty men to fulfill his promise.

The Philistines came against Judah; what they really wanted was Samson, the one who had caused them so much trouble. Not wanting to upset the Philistines, the men of Judah—3,000 of them—came to bind Samson and give him into the hands of the enemy. Samson let the men of Judah bind him as long as they promised not to fall upon him themselves. They turned him bound over to the Philistines. And when he [Samson] came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith (Judges 15:14,15).

Samson killed a thousand of the enemy, and then the Spirit of the Lord lifted. Samson thought he was dying from thirst. When the Spirit of God was not moving for him, he was just an ordinary man. But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived (Judges 15:19).

The Spirit of God can set you free from any bondage; this is the knowledge the Bride is coming into today, knowledge that will be living reality. No power of the devil can keep her bound. Samson, when he was right with God, could not be bound even by an army. All his enemies couldn’t keep him bound—and he was just one man. How could this be? Through the power of the Holy Spirit of God, the holy power of God.

But Samson failed God. Telling Delilah the secret of his great strength, Samson then fell asleep. Delilah called a man to shave off his seven long locks of hair. When Samson woke, he didn’t realize at first that God’s power had departed from him. He thought he would go out, shake himself as he always had done, and the strength of the Lord would be there. The devil deceives people into thinking they have God’s power when they don’t. The testing time comes; God’s power is not there, and they become helpless in the hands of the enemy. Samson lost God’s power, and the enemy was able to capture him, blind him, make sport of him and put him to grinding in the prison house. But the symbol of his strength, his hair, began to grow, signifying that his consecration to God was returning. He gave himself back to God, pleased with God.

The day came when the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their God, rejoicing because they thought he had delivered Samson into their hands. Calling for Samson, they made sport of him again. A lad led him to the pillars that supported a house large enough to accommodate three thousand men and women of the Philistines. He asked the lad to take him to the pillars supporting the house so that he might lean on them. The lad did so, and Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which held up the house. The Philistines didn’t know Samson’s God, didn’t know Samson could get that power back. They didn’t know his God was the God of forgiveness—or that there even could be forgiveness. The Philistines had thought Samson was helpless when he backslid and lost the power of God, never dreaming that if Samson again turned to God, his power would be restored.

If you have failed God in the past, there is forgiveness for you. You who once had power with God to defeat the devil and to live holy, walking with the Lord: it isn’t too late if you’ll come back now.

Samson met the Lord again at the right time while there was yet mercy for him. And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God…And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life (Judges 16:28,30). Samson was willing to die for the victory. He was sincere.

Backslider, when you come to the Lord with a sincere heart, the Lord will forgive you; but you must be sincere. Samson didn’t ask the Lord to spare his life; he didn’t ask God to restore his eyes—and God could have done that. No, Samson asked the Lord to let him feel His power one more time and then to let him die with his enemies.

Samson is a type and shadow of the Church that is rising up in this last hour to be counted. “Samson’s hair is growing”; the dedication, the consecration, the yielding to the Lord has come back to the Church and is found in the bridal company. The Church went away from God for much of the two-thousand-year Church Age, but in this last and final hour, the Bride has come to life with God through the power, righteousness, holiness in the blood of Jesus. Now she is going to perform her final work, the greatest work that has ever been done since the Church existed, saith the Lord.

When you fail God, you have to suffer; Samson certainly did. God loved him, had given him great power and had been proud of him. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Samson performed incredible feats. But, remember, Samson was just a man when the Spirit was not using him. We are just ordinary people unless the Spirit is using us. You don’t need to expect to have strength beyond human strength without the Holy Spirit. When you have the Holy Spirit, you have supernatural power, supernatural strength working for you, supernatural greatness of the Almighty, the supernatural greatness of Heaven within you.

God tells you how to keep His power, that you must live holy, pure and clean; and He warns what will happen if you do not. He warns of the seventeen works of the flesh: Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). If you walk in the Spirit you will not give over to the lust of the flesh. As long as Samson walked in the Spirit and yielded to the Spirit of God, no powers of the enemies of God could destroy him. At one time, he didn’t have to be afraid of anything; he didn’t have to carry a weapon, for he had the power of God.

Many have never seen God’s power in action, but they will see the manifestation of the Almighty in this last hour. They will see God shake people with His greatness and give them a chance to serve Him.

