Creflo Dollar - How to Be Led by the Spirit
If you have your Bibles, go with me to the book of Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24, verse 49, and we started this series off by talking about the importance of yielding to the Holy Spirit and that this is the time where, as a Christian, you need to develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit, because what's gonna happen in these days right now, you're gonna have to hear from him. You're gonna find yourself not being able to just make... you can, now. You can make any decision you wanna make, but will it be the right one? Will it lead you to the right destination?
I'm talking to those who wanna get to the right destination and end up in the right place and doing what you believe God called you to do, because that's where we are. And so, it's time for Christian people to understand how to let the Holy Spirit go in front. That's what it means to yield when you're driving a car, to let it go in front and then follow him, rather than us going in front and then seeing if we can find God to come and follow us.
So, living a life in the Spirit is so important, and so I'm gonna teach some really basic things. It may not be basic to you, because it's still fascinating to me to learn that there is a distinction between salvation, being born again, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I think we got a little off on that in times past. We were a little afraid to really deal with the reality of it, you know, and we'd say, "Well, you know, once you're born again you're filled with the Holy Spirit". I don't have any problem with that, but I'm talking about the Holy Spirit coming on you to empower your life.
How many want your life to be empowered by the Holy Spirit? And so, I wanna stick with the Scriptures and get as much out as I possibly can. I think this is gonna be a great learning session tonight so you can really see it in the Scripture. Luke chapter 24 and verse 49. So, we're talking about understanding the purpose for the Spirit of grace. I refer to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of grace, understanding the purpose for the Spirit of grace, and when you can understand the purpose for the Spirit of grace then you kinda see where he's trying to take you here.
Now, I'm gonna deal with this teaching tonight, I'm gonna deal with it from the right dispensation. When I see something that's under the law, I'm gonna let you know it was under the law. If I see something that's under the grace of God, I'm gonna let you know it's under the grace of God, so you can rightly divide as we go on, all right? So, Luke chapter 24 and verse 49. Let's read it out loud together. He said, "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high".
Now, look at this in the Amplified. Now, notice he's talking to these guys, the disciples. He was like, "Listen, just hold up there and don't do anything. Don't enter into your ministry until you first of all be endued". The word "endued", fully dressed or clothed with. The Amplified says, "And behold, I will send forth upon you what my Father has promised; but remain in the city Jerusalem", stay in Jerusalem, "until you are clothed with power from on high". Now, that just does something to me. I'm thinking here is God saying, all right, to these disciples, "Wait here until you are equipped. Wait here until you are endued", or fully dressed or clothed, "with power".
Now, I define "power" as the ability to get the job done, so obviously there is something that God wanted to clothe them with that gave them the ability to get the job done. Now, today, we don't have to wait on the Holy Spirit. That's what some people do in some religions. When they try to get the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, they call it tarrying for the Holy Spirit, which "tarry" means to wait. You don't have to wait on the Holy Spirit. He's already here. Today, it's a matter of just receiving what's already been done, okay? And so, he said, "I want you to wait until you be endued with power", or ability to get the job done.
Now, look in Acts chapter 1 and verse 4. Acts chapter 1 and verse 4. I mean, if he's telling you to wait, we need to wait. You can't really expect success in your life if you're not equipped and clothed. You know, if I'm getting ready to do something for the Lord, I wanna be equipped and clothed. I wanna have what heaven knows I need to have in order to get the job done.
Now, I'm talking about the difference between you being a Christian and just living in average, and someone who recognizes the importance of the power of the Holy Spirit on your life. There is a distinction between the Christian who just got born again and the person who got born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is going to be that endowment or that ability to get the job done and to be successful. That's what I'm talking about tonight. That's what I want you to get a hold of tonight, that when you understand your relationship with the Holy Spirit, it's a game changer. It's a game changer. You're not just some Christian with a title. You have an empowerment. You are equipped to be successful and to get the job done.
Look in Acts 1, verses 4 and 5. He says, "And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, you have heard of me". Verse 5, "John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence". So now, you see a distinction between the baptism in water and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The baptism in water, the word "baptism" comes from a Greek word "baptó", which means to totally immerse. And the same thing is true where the Holy Spirit is concerned.
