WesleyGospel Ministries

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John Owen, The Mortification of Sin (Banner of Truth, 2004). “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

Originally from here.

We referred in our previous meditation to the link between Elijah and John the Baptist. At the end of the Book of Malachi, in the last few verses of his prophecies, it is foretold that, before the great and terrible day of the Lord, Elijah would be sent. When you open the New Testament you find the disciples referring to that prophecy and asking the Lord Jesus about it, seeing that He claimed to be the Messenger of the Covenant, the Lord Who had come. With that in mind, they were in reality voicing their own perplexity: The prophets said Elijah would come first, but we have not yet seen Elijah! The Lord Jesus pointed them to John the Baptist and said that this was Elijah, that Elijah had come and they had done to him what they would. When you go back to the prophecies concerning John the Baptist, you find this among the things foretold: “And he shall go before His face in the spirit and power of Elijah…” (Luke 1:17). In thinking upon that second chapter of the Gospel by Luke, in which occurs the account of the birth of the Lord Jesus, and the birth of John the Baptist, you can hardly fail to be impressed with the way these two are brought together in the chapter. It is a most remarkable thing. We are shown Zacharias fulfilling his course in the temple, the angel appearing to him, and all that the angel spake as to the birth of John. Then there is a breaking off, and the record of the angel appearing to Mary is given, and the annunciation. This is followed by the visit of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth in the hill country, and the two coming together in that way. It was said that John the Baptist should go before the face of the Lord, and that he would do so in the power and spirit of Elijah. You look for the inner meaning and significance of this, and you remember Elijah and what he stood for. Elijah is an abiding example of a consuming jealousy for the rights of God. Now that spirit is transferred to John the Baptist, and he runs before, clears the way, announces the coming of Christ in the spirit of Elijah. He is bringing in the rights of God in the Person of Jesus Christ. He is, in effect, in purpose, bringing God into His place in the Person of His Son. John the Baptist closes the great succession of the prophets (he is the greatest of the prophets in one sense) by handing the Lord Jesus into the place of God’s full rights, and pointing to Him, and saying to all who beheld, “Behold, the Lamb of God…” That was to say, in effect, This is the One in Whom God secures His rights; here is God coming into His place. Are you prepared for Him to rule in your life? That was the issue from that time onward.

That is the zeal of the Lord, and that is the way—as becomes instantly patent—to heavenly fulness. When we speak of heavenly fulness we cannot dissociate it from the Lord Jesus. In Him all the fulness dwells, but the question is, How are we coming into that fulness which is in Christ, and of which we saw the life of Elisha to be typical? It is by the Elijah way; by that way wherein God has His full place and all His rights secured to Him. You can see this throughout Elijah’s life.

Again, passing in review some of the salient points of his life, you see that his jealousy for the Lord marked every step of the way. The introduction of Elijah is very sudden and abrupt. You are simply told that Elijah the Tishbite confronted Ahab one day and said: “As the Lord, the God of Israel, liveth, before Whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” Thus suddenly, coming from we know not where, appearing on the scene and making his declaration, we meet for the first time this man who stands for the rights of God.

Bloody rain
Floods these streets, came falling onto the Earth
Run away
A thunder hangs above me like an eye

Holy Ghost
I’m on fire
Holy Spirit
I’m on fire

Blows a wind
It fills and quakes the houses from above
Wide awake
Burning out the foxes from the vines

Holy Ghost
I’m on fire
Holy Spirit
I’m on fire

A display
Tongues of fire against the night
The display
Ignites your mind (ignites your mind)

Feel the waves
Crash against the concrete from below
A new wine
Intoxicates you slowly out of time

Holy Ghost
I’m on fire
Holy Spirit
I’m on fire

A display
Tongues of fire against the night
The display
Ignites your mind

Holy Ghost
I’m on fire
Holy Spirit
I’m on fire (I’m on fire)
Holy Ghost (Save, save, save)
I’m on fire (Save, save, save)
Holy Spirit (Save, save, save)
I’m on fire (Save, save, save; I’m on fire)
Holy Ghost (Save, save, save)
I’m on fire (Save, save, save)
Holy Spirit (Save, save, save)
I’m on fire (Save, save, save; I’m on fire)

–Deftones, “Milk of the Madonna”–

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 He that prophesieth, speaketh unto men to edification,
and exhortation, and comfort.
–1 Corinthians 14:3 (KJV)–

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Adam Clarke, The Christian Prophet and His Work (Schmul, 1999).

Keith Green, “The Man Behind the Message.”

Archibald Alexander, Thoughts on Religious Experience (Banner of Truth, 1996), ch. 7.

Ira Milligan, Understanding the Dreams You Dream (Treasure House, 1997).

Jeff Doles, Miracles and Manifestations of the Holy Spirit In the History of the Church (Walking Barefoot Ministries, 2007), ch. 7. John Knox and the Scottish Reformation preachers were all into dream interpretation and the gift of foretelling prophecy. Knox regularly received a list for divine healing prayer during the Sunday service.

Daniel Jennings, The Supernatural Occurrences of John Wesley.

—. The Supernatural Occurrences of Charles G. Finney.

Dr. Charles Carter, ed. A Contemporary Wesleyan Theology, 2 vols (Zondervan, 1983).

Ernest S. Williams, Systematic Theology (Gospel Publishing House, 1953).

Harold Horton, The Gifts of the Spirit (Gospel Publishing House, 1934).