The Holy Ghost did amazing things in Old Testament days, in times that were not part of the Holy Ghost dispensation. The Holy Ghost then did not dwell in many people as He does today. Today everyone who wants Him can have the Holy Ghost dwelling within through Jesus Christ. Jesus has made it possible for the Holy Spirit to live and dwell on the inside of you. The Holy Ghost will show you what power from God you can have over the demons of hell. You can trample devils underfoot. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you (James 4:7,8). Through the power of the Holy Ghost these promises are yours.

The Holy Ghost uses the blood. Unless you yield to the Holy Spirit, you will not be victorious using all that is in the blood of Jesus. You who are saved but will not go on to yield to the Lord and receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit will come up lacking. You will not have the power to be a Jesus overcomer in this last hour. You need the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Samson’s life that closed out with mighty power typifies the Church that also will close out with mighty power in spite of the backslidings that have worked against the cause of Christ for almost two thousand years. In some of the centuries, the light of God went almost completely out. It breaks your heart to study what cruel persecutions and false doctrines the Church has been subjected to.

In Old Testament days we see how God was willing to work for people in His dispensation, willing to furnish His holy power, His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit worked with God to help people, but again and again His people turned away from Him.

Saul, before he was king, demonstrated a humble spirit, one that yielded to God. Samuel anointed Saul and told him that the spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man (I Samuel 10:6).

The Holy Spirit came upon Saul and the gift of prophecy worked through him at times in the beginning of his reign. And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them…Is Saul also among the prophets? the people asked (I Samuel 10:10,11). The Holy Spirit used him. God let the people know that He was with Saul, that He had given them a godly person. People were amazed at the change the Holy Spirit made in him; they recognized the Spirit. Would Saul yield to the Lord? The answer came right away.

An Ammonite, Hahash, told the men of Jabesh, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. And the spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together (I Samuel 11:2,6,11).

God had given Saul a new heart so God could use him in any way He wanted through the power of the Holy Ghost; however, as the years passed, Saul rejected God. But the spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him (I Samuel 16:14).

God hadn’t wanted Israel to have a king, but they were determined. In the manner of so many people today, they wanted to do what they wanted, and they, like Saul, rebelled against God.

When the Lord changes a heart, He means for that heart to be yielded to God and filled with the Holy Ghost in this dispensation, nothing less. Those whom God raises up for a special work He anoints with His power. God makes them special, sets them apart.

David was anointed by Samuel: Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward (I Samuel 16:13).

Now Saul has determined in his heart to kill David. Saul had given over to the wrong spirits, failed God. Nevertheless, the hand of God upheld David. Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they met a company of prophets prophesying, they prophesied also (I Samuel 19:20). The Lord took over the messengers. God uses people through His Holy Spirit. Saul sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also (I Samuel 19:21). Finally Saul himself went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah (I Samuel 19:23). The Holy Spirit interrupted Saul’s murderous plan. Saul had been anointed but, I say again, he failed God.

Yielding to the Spirit of the Lord makes all the difference in the world. If God can use you through His Holy Spirit, He will. If He cannot use you through His Holy Spirit, He will not use you in this hour, saith the Lord. He must use you through His Holy Spirit. When you are yielded to the blood, you are a fit subject to be used by the Holy Spirit, to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.

The sweet psalmist of Israel, said, The spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me (II Samuel 23:1-3). The Lord, the Rock of Israel, spoke to David in a wonderful way. The power of God used David to slay Goliath and deliver Israel. Such power is ours today to kill the giants of despair, of sin, of the enemy that are coming against us. How can we have that power? Through obedience to God, through the power of the Holy Ghost, by staying away from those who would hinder. David spent time with the sheep, not with his brothers. Sheep won’t make you doubt God, but people can. Sheep don’t talk against God; they keep in the place God intended them to be. Get away from people who don’t glorify the Lord, those who talk doubt, despair; and stay with God and His people. Listen in on Heaven. Be still, and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10).

Elijah told King Ahab that no rain would fall—not even dew—except according to his word. As the drought intensified, Ahab ordered every country searched for Elijah. Nowhere was he found. Ahab was furious. Finally, after three-and-a-half years of drought, Elijah met Obadiah, governor of Ahab’s house, and told him to inform Ahab that he was here. Obadiah thought it was a death sentence. He protested: And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth (I Kings 18:12). Elijah assured him, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him to-day (verse 15).