You can have the Spirit dwelling in you, but to be baptized in the Holy Spirit is a total immersion. You want the Holy Spirit to have impact on every area of your life. And so, he makes a distinction. He says, "John baptized you with water", he says, "but you're gonna be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence". So, there's a baptism of the Holy Spirit and there's a baptism in water. There is something empowering about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The life that's baptized with the Holy Spirit is winning, is the head and not the tail. It's overcoming. It's not limited to the natural things and the things you can do in the natural.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit takes you a step above, where you're living above the natural. And we call that what? Supernatural living. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit is gonna be key to that, and I don't think we've heard that a lot lately, how important this is, so I'm gonna really dig into this tonight so you can really get a hold of it. So, the Holy Spirit is the one who empowers us to live the Christian life. The Holy Spirit is the one that empowers.
If you hear people say, "Well, I'm a Christian, but I'm not being too successful", it's gonna be very difficult to try to live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one, say this out loud with me, "The Holy Spirit empowers me to live the Christian life". And so, you know, we shouldn't try to do it without him. We can't live the Christian life without him, and we shouldn't try to live the Christian life without him. And there are a lot of Christians who are trying to live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit.
Now, again, you know, it will be you'll have a challenge if you go to somebody and teaching this or try to talk to 'em about it. They'll say, "Well, I'm born-again, and I have the Holy Ghost". Yes, you do. You got the Holy Ghost the day you got born again, but the baptism of the Holy Spirit and empowerment that comes from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit getting on everything that you do. Wisdom being shared with you. You're doing things above the natural, praise God. You're doing things above your education. You're doing things above your past experience, because something happens when you start understanding and knowing about this partner, this third person of the Trinity, and how he is the game changer, praise God.
All right, now watch this. Go to Matthew chapter 3. And I don't wanna get in too much of a rush, but there is a spot I wanna get to, and I gotta be careful not to rush to try to get to that spot. How y'all doing today, everybody good? I'm doing good, I'm doing good, praise God, had a waffle this morning. Thank you, Jesus, glory to God. All right, Matthew 3:16 and 17. Now, just notice these Scriptures as we read 'em. Just notice that they're in the Bible here. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him".
So now, notice when Jesus was baptized, I'm assuming here water, all right? With John's baptism. He went up straightaway out of the water, so he's out of the water, watch this, "And, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove". Now, the Holy Ghost is not a dove, but he said he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. This is a perfect picture of those of us who are born again, one experience, and then we see that other experience, the Holy Spirit coming on you.
So, tonight I wanna make sure I make a distinction between your salvation, you receiving the Word, you're born again (that's one experience) and the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a totally different experience. And church has been a little afraid to deal with this lately, and I'm gonna hit it as hard as I can tonight. Just excited about it. So, Jesus, you know, didn't begin his earthly ministry until he received the Holy Spirit.
Now go to Matthew 4:1. Now, think about this. He told the disciples to wait until they had been endued with power, and then here is Jesus. He's not doing nothing until he receives the Holy Spirit and power. Seems to me you and I ought not do nothing until we receive the Holy Spirit with power. What are you doing absent of the Holy Spirit? All right, look what he says here in verse 1. "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil".
So, he's baptized in water, he received the Holy Spirit on him, and then the Bible says the same Spirit begins to lead Jesus to the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Now, why is that? I would have never ever thought, "Well, the Holy Spirit is leading me into this rough time. The Holy Spirit is leading me into a wilderness". Somebody say, "Why would he do that"? The Holy Spirit knows the courses you need to take to be prepared for your destination, so quit grumbling about stuff that happens. He knows you need to stop by here, take that course, go down there and take that course, go down there and take that course. He just ain't gonna take you to the destination for your life. There is preparation time.
I used to teach in ministry school. There were, I don't know, 15 or 12 preparations for ministry, and we went over all of the different tests that you'd have to go through before you gave birth to that ministry that was on the inside. A lotta people thought, "Well, you just, you know, get born again and, wham, go do it". No, there's preparation. There is things you wanna be ready for, and I thought, "Wow. Jesus is being led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil by the Holy Ghost". Don't question a lotta stuff, ladies and gentlemen. You can ask God a question, but don't question in doubt. You see the difference? Questioning in doubt is like, "Well, if God loved me then how come he let that happen"?
