[Pchris]

THE MINISTERING OF ANGELS IN THE THE EARLY CHURCH AS SEEN IN THE BOOK OF ACTS
The ministry of angels did not stop with the ascension of Jesus . During its early period, when the church was growing , we find angels ministering to God’s people. The church itself is a testimony to angels of the wisdom of God.
There are many scenes in the book of Acts of the Apostles that describe the angels’ presence in the life of the young church. The book of Acts was written by St. Luke whose Gospel describes with great beauty and precision the appearances of the Angels of God from the first pages to the last.
1)TO DIRECT THE FOCUS OFTHE APOSTLES
When the Lord ascended into heaven ,two men dressed in white believed to be angels were in the midst of the apostles to remind them of their duty ; ‘Men of galilee. Why do you stand looking into Heaven? This Jesus ,who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into Heaven’(Acts 1:11). After hearing these words, the apostles went back to Jerusalem and there in the upper room together with others of like mind, They awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost . After the arrival of the Holy Spirit the apostles
with bravery and conviction , began to preach Christ in all His Glory and truth. In this way and with help of the Holy Spirit, they converted many to Christ.
The angels must have looked on with great joy as they witnessed the beginnings of the Church.
In this book of Acts , we see the angels coming and going with ordinariness that shows us how the natural and supernatural are woven together in the life of the Church.

2) TO SECURE PETER’S RELEASE
St. Peter , the first pope , had a particularly powerful experience with the ministry of angels .
(Acts 12:1-7) : In this passage, we see the early church strengthening Peter with their prayers on his behalf and GOD heard the prayers of the church.
The very night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers , bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison ; and behold an angel of the Lord appeared , and light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying ‘Get up quickly’. And the chains fell off his hands.
Peter thought that he was still asleep and that the angel was revealing to him a pathway through death. But instead , he was about to be restored to the church. Just as once the Lord had sent His angel to protect Daniel from the lions den and just as once the Lord had sent His angel to protect the three young men in the fiery furnace , so now the Lord sent His angel once more to the first Pope , a servant of Christ , to protect him and to ensure that the nascent Church might continue to grow and to be strengthened .

3) IN THE CONVERSION OF THE FIRST GENTILE TO CHRISTIANITY
As the book of acts continues, we see another wonderful episode in which the angels intervened in the life of the Church. While Peter was staying in Joppa, he heard the Lord Jesus’ voice commanding him to eat non –kosher food. This was a preparation for the next chapter in Peter’s mission . Shortly thereafter Peter was informed that a group of gentiles was outside , calling him to go to the house of a certain Cornelius , a Roman centurion in Caesarea.
He said to them , ‘you yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation ; but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. So when I was sent for , I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me. And Cornelius said ; four days ago, about this hour , I was keeping the ninth hour of prayer in my house ; and behold a man stood before me in bright apparel saying, Cornelius ,your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God .’ (Acts 10 :28-31). And Peter , impressed by this angelic message that confirmed the revelation made to him in joppa, replied in (Acts 10:34-38).
God uses His angels as messengers in this crucial moment when the first gentile convert to christianity, together with his family , was received and baptized by Peter . A centurion was a proud and feared soldier , a leader whose men obeyed him unquestioningly, and was formed by the violence and discipline of an often brutal military culture.
The conversion of such a man required nothing less than an overwhelming transformation. Grace had already invaded his soul . since he told Peter that he was keeping a time of prayer when the Angel appeared to him.