Obadiah had faith in the Holy Spirit, or else he would not have been concerned that the Spirit of the Lord would carry Elijah away. Later the Holy Spirit did carry Elijah away, carried him straight to Heaven. I marvel at the confidence Obadiah had in the Holy Spirit!

Many don’t understand how to receive the greatness of God, how to use it. They don’t realize all the benefits of the Holy Ghost for those who serve the Lord because they don’t have the knowledge of the Old Testament concerning the Holy Spirit. If they would study the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, they would have knowledge of His working today. Even before the Holy Ghost dispensation, He moved in miraculous way. The Lord wants you to learn everything you can about the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament will give you faith to receive what the Lord has for you today; it’s your schoolmaster helping you to understand the Word of God, teaching you and bringing you into the greatness that God is pouring out today. If you will carefully learn what God says about the Holy Spirit and the works of the Holy Spirit, then you will be able to work with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit will be able to work with you. Yielding to the Holy Spirit is the secret of the Bride accomplishing so much, of the Bride taking Jesus to the whole world and bringing in the endtime harvest just before Jesus comes again.

Elijah told Ahab to gather all Israel and the prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel. Before the people, Elijah proved that God was the true God, and that the prophets of Baal worshiped a false god. He slew the prophets of Baal and then went to the top of Mount Carmel to wait for the rain—he had told Ahab it would rain. And [Elijah] said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel (I Kings 18:43,44,46).

The Spirit of God came on Elijah, and he ran all the way down Mount Carmel, outdistancing the horses and chariot of Ahab. He did it through supernatural power. This is the kind of power you must have to trample devils underfoot, the power of the Holy Ghost. Jesus said, In my name shall they cast out devils (Mark 16:17). Not until the disciples went to the Upper Room and received the Holy Ghost, the power from On High, did they have all the power they needed.

Elijah was bold in giving Ahab the Word of God. He was not afraid he misunderstood God; what God told him he believed. Some people feel free to say God told them things, but if their lives were on the line, they would back down. When God speaks, you can stake your life on it. If you can’t stake your life on something God says, why tell anyone that God said it? If you can’t stake your life on what thus saith the Lord, keep what you think He said to yourself. The prophets of God in the Old Testament staked their lives on what God told them; the apostles had the same confidence in God. They were willing to die for God’s Word. In Old Testament days, only a few were used by the Holy Ghost; but today is this Holy Ghost dispensation, everyone who is saved can be baptized in His Spirit.

If you don’t have faith to believe that the Spirit of God helped a man outrun horses and a chariot, you don’t have faith to be changed by the Holy Ghost when Jesus comes. You must have faith in the things of God, in the Godhead, if you expect to be raptured. Be full of the Spirit, filled with the Holy Ghost.

Elijah had power from On High. Look at the miracles that were performed through his life; they were done by the power of the Holy Ghost. The power that God used through Elijah He is pouring out on us today in this Holy Ghost dispensation. That’s the reason so many of the heathen will be brought in; the power of the Holy Ghost will do it. Study how the Holy Ghost worked in Elijah and Elisha’s day; read of the great signs and wonders they performed and know that God will perform miracles just as fantastic in this final hour, but on a greater scale.

The power of the Holy Ghost will shake the heathen; God will give them a chance to come to Jesus. It will take power to rock the sinners of this old world, the power of the Holy Ghost. No one can find Calvary without the Holy Spirit drawing him.

The voice of God shook the earth in Moses’ day, but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven (Hebrews 12:26). God will shake the heaven and the earth to bring all who want it to a realization of who He is: the God of all flesh. Then if you turn away, you will blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, saith the Lord. The Spirit of God will leave you.

Blasphemy wasn’t something new in Jesus’ day. Jesus may have been the first one to identify that sin for us, but it had already been committed in Old Testament days. The Spirit of God left King Saul; he grieved the Holy Spirit, blasphemed against the Holy Ghost. Saul took his own life. Judas took his own life. The Spirit left both of those men.

The power of the Holy Ghost has always worked, but it worked on a small scale in the Old Testament. Now in the last days, saith the Lord, I will pour it out. The working of the Holy Spirit increased dramatically when the Holy Ghost took up His office work on the Day of Pentecost. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was fantastic. Many thought nothing could ever be so great as that. About one hundred twenty received the Holy Ghost in the Upper Room, and in Africa I have witnessed as high as 64,574 receiving Him in one service. Even before I went to that service, the Lord let me know the exact number that would receive the Holy Ghost. I was waiting for it. No one taught anyone to speak in tongues; they spoke as the Holy Spirit gave utterance.