Now you're questioning in doubt, versus asking a question. "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man"? what Mary asked, so there is a difference between asking a question and questioning. Questioning, normally, is something that you do because you're doubting and wondering why something didn't happen, and you don't have an understanding of that thing. So, Jesus didn't begin his earthly ministry until he received the Holy Spirit. Now, here is what we wanna do tonight. Being born again and the baptism of the Holy Spirit are separate experiences, and you'll see here long after the day of Pentecost separate experiences.
So, in the book of Acts Jesus has died. He's gone to hell. He's presented his blood. This is after the cross, so I'm going to begin to read things to you in the dispensation and the proper tense and the proper truth after the cross. So, when you see the phrase "Word of God", I'm not talking about the Word of God from the dispensation of the covenant of law. I'm talking about the Word of God under the covenant of grace, the Word of God, which would be the gospel of grace, which is the Word of God.
So now, let's look at this. We wanna trace to see some clear indication of these two experiences here. Acts chapter 8, verses 4 through 8. Now, he says, "Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word". Now, this is right after, you know, Paul is... in fact, go to verse 3. Paul is persecuting the church. Stephen is being persecuted. He says, "As for Saul", which is later on we'll call Paul, "he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, haling men and women, committing them to prison". Just doing a bunch of crazy stuff. "And therefore they that were scattered abroad, they went everywhere preaching the Word". What Word? The Word of grace.
That's why I wanted to bring this up to you. What Word did they go everywhere preaching? They were preaching the Word about the unmerited, undeserved favor of God. They were preaching the Word about the finished works of Jesus Christ. They were preaching the Word of what Jesus has accomplished for us. All right, notice in verse 5, "Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them". Verse 6, "And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did".
Now, it's amazing to me the only thing they were doing, folks, was preaching the Word. You know, we gotta get away from this stuff we call having church. They got under the Word. Be careful of people who try to create new little stuff. They got in the Word, man. They were preaching the Word, and they saw miracles in the things that he did, well, as a result of preaching the Word. Verse 7, "For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, they came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed". What were they doing? Was there some show going on? Was there some magic act going on? What were they doing here? They were preaching the Word.
Now think about what they were preaching. They were just not preaching the Word. They were preaching the Word about what Jesus has done and provided for them. They were preaching the Word about healing is finished and deliverance is finished, and under this grace you are made righteous not because of what you do, but because they're preaching the Word, the gospel. They're preaching the Word of grace, all right? 'Cause I used to wonder, well, what were they preaching that would cause people to get healed and for demons to come out? They were preaching the truth of the gospel. They were preaching what Jesus had done, the purpose of his blood and his body, and what his dying and death meant. They were preaching the Word of God.
All right, verse 8, "And there was great joy in the city", as a result of them preaching the Word of grace, the Word of God, the Word of the gospel, all right? Now, look at Acts chapter 8, verse 14 and 17. So, they're preaching the Word, they receive the Word, their life is changed, and look at all the miracles that happened as a result of preaching the Word, but now watch this. Verse 14 through 17. "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria", that the Samarians, "had received the Word of God", we saw where Philip was preaching, right?
So, they heard that they had received the Word of God. In other words, you would say today, well, they received salvation. That's what it means when they received the Word of God. They believed it, they received it. "They sent unto them Peter and John". Now, watch this. "Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost". Now, wait a minute. They had already received the Word of God, right? So, obviously they had not yet received the Holy Ghost.
All right, look at verse 16. "(For as yet he was fallen", for as yet he was fallen, "upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of Jesus)", in water, so there was another experience, man. There was something else that they were gonna be experiencing. Look at verse 17. "Then laid they their hands on them, and they received", what? "The Holy Ghost". So, in one experience they received what? The Word of God. In another experience they received what? The Holy Spirit. And in the middle of that they received the baptism in water.
I wanna make sure nothing is not missing in your life. Yeah, I know you got born again, I know you received the Word, but have you received the Holy Ghost since you've been born again? Well, I know you joined the church, but have you received the Holy Ghost since you joined the church? And you know that we can't do that backwards. I'm glad you're joining the church, but it's like join a church, make sure you get saved, because baptism of water need to be saved first. Baptism of the Holy Spirit need to be saved first. Need to receive the Word first, right?
And so, that's what they did. Two experiences. I think it's time for us to put emphasis on that. I think we've become comfortable with one experience, and then when certain things are not happening in our lives we're trying, it's like, "What's going on"? You haven't been endued. You haven't been fully clothed or dressed. You're going out with one sock on and a undershirt. You need to be fully clothed and dressed. There are some great things God's wanting to do, but we need to get the full hook-up. Amen.