4) IN THE BAPTISM OF A EUNUCH
In the story of St. Philip the deacon, we see another instance in which an angel arranged all things for God’s plan and purpose . Philip was one of the seven original deacons , together with St. Stephen , and he preached in Samaria among the people the Jews considered to be heretics . His preaching was marked by many miracles , especially by the casting out of demons . But as he completed his work there , an angel appeared and said to him ; Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. (Acts 8:26).
Philip followed the angels message immediately . Along the road , he came across an important servant of the queen of Ethiopia. This man was a eunuch who had come to know the Jewish faith , He was seated in his carriage reading aloud ( As was the custom of the time ) from the scroll of Isaiah , but he was confused about the meaning of the passage . Philip immediately realized that the reason he had been brought to that place at that moment by the angel was to speak to this man; to answer his need and to preach to him the Gospel of Christ . The man immediately responded to this grace and asked for baptism, which Philip conferred.
This passage is especially important because , in enlightening and baptizing the eunuch , Philip did something extraordinary for the building up of the Church.
Eunuchs were outside the community of Israel (Deut. 23:1), and so this baptism initiated the extension of the preaching of the Gospel to all peoples of the world.

[Pchris]

REPLY TO BEN
Your experience of God’s grace is really mind blowing and serves as a faith booster for me. However the first instance you gave reminds me of the case of my elder brother who graduated from the university and found it very difficult to get a job for 8years. After multiple job applications and interviews all to no avail, he eventually got a job with one of the leading oil companies in Nigeria. The job came in such an unexpected way that It is safe to say that it can only be by God’s grace. Unlike the previous interviews where he had to be present in person and go through a rigorous process, the interview that led to his current job was conducted via phone call and after the call, he was asked to proceed for medicals. It was so swift , easy and also unexpected . God’s grace abounds and super abounds towards us.

[Pchris]

There are several definitions for the term ‘ Grace ‘ but for the purpose of this first instance in my life , I will be going with the definition that states that: Grace is God’s willingness to use His power on my behalf even though I don’t deserve it.
I personalized and chose this definition of Grace because it is actually what played out in my life.
The year 2011 to the early months in 2017, I was in the bondage of smoking and drug addiction. This bondage is one I willingly stepped into, it is safe to say that I deserved to be in that bondage. This lifestyle was one I thought I enjoyed, it was one I thought made me relevant and look cool amongst my peers but little did I know that I was not only living an ignorant life because I was also an unbeliever but I was also negatively affecting my loved ones. It affected my marriage, my relationship with my family, my ability to function properly in school because I was always intoxicated and this is to say the least.
On the faithful day of July 5th 2017 , I experienced the power of God that came like a hand and emptied me of all the trash in me. This happened during a midweek service in my local assembly . It was shortly after the sermon I had this experience and it is one I can never forget because it was unexpected and I was undeserving of it.
The Word of God hit me so powerfully that I accepted Christ there and then. Something mind-blowing happened after that experience, I discovered I no longer had the urge to smoke or take those intoxicating drugs anymore, That marked the beginning of my freedom. God willingly used His mighty power on my behalf.
After that experience, I felt so empty and it bothered me so much that I had to reach out to the pastor of my local assembly , he then told me that I experienced the Grace of God and that I had to start filling myself up with the things of God. I ran with that advise and it is safe to say that i am a better version of myself now and currently walking in God’s purpose for my life. The book of 1 Corinthians 15:10 ( But by the grace of God , I am what I am and His grace toward me was not in vain : but I labored more abundantly than they all , yet not I , but the grace of God which was with me ) NKJV sums up my current state.
The second instance in my life where the grace of God manifested was when I had anger issues as a weakness. The definition of Grace as God abounding or to super abound in quality and quantity best describes this instance.
After receiving salvation, I still battled with anger , I mean anger that sometimes leads to a physical altercation or the use of really harsh words. It was a weakness I battled with for an unspecified period of time, It went on until I came across 2 Corinthians 12:9 ( And He said to me , my grace is sufficient for you , for my strength is made perfect in weakness ) NKJV
I started confessing this word of God over my life until it became evident in my life that the grace of God abounds towards me.
I can now say for sure that anger is no longer a weakness in my life. My reaction to certain things that would previously trigger an unpleasantly severe reaction from me is no longer the case .
By the Grace of God active in my life , I now approach things in a more subtle manner.
Everytime I remember the Grace of God in my life, it causes me to praise and worship Him.