Teaching people to speak in tongues is not of God; I do not allow it in my services. The real Holy Ghost is falling, and He doesn’t need people to teach others to do His speaking. He is a person; He will do the speaking Himself using the human tongue.

When I first started preaching, I never knew I would live to see a time like this. In those days saints of God prayed through one at a time; people would stay until midnight or one o’clock in the morning praying a person through. Now the Holy Ghost is falling; great numbers of people have been saved, delivered, and filled with the Holy Ghost. As they open their hearts to the Lord, He rains down His power on them.

God needs those who will preach the truth to prepare people to receive, to be saved. God needs people to have sanctified tongues that the Holy Ghost can take over. You don’t think up strange words to say; it is the Holy Ghost who speaks. He uses your voice, your tongue, your lips and He speaks.

When I received the Holy Ghost, I made sure I had the real thing. I would open my Bible and say, “Lord, this is what I want, just what you gave them in Acts 2:4: And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” No one taught me to speak in tongues. The Holy Ghost took over my tongue and began to speak; I thought it was the greatest thing I had ever heard in my whole life. I had heard the Holy Ghost speak through loved ones, through my mother, my two older sisters and others. As a young boy, I loved to see people receive the Holy Ghost baptism. If I heard that someone was going through, I would run over to see him. The countenances of the people would change as they were baptized and the Holy Spirit bubbled forth. It was a mystery to me, but a mystery I believed.

I love the Holy Ghost; I love to preach about the good Holy Ghost. I love the things of the Lord.

Elisha knew Elijah was going away; and seeking to learn all he could, he followed him closely, for the time was near. As they came to the Jordan River, Elijah struck the waters with his mantle and the waters parted so he and Elisha could cross over on dry ground. Although he had been anointed to take Elijah’s place, Elisha realized that now that Elijah was going away, he would be responsible for the work, and he needed more faith than he had. When Elijah asked what he could do for him, Elisha replied, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over (II Kings 2:9-14). Seeing Elijah taken up into the heavens, Elijah knew it meant he would receive the double portion that he had asked for. Excited over the manifestation, he stepped right into the work of Elijah in the power of the Holy Ghost.

The sons of the prophets came to Elisha and they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley (II Kings 2:16). The faith of the sons of the prophets was weak. While they believed Elijah was taken up by the Lord, they thought maybe the Lord accidently dropped him somewhere and they should look for him. They couldn’t believe that the Lord was able to finish what He started when man stays with Him. Elijah certainly stayed with Him. The Lord took him all the way to Glory. Elisha knew it.

The sons of the prophets were determined; they wouldn’t take no for an answer. They just had to go out and look for Elijah. For three days they—fifty men—looked for him. And when they came again to him [Elisha], (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not (II Kings 2:18)? The devil keeps some people going around in circles, never accomplishing anything of value. He does his best to lead people away from the truths and the things of God. Just as the sons of the prophets didn’t believe that Elijah was taken all the way to Heaven, some people don’t believe Jesus will come again and take people with Him in the Rapture. After the Rapture, they will spend days searching for missing people.

A double portion of the Holy Spirit is what Elisha asked for—and received. In the Upper Room experience of receiving the Holy Ghost baptism, we receive our double portion. Through and through we are baptized in the Holy Spirit.

What a great manifestation of the Spirit it was when Elijah was taken up into Heaven: a chariot of fire and horses! If the manifestation of the Spirit was that great for one man, think what it will be like when all the members of the bridal company are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, caught away to be with the Lord forever! Thousands and thousands will be caught up into Heaven at one time.

Elijah was expecting to be taken to Heaven, and today the Bride is expecting Jesus to come for her. Just as Elijah was taken, the Bride will be taken, too. Did you ever wonder why Elisha didn’t try to get on the chariot with Elijah? He had been right behind Elijah all the time, but it was such a takeover by the Spirit that Elisha was frozen in his tracks. Not Elijah. With great joy Elijah stepped into that chariot. He was ready.

With a shout and the sound of a trumpet Jesus will come again, and the Bride will be ready. Behold the Bridegroom cometh! Go ye out to meet Him! The Bride will answer, “I’m ready! Hallelujah!” It’s wonderful to be ready for the Holy Spirit to move. Elijah was ready through the power of the Holy Spirit, and to be recaptured, the Bride will have to be ready through that same power.