Now watch this. Let's get a little deeper. Still in chapter 8, verse 36 and 37. Acts 8:36 and 37. Now, 36 he says, "And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized"? Verse 37, "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God". He said, "Well, you're good". So, notice what he just said. The guy asked, "Here is some water. What's hindering me from being baptized"? He says, "Do you believe it"?
See, a long time ago we thought that, you know, mostly we just got baptized because, I don't know, you're supposed to be. I don't even remember why we got baptized then. We got baptized... [audience member: It's an outward demonstration for inward change]. No, I didn't know none of that. None of our folks didn't know none of that. I'm talking about we didn't even have that knowledge. We just got baptized because there was a fear thing connected to it. You go to hell if you don't get baptized. That's basically it, but we didn't know, first of all, yeah, you probably wanna believe in Jesus Christ before you go walking in the demonstration of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But then, he makes it clear here. He says nothing stops you from getting baptized in water.
So, if you have been born again and you believe and you have not been baptized with water, please sign up and get baptized with water. Now, is it a heaven-or-hell situation? No, I just wanna make sure you're fully dressed and clothed. It's wonderful, it's a wonderful experience. It's a wonderful experience, man. I'll never forget when I was baptized. It was just like wow, and back then, you know, they had the pool in the church and, you know, the Sunday morning it was baptism morning. And you come in and say, "Take me to the water". And then, some of y'all got baptized in a actual, like, pond or something like that.
I don't do ponds in baptisms, stuff like that, you know? This is an amazing thing, but after that that's not the end. I thought that was the end in my Baptist church. I got born again, I got baptized in water, and I thought I was good to go. But something happened supernatural in my life when I got baptized in the Holy Spirit, stuff that wasn't supposed to happen started happening. I couldn't explain it, but I saw miraculous things begin to happen in my life. I saw favor in my life. I saw a lotta stuff happening because I was endued now. I had the power of God working on me and with my life and in my life, praise God.
So, pay attention to this as we go forth with this. So, we're born again in order to get baptized in water, but now let's look at Acts chapter 19. Acts chapter 19, verses 1 through 10. Oh, hallelujah. Game changer, game changer, oh, my goodness. And listen. When I teach stuff like this, yeah, you expect something different to happen. You ought to walk outta here, "Oh, sookie, sookie. Now I got something here, I'm ready". Somebody say, "What you ready for"? I don't know, but something good gonna happen to me. Something good. In fact, turn to two people and tell them, "Something good is gonna happen to me". Amen.
All right now, watch this. "And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding", this is interesting, "finding certain disciples". So, he's getting ready to find some disciples who have not yet been baptized in the Holy Spirit. "And it came to pass", verse 2, he said, okay, verse 2, "He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And they said unto him", this is funny, "we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost".
And I think that's what some people feel like, "What, holy who"? And verse 3: "And he said unto them, 'Unto what then were ye baptized?' And they said, 'Unto John's baptism'". So, we have to water, and John's baptism was a baptism of repentance as well, right? All right, and then say Paul, "John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, they should believe on Christ Jesus". Verse 5, "And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ", amen. Verse 6, "And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and they prophesied at same time".
I'll show you that more. You can speak in tongues and prophesy in tongue, but you can also prophesy in English. But hands were laid on them, and they speak in tongues, a supernatural utterance given to them by the Holy Spirit that bypasses your brain. It's the most fascinating thing ever happened to me in my life. It took a little time, but, man, they laid hands on me, and I was submersed in the presence of God. I didn't want to leave that place, and I began to pray in tongues, and I could actually sense the presence and the glory of God on me and around me. And the more time I spent praying in tongues and praying in the Holy Spirit, things accelerated, things happened.
I can't explain it all, but my life, my life went into another gear, a supernatural gear. So, I went on this journey, got baptized in the water, and the Holy Ghost fell on our Baptist church and people started getting filled with the Holy Spirit in our baptist church with evidence speaking in tongues. The pastor asked me, he said, "Could you oversee the prayer room"? And he got up, and he preached on seven reasons you ought to speak in tongues. And we'd have a prayer for full of people, and who would never heard of this, Baptist people. And we lay hands on them, and, man, they'd go to speaking in tongues. I had began to walk in the power of that and began to access the gifts of the Spirit that will begin to operate that way.