[Pchris]

MY REPLY TO SOTON
In the case of Jesus Christ, one might ask How is it possible that Christ did not have a sin nature if He recieved His body and soul from His mother? Firstly, The fact that He was kept from having a sin nature must be considered a miracle wrought by the Holy Spirit just as His physical birth was . With reference to the book of Luke 1:35 ” And the angel answered and said to her , The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the Power of the Highest will overshadow you. Therefore also that Holy one who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
Secondly, for procreation to take place it requires the union of a man and woman which was not so in the case of Jesus Christ.

[Pchris]

MY REPLY TO BEN
In agreement to your summary which seem to be in agreement to the traducian theory, According to John Macarthur – who said this in support of the traducian view: while it is true that several verses speak of God making a person’s soul or spirit, it is also true for the body . David stated in the book of Psalm 139: 13, 15 ( For you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother’s womb . My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth). These statements do not mean that the body is created directly by God apart from natural procreation. God is man’s creator , but God also ordained human procreation for the filling of the earth ( Gen 1:28).
God uses natural means for procreation yet He is the ultimate cause of the process. As a complex unity of body soul and spirit, our entire being including the soul, is a result of the God ordained procreation process.

[Pchris]

Man is a threefold being which means , man is a spirit who has a soul and lives in a body. My focus in this essay is on the soul. There are different views on the origin of the soul but for this purpose , I am going to be looking at the three (3) major theological views on the origin of the soul and they include :
1) SOUL CREATIONISM
Soul creationism is a theological view held by some christians which states that God creates a soul for each body that is generated. It goes further to state that the origin of the soul cannot be by spiritual generation from the souls of parents because human souls, been essentially and integrally simple and indivisible, can give forth no spiritual germs or reproductive elements. I disagree with this view as it is a conjecture to the origin of the soul.
The Word of God says in Genesis 2:2 ( ” And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.) NKJV.
If I have to agree with the view of soul creationism that for each body, God creates separately a new soul when he/she is born , then I do not herein affirm that He makes anything which He had already made. God had already made man after His own image on the sixth day and this work of His is unquestionably to be understood with reference to the rational soul of man.
I believe this view originated from John 5:17 ( My Father is at work until now , so I am at work) . This theory has difficulties because , how is the sin nature transferred if God gives everyone a soul apart from the parents ? Does He give them souls that are prone to sin from birth unlike how He created Adam? Because this seems unlikely. It is true on one hand ,that God rested from creating things which previously did not exist and equally true on the other hand that He continues still to work, however not only in governing what He has made, but in multiplying what already existed.

2) TRADUCIANISM
The word traducian come from the Latin word tradux which means ” branch of a vine ” . This means that every human being is a branch off of his / her parents.
This is a theological view that states that both soul and body are generated by father and mother. This is in opposition to the creationist view that says God creates every new soul directly. I agree with this view because God gave man the dominion mandate and in order to do so, man must procreate his own kind. Gen 1:28 (Then God blessed them and God said to them , ” Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.) Because of the dominion mandate given to man to multiply his own kind , the traducian view holds that the parents are only the instrumental cause of the new human soul. To strike a balance with this view, I will rightly state that God is still the efficient cause.
A strength of traducian theory is that it best explains human depravity. In reference to Paul Enns : (If the parents pass on the non material nature , then it explains the propagation of the sin nature and the tendency from birth of every human being to sin. The sin nature cannot be explained if God creates each soul directly.)
In considering the transfer of the sin nature of man , Romans 5:12 says ” Therefore just as through one man sin entered the world , and death through sin and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.
Also in Psalm 51:5 ” Behold , I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin may mother conceived me.
A strength of this view is the hereditary factor. Not only are we like our parents physically, but also commonly in personality, intelligence and emotions which are components of a soul. If God directly transmitted the souls apart from the parents , then these traits would not be as prevalent.
3) PREEXISTENCE THEORY
This view teaches that God originally created a number of souls and some are joined to human bodies at conception or sometime later. I disagree with this view as there is no clear statement in the scripture that supports this view.