This, I say again, is the Holy Ghost dispensation, but be warned: Even in Old Testament days, calamities fell when people rejected the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God worked with judgment in the Old Testament, and the Holy Spirit is still bringing judgments in this last hour. There will be more and more judgments.

And the spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you (II Chronicles 15:1,2). The Holy Spirit of God came upon Azariah, and King Asa listened at first; but the day came when King Asa relied on the king of Syria instead of on God. Then at the end of his life, Asa didn’t look to God for healing, only to man. His disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians (II Chronicles 16:12).

Some people have used this example to claim they should not consult physicians. This is ridiculous. We wouldn’t have doctors today had God not given them the knowledge to treat the sick. We need good doctors, good hospitals, good medicines. There would be no medicines had God not placed healing ingredients into nature and given man the knowledge to extract them and put them to good use. Refusing to see a doctor or to take needed medicine is fanatical; it hinders the work of God, damages your testimony for God. King Asa didn’t die because he had consulted physicians; he died because he didn’t trust God. Through His prophet, God told Asa that he would be forsaken if he forsook God. Asa had trusted God for some things, but not for his healing; and he died.

Doctors may help the healing process, give you medicine, but all healing comes from God. God’s healing power is in nature, but His supreme healing virtue is in His divine gifts of healing and in His gift of miracles. Man has not found the cure for every disease, but God has healing for every sickness, disease, affliction and deformity. For with God all things are possible (Mark 10:27). And with his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). With the Jesus blood stripes we have healing.

And the spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you (II Chronicles 24:20). The Spirit of God called judgment down upon disobedient people. They had disgraced God, spit in His eye, trampled His truth, His commandments underfoot. Because they had forsaken the Lord, He forsook them. When the Lord forsakes you, it means disaster. Again and again disaster fell on Israel when they failed to obey God.

Then upon Jahaziel…came the spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s (II Chronicles 20:14,15). King Jehosaphat was afraid to go into battle, for he faced a great company of the enemy. He knew he didn’t have enough soldiers, that they were hopelessly outnumbered. Wisely he sought God, through the man of God, for directions. The prophet told him, Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to-morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you (II Chronicles 20:17). Jehoshaphat believed the word of the Lord. He told the people, Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper (II Chronicles 20:20). Jehoshaphat appointed singers to go out before the army singing praises to the Lord, and Judah won a great victory. They came upon so great a spoil, so many jewels and riches that it took them three days to gather it all. The Holy Spirit had given the victory.

David sinned against God in the matter concerning Bathsheba, and after Nathan the prophet rebuked him for his sin, David wrote the 51st Psalm. Verse 11 pleads, Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. David was grieved to think that he may have blasphemed against the Lord, and he implored the Lord to not let it be the unforgivable sin. David begged for forgiveness, and he found it. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation (Psalm 51:10,12). From a child, David had been so close to God that the Holy Spirit could use him. He knew there was a danger of blaspheming the Holy Spirit; he had seen King Saul do it. He knew the Holy Spirit would never draw on him again if he had gone too far, and he would be eternally lost. When David asked that God not take way His Holy Spirit, he didn’t mean he still had the Spirit, but that he wanted the Spirit back in his life.

The greatness of God is illustrated in Isaiah. Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his spirit, hath sent me. Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea (Isaiah 48:16-18). But Israel did not obey God, and judgment after judgment fell. If you fail God, repent as fast as you can.

God through His prophet Isaiah told the people that truth is fallen in the street…Yea, truth faileth (Isaiah 59:14,15). Truth has fallen in the street today, also. Truth has fallen and people have trampled it underfoot. Because people won’t let truth work, it has failed. If you accept the truth, the Lord will bring deliverance. If you reject the truth, there is no help for you. Fear the name of the Lord in godly fear, and He will move for you. So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him (Isaiah 59:19).

Jesus repeated these words that Isaiah prophesied about Him: The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound (Isaiah 61:1). Jesus came, showing us the greatness of the Holy Ghost and the need of being baptized in Him. Jesus is our example. As the Son of God, Jesus didn’t need to be baptized in the Holy Ghost, but as the Son of Man He received the Holy Ghost. John the Baptist saw the Holy Ghost like a dove descending upon him (Mark 1:10).

