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By Jeff Redington Here I would like to address a subject which can be confusin to many people. Even the best of the best ministers today can barely even attempt to simplify this subject. One of the things that complicates this subject, is that so many religions have completely missed what the Holy Spirit is in the first place, thinking it to be something that turns humans into some sort of spiritual super humans, like the Pentecostal speaking in tongues experience, or possibly some additional work of God that comes after paying some great and perfect price, like the Holiness Movements teachings on "Sanctification", calling it a second work of grace, which most who seek, fail to get, and must seek it all their life, making many attempts, but never getting it truly. Why is this? It is because they are seeking for something that does not exist. Note: The Church of God Restoration does not have a clue what the Holy Spirit is. They do not have the Holy Spirit. Thus this is absolutely why they do not love you, the true children of our God, who have the very Holy Spirit from God in your soul. What is the evidence you have the Holy Spirit? It is none other than watching how you treat others, that will be the best sign that you have the real Holy Spirit. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 4:7-9 Here is the very reason this group cannot and will not recognize you as one of them, why they completely have to get rid of you. They will even use statements like, "...there is something wrong in your spirit", in order to get you to submit to them. This is only to belittle you and the very Spirit of God in you, the Holy Spirit that God gave you to cry out against all wrong, even if it is in your groups leaders, even if it is in the, "one true church", which they think they are. When they reject you they are really rejecting the spirit that is within you. The Holy Spirit. The Simple Truth When you look in the Old Testament you will find references to the Holy Spirit, and in almost every case where the Holy Spirit is sited, it is referring to someone's spirit. I am not here proposing that this is all the Holy Spirit is, but only that we can more simply understand how the Holy Spirit from God can be applied in our life. To help prove my point let us look into the theory I want to build on here. If I mentioned that someone had an evil spirit, you would immediately think of someone who's very spirit was radiating evil in their actions, and especially in their treatment of others. They are hateful, unkind, critical, hurtful, and disdain those who are good, they are evil down to their very core. They have an evil spirit. If we said they received the "Evil Spirit", we would know just what kind of person they would be. Ask and you shall receive. Now lets look at the Holy Spirit of promise. Jesus taught us that all we have to do is ask and we receive it. It is that simple. The scripture "...ask and you shall receive", was not in reference to money or things, but in reference to the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the authority here, and he said that if we as earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more would God give us his Holy Spirit. So you don't have to work yourself to death, to get this one, all you have to do is ask. This very scripture teaches on the authority of Christ that you do not have to pay the perfect price to get the Holy Spirit. Also you do not have to speak with "other tongues" in order to get it either. The CoGR will laugh at the Pentecostal's, but they should look in the mirror. Their doctrine of how to receive the Holy Spirit is just as laughable, they have made it impossible to receive, and to see the show they put on trying to get it, would amuse nearly anyone. They take Old Testament logic of sacrifices and offerings and try to somehow make that the rule for receiving the Holy Spirit. Even a song they sing, "... and when you have paid the perfect price, God will send the Holy fire", is utterly false doctrine. Jesus said just ask. God will send. Was Jesus a liar? This group the CoGR and many who teach this doctrine have made Jesus out to be a liar, they say that it is not that simple. It takes more. Again, Jesus said ask, and you shall receive. Just ask God and he will give you the Holy Spirit. Now what is so hard about that? Seems simple to me. What is this Holy Spirit? I have down through the years tried to take the complex and narrow it down to something practical in my everyday work and life. Like standard operating procedures or rules of thumb. Guidelines. Something simple to explain something that most make complicated. In the trades these are many times called trade secrets. Little secrets that make a professional able to do his job much easier than others, allowing him to get paid at a higher rate. So in the Christian life God decided that he wanted to make it simple. No more sacrifices and offerings which he hated anyway. No more mega book of laws that had to be constantly gone over so the people could remember it. No more earthly priesthood. No more special nation of people. All the old way gone. Now the new. Simply God said that I will take all that I am and all that I want and put it in their hearts. I am Holy and I will give them the very same thing. I will give them a Holy Spirit. You see the Holy Spirit is not some sort of mystical thing you cannot understand. It is not some sort of weird spirit that makes you act strange and out of control. The Holy Spirit is nothing more than the very essence of God put in your heart. All that God is, put in your heart, to lead you, to teach you, to guide you what to do and speak. We above talked about someone who had a "Evil Spirit". Now lets talk about someone who has a "Holy Spirit". This person would display a kind spirit. They would be kind, courteous, helpful, truthful, loving, pure, apt to teach, not hide things, and would truthfully confess their sins. This person would be the total opposite of evil. They have the Holy Spirit from God. Another way to say this and a way that clear's this up in my mind is to say, "... they have a spirit that is Holy", or you could say their spirit is Holy. You might say they have the spirit of Christ, or the spirit of God. They are in his likeness. I have heard major arguments that the spirit of Christ and the spirit of God, and the Holy Ghost are all different. I am not here to argue this. Here is the simplicity of the Holy Spirit. You can ask for it and you receive it, no hidden strings attached. What you receive is the very essence of God's spirit, which is holy, in your heart. God's spirit that is holy put in your heart to lead you into all that he would have