IN CONCLUSION
God is the creator of man . Man was made in His image as a direct , special creation . God formed man from the dust and breathed into him the breath of life and he became a living soul (Gen 2:7) . However after God ceased His creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them, He commonly creates now through secondary process which He developed in the original creation.

[Pchris]

I totally agree to your point stated that sin was not part of God’s creation. Sin doesn’t originate from God.
Sin is an act considered to be a transgression against God. Biblically, sin is ultimately sin against God.

THREE FACTS ABOUT SIN
1) SIN IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT IS RIGHT
Only God in His infinite wisdom and character can and had determined what is right for man. God has revealed what is right through the person of His son Jesus Christ and in the Gospel.
According to 1John 3:4 ( whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness) NKJV. “Lawlessness” in the above scripture is the failure to be law abiding . An all-wise God has determined laws that is best for mankind and sin on the other hand, is the failure to live by that divine law.
Anything contrary to God’s word and how He wants you to live is sin.
God wants us to live right by Him , He wants us to serve and obey Him but sin is the exact opposite of that. Sin seeks to make God a liar. No one should be ignorant of sin because sin is clearly defined in the Bible…
2) SIN HAS THE POWER TO DECEIVE
Hebrews 3:13 ( But exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘today’ , lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.)
While sin exhibits it’s pleasure , it conceals the pain and shame that follows . It promises more and returns less than anything known to man. For example if you yield to the sin of fornication and eventually contract an STD, it’ll bring a sense of regret because it didn’t present itself as an action that carries such weighty concequence in the first place but rather an action that’ll be beneficial to you both sexually and financially.
Sin presents itself as the fulfillment of all the flesh desires and seeks to fulfill. It appears quite pleasurable In it’s pursuits.
Sin occurs as a result of one yielding or succumbing to temptation from the devil. No one is free from temptations, even Jesus was tempted in all points as we are. Temptation is evil and God never tempts anyone . The root of every sin is the devil, do not expose yourself to the devil but rather expose yourself to the word of God if you want to come out victorious.
The longer we yield to sin, the harder it is to resist it. The reverse is also true , the longer we resist the devil and his temptations, the easier it is to resist. James 4:7 ( Therefore submit to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you)
3) SIN NEGATIVELY AFFECTS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
We were created primarily to fellowship with our Father (God) . We are created in the image and likeness of God and He has a divine purpose for each and every one of His creation.
Through temptation, the devil attempts to steal your identity and purpose in God, with the hope that he/she would succumb to the temptation.
Sin brings guilt and in turn severes your relationship with God. Just like in the case of Adam and Eve, they always enjoyed fellowship with God not until sin came and negatively affected there relationship with God.
Guilt is the state of having done wrong, liability to penalty. Guilt cannot stand in the presence of God.
As a believer, understanding this fact about sin has helped me to constantly practice spiritual sensitivity, knowing that the natural instinct of guilt is to avoid the presence of God, I am always on alert.
My relationship and fellowship with God is very important to me and I always seek to guard it with all deligence . 1Corithians 10:12 ( Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall) NKJV
Practicing spiritual sensitivity through the renewal of my mind with the word of God, consistent prayers and meditation on God’s Word has helped me easily detect the deception of the devil.
As a believer, understanding that your relationship with God is constantly under attack by the devil , has made me place a high level of importance to my relationship. I clearly understand that I should In no time engage in a conversation with the devil because by doing this, it will only make me prone to succumbing to his lies. The only one I should always be in consistent communication with is my ABBA, For His word reveals both the intention of the devil and the thought of God towards me.