When you rebel against the Spirit, you turn God into your enemy. The Lord loved Israel, but they rebelled, and vexed his holy spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them (Isaiah 63:10). Some had a chance to repent, but not all had that chance. Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy spirit within him? As a beast goeth down into the valley, the spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name (Isaiah 63:11,14). God remembers that He gave His people His Holy Spirit, and He forgave them again and again for their backsliding. When He was able to lead them, He helped them make a glorious name for Him. He did it for His name’s sake. The Lord forgives for His name’s sake, to glorify His name.

And the spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them (Ezekiel 11:5). The Lord knew all about the Children of Israel, everything that was in their minds, and He proclaimed judgment upon them. They were carried away into captivity, into slavery because they had turned their backs on God.

Remember the wonderful verse in Zechariah that tells us God will move not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts (Zechariah 4:6). In Old Testament days the Lord moved in a mighty way through His Holy Spirit; think how much greater the Holy Spirit is moving for believers today in the Holy Ghost dispensation! The Spirit is saying, Come, come to the Word, and I will show you the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. See her wrapped in a mist of types and shadows throughout the Old Testament, and see her today, emerged from the types and shadows, coming forth a living Bride, visible, Spirit filled, Spirit led.

Walking with the dignity and majesty of her Lord, the Bride is humble and lovely, bringing in the world harvest. Working, working, she has no time to spend in sin, no time to flirt with the world. She loves her Groom Jesus, not the world.

The Bride is the power of God because He has made her His power. She is the hope of God to bring in the harvest. Without spot, wrinkle, blemish or any such thing, she is trusted by God. No wonder she will be changed when Jesus comes for her! Elijah, a type of the raptured Bride, was spotless; that’s the reason he was changed, and that’s the reason the Bride will be changed.

The dispensation of the Son was built upon the sure foundation of the Father’s love: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

The dispensation of the Holy Spirit is built upon the foundation of the Son. Jesus said, It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you (John 16:7). The Comforter, the Holy Ghost has come to prepare the righteous Bride for the Rapture, a way of escape from the coming destruction of the Tribulation Period.

Jesus talked about the Rapture and end of the age: But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be (Matthew 24:37-39). It was no accident that the ark was three stories high—three stories representing the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Take note of the Noah family, how they escaped the destruction that fell in their day. And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in (Genesis 7:1,16). God closed the door, closed them in safely.

In the Noah family we see a type of the Bride saved in the Ark, a type of Jesus. The Noah family was safe in the ark from the raging flood, and the Bride will be safe in Jesus from the raging Tribulation Period that will come on all the earth. The flood did not start until Noah and his family were safe in the ark; the Tribulation Period will not start until the Bride of Christ is raptured, safe in Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Bride will enter the safety of her Ark.

Jesus is our door to safety today. Only few were saved in Noah’s day; and only few, compared to the multitudes on Earth, will be saved in this hour. Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it (Matthew 7:14).

The Holy Spirit directed the animals into Noah’s ark. Noah didn’t have to run all over the country chasing down pairs of animals of every kind. The power of the Holy Ghost moved on the animals to bring them into the ark.

God moved on ravens and they fed Elijah. He closed the lions’ mouths for Daniel. He used bears to bring judgment on some young people who were mocking His prophet Elisha. God moved a little donkey to speak to Balaam. Animals do not have free choice, but man has. Whatever God tells the birds and animals to do, they do. He can take them over anytime He chooses, take them right out of the hands of the devil. The devil wanted the lions to kill Daniel, but God prevented it. Daniel wasn’t looking at the devil; he was seeing the glory of the Lord. The Bride is consumed with the glory of the Holy Ghost, not with what the devil is doing.

And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man (Genesis 6:3). God had suffered enough with the sins of man. In Noah’s day, every imagination of men’s hearts was evil continually. Men’s hearts are the same today. It is increasingly difficult to find decent television shows, movies or even magazines; lust and more lust, sin and more sin seem to be everywhere. Throughout America our young people are being robbed of upright character. They think no worse of living in sin than they do of going for a walk. The Bible warned us that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away (II Timothy 3:1-5). So many today put no value on marriage; they mistake lust for love, feel anything done in their definition of love is all right. We live in the last days of mercy.

The last days of mercy came for those in Noah’s day, and then destruction fell. The last invitation from God’s Son will come; the Rapture will take place, and the unfortunate ones left behind will be in the Tribulation Period, a time of unspeakable horror. God help us realize what is coming on the earth and that we have a way of escape! Learn all you can about the power of the Holy Ghost, the power that will change the Bride in a twinkling of an eye and catch her away to be with Jesus forever.