There's so much for you to know when to be excited about than just getting born again and getting baptized with water, and I exalt those things. Those are amazing, but to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and for me, it was like, I can't see him. I can't do any of that. How do I know it's real? But I was convinced it's in the Word. So, it's in a Word, I believe it, that settles it. And so, that's what happened. I believed it, got into Word, started praying in my prayer language, stuff happened, life changed because I got the empowerment of the Holy Spirit since I believed.
And I think that's what missing in a lot of Christians' life. They don't have no power. They have a status, but when it comes to operating in your authority, I don't know if you're fully dressed or clothed. And so, I thought, man, I need to start preaching more on the baptism of the Holy Spirit because of how it changed our lives. It changed my family's life. Of course, here, I think we still do it, we always invite people if you want to get saved.
Now, there is something called the baptism of the Holy Spirit, would you like to experience that? And we don't force it on people, but I think it's time to produce some teaching here so you can really, really study and get a hold of it. I know people who start studying this and just looking at the Scriptures and got filled with the Holy Ghost, start talking in tongues while they was just studying. And it's just a lot of awesome things that happen, and you'll know it.
Somebody asked me one time, "What if you start speaking something in tongues and it turn out you speaking something bad"? Because the Holy Ghost got your back. He says you won't speak anything accursed. He won't let you, amen. Praise God, amen. Praise God. Now, verse 7, "And all the men were about twelve", verse 8, "and he went into the synagogue and spake boldly for the space of three months".
Now, this is amazing how the Apostle Paul stayed there and continued to teach them. And that's so important. A lot of times we hear things, but we're not settling down and get an understanding, and get clarity, and get teaching on the thing. "And he went into the synagogue, spake boldly for a space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God". I know what Paul preached, Paul preached grace. He made that clear in the book of Galatians.
Verse 9: "But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of the one Tyrannus". And in verse 10, "And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard", watch this, "the word of the Lord Jesus Christ". And the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ is the Word of grace. It's the gospel of grace. They continued to hear for two years, both Jews and Greeks continued to hear that for two years, and that's where the powerful move of God came from, just preaching that right gospel.
Now, so Paul found some who were already disciples, but were not yet filled with the Holy Spirit. So now, let's deal with the speaking in tongues part just for a moment here. Speaking in tongues is a valid gift today. It is a gift. I want to change that a little bit 'cause there was some confusion in times past. What people would say was, "Well, speaking in tongues is a gift like all of the other gifts and, you know, not everybody has all of the other gifts". This is a little bit more of a gift that's presented to everybody who wants it versus the gift of speaking in tongues that's listed in Corinthians. The gift to speaking in tongues is the ability to speak in tongues and then follow through with an interpretation of what you said, that's a gift.
So, if I spoke in tongues... Thus saith the Lord, you should know by five o'clock, you understand it. But then there's the prayer language of praying in tongues. It's a fellowship language. It's a result of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is the overflow of the Holy Spirit that gets on your tongue, and you can pray this way.
I remember we used to be having our corporate prayer on Saturdays and we would, every now and then, get some deep people that would walk in and say, "You're all out of order because, you know, the Bible says once you pray in tongues, then the other one should keep silent while it's". See, you talking about a whole different thing. See, when we praying in tongues, we're talking to God and not to man. But the gift of tongues, I'm talking to man. I'm prophesying something to man. I'm talking to man, but when I'm praying in tongues, I'm not talking to man, I'm talking to God, not man. It doesn't require me to give an interpretation. God understand what I'm saying, amen. So, I just had to politely ask him.
So, you know, we're talking to God, ain't none of your business, see yourself out and go somewhere else. You think you come in here rebuking somebody, you don't even know what we're doing. We're all praying in the Holy Spirit, talking to God, amen. So, that's the difference between that gift of tongues and the prayer language of tongues. That'll come up a lot. So, speaking in tongues, it's a valid gift today and it accompanies receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. So, the tongues does accompany receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
So, some, some say tongues cease with the last apostle. See, over the years, we've always tried to come up with an excuse to get rid of it and not talk about it. And in this day and time, when the last time you heard somebody even teach a sermon on tongues, or besides me? I'm gonna try to talk about it every time I get a chance. It's a joke. I mean amongst the body of Christ it's like, what, you speak in tongues, what? It's just unheard of. And so, they say well, it ceased with the last apostle. When the last apostle died, tongues died and they got this from misinterpreting a Scripture, which I'll show it to you right now if you go to 1 Corinthians 13.