[Pchris]

WAYS WHICH JESUS OPERATES AS THE HIGH PRIEST FOR THE BELIEVER TODAY

1) AS OUR ADVOCATE 1 JOHN 2:1-2
Jesus Christ stands in the gap for us believers, He speaks to God on our behalf and speaks to us on behalf of God through the person of the Holy spirit. When we are in need , He brings our needs to God and intercede for us.
By virtue of His death , resurrection and ascension, Jesus stands as a mediator between God and man.
Jesus is our advocate, He is literally our Lawyer . He makes appeals , He files motions and defends us even when we were wrong because of His grace ,empathy and forgiveness. He is actively fighting for us.

2) AS OUR SAVIOUR
Hebrews7:25 ‘Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him , since He always lives to make intercession for them’ NKJV
There is a guarantee, that those who go through the Son to the Father are saved. Jesus remains and will always be the passage way through which unbelievers can access God the Father.
The gospel is for man to be reconciled to God through Christ.

3) HE SYMPATHIZES WITH OUR WEAKNESSES
HEBREWS 4:15-16 ‘ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.’
Jesus Christ our High priest is One who can relate to our weaknesses because He was once man like us and He had emotions. He is in the best position to plead our course and this is because He dwelt amongst us an can relate to our struggles . He is able to offer the right support and succor to us because having been tempted and knowing what it feels like to be tempted, never yielded to sin.

[Pchris]

EXAMPLE 1
Exodus 32 vs 10 ‘Now therefore ,let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them and i may consume them, and i will make you a great nation. nkjv

After the isrealites responded to God’s faithfulness in delivering them from egypt by making a golden statue to worship and having a party around it.
God confronted Moses on mount sinai and revealed His plans to burn hot and consume the children of isreal. And Moses responded with a plea in verse 11-13
verse 11 ‘ Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God , and said ‘Lord ,why does your wrath burn hot against your people whom you have brought out of the land of egypt with great power and with a mighty hand .’ nkjv
After Moses’ plea ; God relented from the disaster He had spoken of bringing on His people. Looking at the above scriptures , it may seem as though Moses’ plea convinced God to change His mind by reminding Him of something He had said .
This action of God seems to contradict His word in Numbers 23 vs 19 ‘God is not a man that He should lie , nor is He a son of man that He should repent.
Reconciling this with the unchanging nature of God we must understand that God’s plans are unfolding. God is too big to contain in neat ,tidy formulas.
The above scripture indicates that God changed His course of action based on Moses’ plea, but the irony of the story is that in Exodus 32 vs 7 , God is the one who tells Moses to go down and see the situation . Moses didn’t know the people had corrupted themselves, God showed this to him.
Furthermore , the very thing that Moses uses to ‘change God’s mind ‘ is God’s own promise and God of course hadn’t forgotten His promise because He is omniscient.
God had put Moses into a situation so that he would see the problem God already knew about ,remember God’s promises and petition God to change His course of action. Moses’ prayer itself is a result of God’s plan.

EXAMPLE 2
GOD PROLONGING KING HEZEKIAH’S LIFE 2KINGS 20 VS 1-6

It happened that at the time King Hezekiah fell terminally ill and God sent His word through His prophet Isaiah that he was going to die, but King Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to God for mercy. God heared his prayers and added 15 more years to his life .
It may seem as though God acted contrary to His word in ‘ Isaiah 55 vs 11 – So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth, it shall not return to me void but it shall accomplish what I please , and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.’ nkjv
But reconciling this with the unchanging nature of God , we must understand that we have a God who is relatable and make sense to us . God is not rigid or static, our God is a merciful and compassionate God .
God doesn’t need permission or consultation from anyone to be the God that He is. His word in Romans 9vs15 ‘ for He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion’ . This scripture further affirms the unchanging nature of God.