T. Austin Sparks, Prophetic Ministry (Destiny Image, 2000).

Dr. Jack Deere, Surprised by the Voice of God (Zondervan, 1996). Avoid suicides with eternal security go to heaven (pp. 176-177).

—. Why I Am Still Surprised by the Voice of God (Zondervan, 2022). Avoid cuss word book endorsed by God’s leading (pp. 225-227).

Augustin Poulain, The Graces of Interior Prayer (Kegan Paul, 1921). Avoid the Catholic errors of Purgatory, earning salvation by good works, and praying to saints.

In your garden I can rest
Here I’m safe from all harm

Your face gives me comfort
Your arms give me rest

Your garden is beautiful
All I want is to be here with you

Your love is always surrounding me
Your love is always surrounding me

Your face gives me comfort
Your Arms give me rest
Your word is my foundation
Your name is alive

–Selfmindead, “Always”–

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Many who heard the message believed;
so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.
–Acts 4:4 (NIV)–

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
–John 20:29 (NIV)–

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Dr. Jack Deere, Surprised…Power of the Spirit (Zondervan, 2020). Has AUDIO BOOK.

Dr. Craig Keener, Miracles Today (Baker, 2021). Had AUDIO BOOK.

Dr. Randy Clark, Eyewitness to Miracles (Thomas Nelson, 2018). Has AUDIO BOOK.

Dr. John R. Rice, Healing In Answer to Prayer (Sword of the Lord, 1944).

J. Graf, ed. Healing: The Three Great Classics on Divine Healing (WingSpread, 1992).

John Wimber, Power Healing (HarperCollins, 1987).

WesleyGospel, “Why Cessationists Don’t Hear the Voice of God.”

—. “Debunking Cessationism.”

Lee Strobel, Seeing the Supernatural (Zondervan, 2025).

Archibald Alexander, Thoughts on Religious Experience (Banner of Truth, 1996), ch. 7.

Ira Milligan, Understanding the Dreams You Dream (Treasure House, 1997).

Daniel Jennings, The Supernatural Occurrences of John Wesley.

—. The Supernatural Occurrences of Charles G. Finney.

Jeff Doles, Miracles and Manifestations of the Holy Spirit In the History of the Church, ch. 7. John Knox and the Scottish Reformation preachers were all into dream interpretation and the gift of foretelling prophecy. Knox regularly received a list for divine healing prayer during the Sunday service.

Thomas Boys, The Suppressed Evidence (Hamilton, Adams, and Co, 1832).

Dr. Charles Carter, ed. A Contemporary Wesleyan Theology, 2 vols (Zondervan, 1983).

Greig and Springer, eds. The Kingdom and the Power (Baker, 1997). 463 pages.

Robert Graves, ed. Strangers to Fire (Empowered Life, 2016). 592 pages.

E. S. Williams, Systematic Theology, vol. 3 (Gospel Publishing House, 1953), chs. 6-9.

P. C. Nelson, Bible Doctrines (Gospel Publishing House, 1948), ch. 8.

Harold Horton, The Gifts of the Spirit (Gospel Publishing House, 1934).

John Sherrill, They Speak With Other Tongues (Chosen Books, 2018).

CBN, “Joan Fitzgerald: In the Authority of His Name.” In 2005, Joan prayed for a woman named Leslie in North Church in Carrollton, Texas. Leslie suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. In 2005, Joan says Leslie’s knees deteriorated so far that both needed to be replaced. In a wheelchair, Leslie was unable to bear her own weight. Joan asked Leslie to stand up on her own in the name of Jesus. When Leslie got out of the chair, the congregation held their breath. Then she began to walk, then run and then dance. The room went wild…Joan prayed for a man named Mike who was confined to a wheelchair after suffering a severe neck and spinal cord injury. His hands and feet had grown severely twisted and he was in constant pain. Then Joan prayed for Mike and anointed him with oil. His feet untwisted, he stood, kicked the wheelchair behind him and began to walk. Today he is totally healed and living a blessed life.

Charles Spurgeon, “The Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus.” This proves the futility of all opposition to Christ. The learned are going to destroy the Christian religion. Already, according to their boastings, it has pretty nearly come to an end. The pulpit is effete, it cannot command public attention. We stand up and preach to empty decently benches! Nothing remains for us but to die decently, so they insinuate. And what then? When our Lord was dead, when the clay-cold corpse lay, watched by the Roman soldiery, and with a seal upon the enclosing stone, was not the cause in mortal jeopardy? But how fared it? Did it die out? Every disciple that Jesus had made forsook him, and fled, was not Christianity then destroyed? Nay, that very day our Lord won a victory which shook the gates of hell, and caused the universe to stand astonished. Matters are not worse with him at this hour! His affairs are not in a sadder condition to-day than then. Nay, see him to-day and judge. On his head are many crowns, and at his feet the hosts of angels bow! Jesus is the master of legions to-day, while the Caesars have passed away!

Grace to You, “The Promise of the Holy Spirit, Part 2 (John 14:15-24).” This is the sermon where John MacArthur actually said this: “I’ve never felt the presence of God. I don’t even know what that means.”

Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
–Romans 3:14 (NIV)–

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
–Romans 12:14 (NIV)–

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Arthur Devine, The Commandments Explained (R. Washbourne, 1897), p. 196.

John Flavel, Sinful Speech (Banner of Truth, 2009).