Acts 12:24-25 - Corps Notes - September 7, 1976
Acts 12:24-25 September 7, 1976 I was thinking today about some of our research and teaching ministry, and I was thinking that I’d like to see this Corps really master the book Receiving The Holy Spirit Today, Are the Dead Alive Now, and Jesus Christ is not God. I really feel in my heart that those are three of the great pieces of research and teaching that are available to our people today. I said tonight when I opened that these are times that try men’s souls. These are times that’ll find out whether you really believe God’s Word, arid whether you really stand, or whether you blow with every wind of doctrine; slight and cunning craftiness whereby men lie in wait to deceive. I know you have great goals in your life. Many of you have put forth a lot of effort to be in the Corps this year. Well, if I felt it important enough to get into the Corps, I think I’d feel important enough to see it through and to really get the great understanding in available. These are literally times that’ll try your souls. There’s a tremendous amount of criticism that is rising against our ministry. Some of our people are Corps grads who have turned against the ministry. But every man has to make up his own mind. You can feel sorry for people but that doesn’t help them any. They can feel sorry for you and that doesn’t help you either. I just know that some of us have been at this ministry and this Word for a few years and we’re still standing on what we believe is the greatness of God’s Word. About the only way I know of teaching is the way I do teach, and that is just to make my life a part of your life, which is very treacherous, but at the same time it’s the only way I know of teaching. And that first Corps objective is that we develop within ourselves a real innate ability of the spiritual depth and awareness, the spiritual awareness of the greatness of God and His Word. I was thinking today, as I was getting ready for tonight, about the very people who object to our ministry and thi
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go to sleep. That's what I did with it. Now, verse 27. King James says, Neither (or neither) give place to the Devil. The word 'place' is simply a portion, a part. No believer will give full place to the Devil, but he may be giving a part, a portion. He' ll mark off a spot, ' this is Devil' s permission over here, over here, no permission, you know. And you really give the Devil a portion or a spot if you stew about it after you go to bed and you toss and you tum and can' t sleep. This word 'the Devil,' ' the Devil' in the Aramaic is a very interesting and exciting Word to me and it blesses my heart. It' s a compound word where the first part means ' to eat' or ' to devour.' The latter ' to slander' or ' to accuse. ' So when I got to translating this, literally according to usage, verse 27 reads: Do not give any portion or space or an opportunity to the Devil. So I used those three words