[Pchris]

The Holy spirit’s ministry to the world of unbelievers is the work of conviction. The Holy spirit’s work of conviction means to place the gospel in such a clear light that the unbeliever understands what the content of the gospel is and to acknowledge that the gospel is true , regardless of whether or not the person accepts it. It is important to bear in mind that it is the Holy Spirit that has the conviction ministry and not the body of Christ.

An instance of the conviction of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the new testament is found in the book of Acts 3 and Acts 4:4.
In the above scriptures, it can be seen that the man at the beautiful gate that was lame from his mother’s womb, experienced a miracle and was able to walk again

3 THINGS IT PROVES

1) The gift of working miracles
The man at the beautiful gate was well known by the people because not only was he lame from his mother’s womb, he was also well known for asking alms from people who entered the temple.
When Peter set his eyes on him , he manifested the gift of working miracles through the Holy spirit and the lame man was able to walk again.

2) it proves the gift of special faith.
Every gift of the spirit is operated by faith . That is the kind of faith that passively receives a miracle. The same kind of faith Peter operated with.

3) It proves that there was an impact on the unbelievers. Acts 4:4( However, many of those who heard the word believed ; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.) Nkjv

From the above scripture, the unbelievers who saw the miracle perfomed by Peter through the help of the Spirit and also heard Peter and John preach the gospel, were convicted by the Holy spirit and they believed.

[Pchris]

The Book of Hebrews fall under general epistles. Other General epistles include (James, 1Peter, 2Peter, 1John, 2John, 3John and Jude).
The book of Hebrews circulated independently for a long period of time before been accepted into the New Testament.
I choose the stance that Hebrews fall under the General epistles because of the following reasons.

1) NO CLAIM OF AUTHORSHIP
The anonymity of the book of Hebrews does not seem to be an accident. The first sentence of Hebrews (Hebrews 1:1-4), which is where Apostle Paul would normally identity himself as the author, if Apostle Paul wrote the book of Hebrews why did he not claim authorship of the book as he does in every letter he wrote? Usually in most of the Pauline epistles, Paul claims authorship by introducing himself as a “Bondservant of Jesus Christ” or “An Apostle of Jesus Christ”.

2) REFERRING TO JESUS AS HIGH PRIEST
Apostle Paul could not have been the author of the book of Hebrews because no letter of Paul refers to Jesus as High Priest. This is an important theological difference between the letters of Paul and Hebrews.
The style and language of the book of Hebrews are different from Apostle Paul’s other letters.

3)THE AUTHOR WAS SOMEONE WHO REMEMBERED THE APOSTOLIC TEACHINGS

It is suggested that Apostle Paul could not have been the author because the author of Hebrews includes himself among those to whom the gospel was confirmed by those who heard Jesus Christ(Hebrews 2:3) . Apostle Paul however argued strongly in Galatians that he had not recieved the Gospel from anybody but directly from God (Galatians 1:11-12).
No other book in the New testament ties together old testament history and practices with the life of Jesus Christ as thoroughly as the book of Hebrews. Just as Jesus taught that the old testament was fulfilled in Himself. So the author of Hebrews taught that the old covenant was brought to completion in the new covenant . The book of Hebrews also shows that because the old covenant has been fulfilled in the new covenant , the new covenant is actually better. The new covenant was made superior by the ministry of Jesus Christ.

[Pchris]

The effects of the fall of man

1) Cursed environment
The punishment of Gen 3:17-18 reveals that man’s sin(fall) caused the curse against the ground , resulting in the troublesome thorns and thistles and a change in the way the natural world works . The ground was cursed throughout the whole earth making survival very difficult.

2) Changed Relationships
The fall of man damaged man’s relationship with other people. Immediately after the fall, Adam and Eve relationship with one another took a turn for the worse. Adam blamed Eve and God for his sin. And Eve on the other hand blamed Satan ( Gen 3 :8-13). There was fear, shame and blame but no remorse or repentance. Relationships began to suffer . It is was not long after the fall that Cain killed Abel. (Gen 4:8). We see in the scriptures that before the fall of man, the man and woman were naked and unashamed. Shame altered man’s relationship with himself.all of us now struggle to some degree with self worth because of our sin .