Study the works of the Holy Spirit in Old and New Testaments. Understand the value of the Holy Spirit, how essential it is for each believer to have a baptism in the Spirit. Jesus went away so that we could have this baptism. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will live and dwell on the inside of all who are baptized in Him and continue to yield to Him. This is the reason the Bride will be holy night and day. She will be a separated people called out from a separated people, called out from those Christians who do not go on to be baptized in the Holy Ghost.

Because the Holy Ghost will dwell in her, the Bride will be able to walk without spot, wrinkle, blemish or any such thing. Because of Him, she will live in His love in perfection, possessed by the Holy Spirit Himself. The Holy Spirit will be the keeper of her soul and of her mind as she takes on the mind of Jesus. Standing firm, she won’t be depressed or cast down.

When you see the Bride in types and shadows, you sense no fear. The Noah family wasn’t panicky. Busy building the ark, they didn’t mingle and mix with the world. Eight souls not only stood against their kin, they stood against thousands of unbelievers.

Only Noah, his wife, sons and daughters-in-law entered the ark. Carefully the Lord waited 120 years while the ark preparations were made, and carefully He is waiting now until the earth is evangelized. Jesus said, This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come (Matthew 24:14). The Holy Spirit is working night and day with great power and urgency to get the Gospel out to the whole world.

What a blessing every member of the bridal company will be! The Bible says that an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight (Leviticus 26:8). Think of how many enemies of God the thousands in the bridal company can overcome! The Bride is terrible as an army with banners (Song of Solomon 6:10). No wonder the Lord will love her! No wonder the Lord will do anything for her! No wonder the Holy Spirit is jubilant in this hour of jubilee just before Jesus comes for His Bride! The Spirit is rejoicing because of the people who are yielding to Him, those He is working through. More and more He will work through the obedient children of God to bring in this endtime harvest of souls.

In Old Testament days the Lord needed one man to stand in the gap and make up the hedge; now the Lord is finding many to stand in the gap. Gideon’s three hundred defeated a great host of the enemy through the power of God, and today the Lord has many more faithful ones than three hundred. He is ready to work through every vessel of clay, to fill every vessel. Are you ready? Come hither and see the Bride! She is looking to the Ark Jesus, knowing He is her safety in the storms of life. He is her refuge, her door out of this old world. She knows He will tell her to come up higher; and just as Noah’s ark was lifted higher and higher on the waters, the Bride will be lifted up with the Lord in the air. Are you ready?

If you don’t have Jesus in your heart, why not pray the sinners’ prayer now? Oh, God: I’m lost. I am so sorry that I sinned against you, but I have come home. I’m going to serve you, Lord, the rest of my life. I believe the blood of Jesus washes away all of my sins! Come into my heart, Jesus! Come into my heart!

If you meant that prayer, He has come; He is yours. Fast, pray and live in the Word of God. Those three steps will keep you close to the Lord, and one day Heaven will be yours. Go on to the Upper Room and be baptized in the precious Holy Ghost.

You who need healing today, agree with me now in prayer. I’m not a healer, but I believe in the power of prayer. Jesus is the healer. Lord, I bring the cancer patients, the heart patients, the diabetics, the paralytics, those who are crippled in any way, in need of healing for whatever the problem. I bring them all. Lord, you cure all sicknesses and diseases. I bring the babies, the little ones born with just part of a brain. You have healed so many of these conditions, and I believe, Lord, you will do it again. Heal! Heal in the holy name of the Lord! Heal, I pray.

The healing power is flowing. Don’t you feel His presence now? The Holy Spirit is injecting the greatness of God into your body or the body of the one you have prayed for if you believe this prayer. Watch yourself or your loved one get well.

The Lord is reaching out to you with armfuls on purpose. He is calling you unto Himself. Samson, even after he had backslidden, was victorious. He came back to the Lord and won. He is a type of the backslidden, lukewarm Christian coming back to God and going on to conquer in His name. Dwell upon the way the Holy Spirit has moved throughout the Scriptures, and know that it is the way He will move for His obedient children in this final hour. The glorious types of the Bride were victorious; no matter the adverse circumstances, the Bride in type and shadow is never defeated, and the Bride today will not be defeated, either. The Bride will know great victory in this her last and final hour, and it will all come through the power of the Holy Ghost.