The misunderstanding stems from a wrong interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13, and look at verses 8 through 10. So, has tongues ceased? So, if you can prove to me that tongues ceased, because, I mean they give, in some seminary schools, they give just amazing presentations on why you don't have to speak in tongues. You don't have to do anything, right? Or why don't people speak in tongues today? Well, that's not true, we speak in tongues today. And they say, "well, it ends, it ceased with the last apostle".
Let me show you how they misinterpret this. Verse 8: "Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they", what? "Shall fail; whether there be tongues", what? "They shall cease; and whether there be knowledge, it shall", what? "Vanish away". Verse 9, let's read the whole thing, and then I'll come back and, "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away".
All right, now let's go back to verse 8. Let's milk this for a moment. Now, the whole key is really getting the whole way saying charity never fails, prophecy. There'll be prophecy, prophecy will fail. Tongues shall cease, and knowledge, it shall vanish away. Well, in fact, this whole thing about knowledge in Daniel chapter 12, and 4, somebody said in the last days, knowledge is gonna vanish away. No, in fact, the Bible says in Daniel chapter 12, and 4, knowledge will increase in the last days. It's not gonna vanish away in the last days, but knowledge will vanish away, but not in the last days. Tongues will cease, not when the last apostle die.
All right, so, here's the key to this. Look at verse 9. He said, "For we know in part and we prophesy in part", okay? Verse 10: "But when that which is perfect is come", underline that. "When that which is perfect is come". So, when we see the Lord face to face, that is, that which is perfect is come. When we see the Lord face to face in our glorified body, that which is perfect has come, okay? When you see the Lord, that which is perfect has come. I mean, you got your glorified body, you see Jesus, you don't need prophecy? You don't need tongues? And what was the other one? You already got all the knowledge you need right now, all right? So, when does that stop? When that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
We don't have nothing in part. We're gonna be, do you understand, perfection. Glory to God. When that which is perfect is come, then all of that other stuff will stop. So, now here's the point I want you to get about tongues. Tongues is only beneficial to you while you are in your physical body. See, this is talking about the second return of the Lord, our gathering together unto him, that which is perfect, that's our glorified body, that which is perfect, Jesus in our glorified body.
So, praying in tongues helps only while we are in this physical body and have the limitation of a mind that is not completely renewed. So, if you don't pray in tongues now, you won't need it when you die and when you go to heaven. It's only for now. It's a gift to benefit you while you're in your physical body. So, think about this. Think about going to heaven and finally finding out what could your life have been like, but you did not use the gift. That's a gift, you gotta decide whether you're gonna use it or not, but that's the stuff I think about.
I don't want to go to heaven and find out well, a lot of stuff could have been avoided if you'd have just spend some time praying in tongues. While you are in your body is the only time tongues is any benefit to you. While you are alive in your physical body with your unrenewed mind and your knowing in part self. See, because when I pray in the Holy Ghost, certain things I know in part, I get another part. I can be praying in the Holy Spirit and go in there with no enlightenment at all and come out with a full picture. That's the thing that really causes me.
You gonna be looking for tongues later on, and God's like, "Oh, you only needed that while you were in that body, in that world, in that physical world". And not every Christian understands how powerful that is, but supernatural, Spirit-filled Christians baptized in the Holy Ghost Christians, there's only so much you gonna do to them before they say, "All right, you know, it's time to pull out the guns. There's so much worrying they're gonna do before they do. There's so much walking in the lack of peace before they get on they face and they come out".
How many of you know when you pray in the Holy Ghost for any period of time, you get up in peace. Why do you get up in peace? 'Cause he's already taken care of it. And you don't even know what you said. You don't have any comprehension unless the Holy Spirit gives you a interpretation of what you saying, which he will do, if you ask for it. It's so powerful. There are things I didn't know how to get out of. There are things I didn't know how to make happen. There were things that happened I didn't know how to resolve. And my greatest weapon, Satan hates it because when I go somewhere and I move from talking in English to speaking in tongues, the devil has no defense against a born-again, Spirit-filled, tongue-talking believer who's received the gift. Ain't nothing he can do.