[Pchris]

In the old testament the Holy Spirit was not indwelling and His presence was not guaranteed always. There was temporary inspiration that came upon different men to carry out great and mighty feats for God.
In the Old testament the Holy Spirit inspired all kinds of men.
Great men and prophets such as Daniel, Ezekiel, Othniel, Joshua, Gideon etc just to name a few,produced outstanding results through the sometimes overwhelming inspiration of the Holy spirit.
Prophets were able to write scriptures in such a way that there was unity in them . Even if some of the Prophets never knew or met themselves, this was able to be achieved through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This inspiration is what false prophets never had.
The inspiration was not forced or triggered by them but the Prophets could put themselves in a place where they could recieve from God .

[Pchris]

In the old testament the Holy spirit was not indwelling but often came upon prophets and selected individuals. The Prophets even though couldn’t trigger the presence of the Holy Spirit but could put themselves in a position to be inspired by the Spirit. In the old testament, the people of God couldn’t be guaranteed of the presence of God always.
The Holy spirit was responsible for the inspiration of the Prophets in the writing of the scriptures and this is what false prophets never had. These inspiration was not forced or triggered by the Prophets. Prophets and men such as Daniel, Ezekiel, Othniel, Gideon, Moses etc Just to name a few were able to carry out great and mighty feats for God through the sometimes overwhelming inspiration of the Holy spirit.

[Pchris]

1. JAHAZIEL ( The son of Zechariah)
2Chronicles 20:14
From the above scripture, it is seen that the Holy Spirit came upon Jahaziel to pass an instruction to the people of Judah.
This instruction an guideline from the Holy Spirit came at a much needed time when the people of Judah where faced with an intending attack and invasion from the Moabites, the Ammonites and the people of battle .
After the king heard about the attack that was coming against his people, He immediately sought the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.
The people of Judah gathered together to ask for help from God and in the gathering the Holy spirit came upon Jahaziel and singled him out to pass a message and directives on how to overcome the battle ahead. ( 2samuel 20:15-17)
Through there obedience to the instruction of the Holy spirit, The Lord went ahead of them and set ambushes against the people of Ammon, mount seir and Moab and they were defeated.
The people of Judah through the help of the Holy Spirit were not only victorious but we’re able to find abundance of valuables on the dead bodies of there enemies.

2. OTHNIEL
Judges 3:10
The Holy Spirit came upon Othniel in the time when the Israelites cried out to God in captivity of the king of Mesopotamia.
It happened that the Israelites did evil in the sight of God and they forgot their God and served other gods. This act of the people of Israel brought the wrath of God upon them and God delivered them as captives to the King of mesopotamia.
After 8years of captivity in the Land of Mesopotamia, the people of Israel cried out to God and God heard there cry. The Holy Spirit came upon Othniel and through the help of the Spirit he was raised up as a deliverer for the Children of Israel. He went out to war and the Lord delivered the King of mesopotamia ( Cushan Rishathaim ) into his hands and he prevailed over the King , And the children of Israel enjoyed 40 years of rest afterwards.

3. SAUL
1Samuel 10:10
In the above scripture, it is seen that the Holy Spirit came upon Saul and empowered him with the ability to prophesy among prophets that came to meet him.

4. SAMSON
Judges 14:6
It happened in the time when Samson went to Timnah with his parents to take a wife from the daughters of the Philistines. When they got to the vineyards of Timnah, a young lion roared against Samson and the Holy spirit came mightily upon him and gave him supernatural strength such that he was able to tear the lion apart.
He was able to do what seemed impossible to man through the help of the Holy spirit.

AMASAI
1Chronicles 12:18
The Holy spirit came upon Amasai the chief of captains and empowered him to speak to David words of peace while David was fugitive from Saul at ziklag.

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