you do. Because you have God's very essence in you, you will be able to live according to his will. So instead of all the external rules, of the Old Testament or a group, being the source of your guidance, you have a new spirit in you that is your guide, the Holy Spirit from God. Thus if you are led by this spirit you are the sons of God. The Holy Spirit which we have received is simply that, a Holy Spirit. So if we yield to the Holy Spirit which God has given to us, this spirit that is Holy, will led us into all truth. Let no man confuse you about how simple this is. Ask God to put his spirit in you. God is Holy and thus when he sends his spirit it is the Holy Spirit, a Holy Spirit. The Church of God Restoration and the Holy Spirit Don't be confused either by all the doctrines and teachings of the CoGR or any group with similar teachings. They are false. They do not teach this simple truth about how to receive the Holy Spirit as Jesus taught it. Either Jesus is right or they are right. Because they both teach two different doctrines. Jesus vs. CoGR. I will side with the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, the Almighty One, the Saviour, the one who has spoken to me since I was a child. The one who was so kind to give me his very Holy Spirit. They do not know us, because they have receive another spirit. That is why you do not fit in. You do not belong. You are a thorn in their side. You are not liked by them. You are a pest to them. You must be destroyed. You must be kicked out of the group. Why? Because they do not have the Holy Spirit of God, but another spirit that divides and destroy's. Do you have a spirit that is holy, kind, loving, and helpful? Do you have a spirit that see's evil and questions it, even when it is in those who are suppose to be the leaders of God's people? Does your spirit contradict this Church of God ministry and get you in trouble with them all the time? Do not yield to them. Yield to the Holy Spirit of God and you will see right away that these people are not of God. Yield to the spirit of Love and you will find out they have the spirit of hatred. They will outright hate you if you talk about the Love of God, and make that your life and focus. Sure they can sing about it, but do they have it. Don't believe this just because I am saying it, they will prove it for you, just as soon as you start standing for what you know, in your spirit, is right, you will start to get in trouble. Right will go against their totalistic ways and you will be on the outside looking in soon enough. Ask for the Holy Spirit that comes from God, and this Spirit that is holy will guide you into all truth. It will teach you how to treat others with kindness. How to be loving and true. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and they will have God as their Father, Jesus as their Saviour, and the Holy Spirit to be their guide. They will have no need of all the extra-biblical teachings of any movement. Imagine that, you do not need the CoGR to be holy. You do not need them to know the truth. Clifford Wilson one of my former pastors in the Church of God (Guthrie) once told me and I believe it to be true. 99% of the New Testament was written to teach us how to get along with our fellow man. The truth that the Holy Spirit teaches is how to treat others as ourselves, how to love. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. James 3:16-18 Now if God sends his Holy Spirit to live in your heart it will be all of the above and more. When you examine a group, and its effect on its people, does it display the wisdom as mentioned above? Lets examine the Church of God Restoration. Are they pure? No they hide things in order to appear to be pure. Are they peaceable? No they are confrontational to all who oppose them. Are they gentle? No, they are mean. Are they easy to be intreated? No, if you attempt to point out their flaw's they will destroy you and your reputation. Are they full of mercy? No, they excommunicate you. Are they full of good fruits? No, they do not have good fruits, they are very destructive to families, your character, and marriage as well. Are they without partiality? No, if you have lots of money to donate to the group you can get by without their abusive control, they do not want to offend that one. But the poor they can just cast aside without a thought. Are they without hypocrisy? No, they preach one thing and will testify in front of judges in court the total opposite. In every case they prove themselves to not have the wisdom that is from above. They are first hurtful, they are mean, they destroy all who would not submit to them or oppose them, they will excommunicate you, they are destructive to families, they give partiality to those who have wealth, they ignore the poor, and they lie to the judges of the land about what they teach. Now does this sound like a group or person who is filled with the wisdom or Holy Spirit from above? The Church of God Restoration does not have the wisdom from above or the Holy Spirit. They have no power of God, so do not fear them. They think they are some mighty Lion roaring out the will of the Almighty, but don't be fooled by all that. They are of no use to God and his kingdom because of all their lies, and hypocrisy, they are what Jesus called whited graves, white washed on the outside, but inside they are full of dead mens bones. If you could see the total destruction this group has caused all down through the years, it would shock you. In other words they have no life in them. It is all an outward show, and no fruit to back it up. Their words have no meaning. They are like dead men. They can do no work, they can be no earthly good. They should cease from what they are trying to accomplish and repent of their sins, and they have plenty of them. This group has a lot of confessing to do. They should start repenting now, before they do not have enough time, to make restitution, for all the bad they have done in so many lives. I prayed that God would bring to an end this Chilliwack / Nooksack Church of God Restoration, it was so bad, and I did not at the time realize how bad. God answered, and it ended less than four months after we left. In fact it is no longer. Let us pray that God will uncover all the evil of this group and bring it down just like the tower of Babel. They have lifted themselves up so high that we need to pray that it's far reaching destruction be stopped. I did not know what was wrong then, but I do now. They are not of God. "Lord, please will you stop what is going on over there." This of course will mean a lot of pain for a lot of folks. But it is better than the alternative, that they go on and on doing their destructive work and abusing their people. |