I'm getting excited just talking about it right now, you know? Oh, glory be to God. I am convinced a lot of times revelation comes out of me, that's a result of the time that I spent praying in the Holy Ghost. Speaking in tongues, man. The Bible says you build yourself up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. The Bible also says when you speak in tongues, you speak wisdom, hidden secrets, not made plain to you understand, hallelujah. I just figure the only reason you ain't got it is 'cause you don't know about it. Well, you know today, amen.
Look at Romans 8:26 and then 1 Corinthians 14:2 and 4. Romans 8:26 and 1 Corinthians 14:2 and 4. Yeah, you're gonna have people wondering, what are you doing? How did this happen? When did this take place? How come you're not sad? How come you're not this or that? Or how come you that? You're gonna say, "I received the gift of the Holy Ghost", amen. All right, watch this, 1 Corinthians, what did I say? No, Romans 8:26, Romans 8:26. "Likewise", now this is so amazing. "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities".
Now, look at this. "Likewise the Holy Spirit helps our infirmities", what our infirmities? Weaknesses of the flesh, things you can't do in your physical body. Like how are you gonna pray in English about something you don't even know about? That will be rough, right? You don't even know what's going on, and so how do you pray about something you don't know what's going on? He says, "Likewise, the Spirit of God helps our infirmities:" colon so he's getting ready to tell us how. "For we know not what we should pray for as we ought". There may be things going on with your children, things going on your job, you don't even know how to pray for the thing 'cause you don't know about it. But we know not what we should pray for as we ought.
So, what's gonna happen? But the Holy Spirit Himself, not it, the Holy... see so foreign no relationship with the Holy Spirit, just translate him as an it, Cousin It, Adams Family, remember that? No, he's not an it. He says but the Holy Spirit Himself, what he'll do is make intercession for us. He'll begin to intercede on our behalf about the thing you don't know about and about the thing you don't know how to pray about with groanings, which cannot be uttered in articulate speech.
Now, I did a teaching, oh, maybe I think it was last year or a year-and-a-half ago, I talked about the prayer of groanings and because I just automatically assumed that they were talking about speaking in tongues, which, of course, there are a lot of times in praying in the Holy Spirit, you'll do some groanings as well. But I learned that there was a distinction in the groanings part. You know, Jesus was talking about weeping and groaning. He was actually praying. He stood before Lazarus, began to weep and groan. And what was that?
I used to make fun of it as being an Easter speech, "Jesus wept". They were actually thinking he was crying. No, he was praying. That weeping was a prayer of groaning, glory be to God. I don't know if you've ever gotten to that place, it's where I can't articulate anything. I used to get so full. I used to pray an enormous amount of time praying in tongues, and I would get so full that I could not articulate anymore and I'd just start weeping and groaning, and it was probably the most powerful thing.
Now I understand, I don't have to pray three hours before I weep and groan. All I gotta do is get in the Word and get it in the presence of God, and that'll happen as well. So, I pay attention to that. I pay attention to weeping and groanings. And I've never had that happen to me and it didn't follow it with some type of like, big breakthrough. And listen, when I start saying breakthrough, quit always thinking about a material breakthrough 'cause your outside is just a result of what's going on inside.
Remember Taffi talked about get the inside world fixed, and you'll see God on the outside world. And so, this is what he'll do. The Holy Spirit begins to intercede for you. He literally starts taking intercession and praying about the things you don't know about, and it works both in groanings and speaking in tongues. There was a lady, oh, years ago, and my mom said she did it with me several times. I mean, I was the kind of kid I was curious about everything. I fell out the car on 75, you know, coming from Thomasville, Georgia to Atlanta. I was back there playing with the little latch just wondering what happened if I put that up.
Did that, fell out the car and she looked back, and I was gone and the door was open. And came, she said didn't have a scratch on me. I'm like, so that's what happened, you know? We do all kinds of stuff, and she did a lot of praying, she still does to this day. My mama will tell you, she don't miss a day spending time with God. She says, "I'm telling you". And then she'll look at you and say, "You need to do the same thing". She says, "I don't even feel right if I don't spend time with him, and he talks to me, and he walks me through stuff". And listen, you know, somebody 81, I'm gonna listen what you're saying.