Volume I - Edition 1
"A Message from the Spirit to Every Pastor"
September-October 1996When Were the Disciples Born Again?
Every pastor ought to be asking this most important question of the church: "When is a person born again"? If, as a pastor, you are laboring to "build up and edify" the body of Christ, the only means of accomplishing that is to know "who" the body of Christ is. In order to answer that question, one has to consider an issue foundational to it, and that is "when were the disciples [or the apostles] born again"? The body of Christ is built upon the "foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Eph.2:20), so it is vital to know when the apostles were born again! I have spoken to many pastors and laymen and have yet to meet one person who has ever seen the import of this issue. Ignorance of knowing when the disciples were born again leads to ignorance of knowing when a person is born again today. And it is because we do not know when a person is born again, that we have been left to "devise our own ways", to the hurt and "confusion" of the church. Let's remove the confusion so we can truly help the precious saints whom God has called us to minister to. Being Born Again is Being Born of the Spirit
Being "born again" is the same thing as "receiving the Spirit": "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (John 3:6-7). . . "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none
of his" (Rom.8:9).If a person does not have the Spirit, he is not born again. Being born of the Spirit is how one enters the church. So with that truth in hand, we must ask ourselves the logical question, to wit, "when did the disciples receive the Spirit?", for clearly they could not, and were not, born again without receiving it. The New Testament
The "New Testament" is God's promise to write the law in the hearts of men by giving them the Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant [testament] with the house of Israel and with the
house of Judah... I will put my laws into
their mind, and write them in their hearts" (Heb.8:8,10) Therefore, the New Testament did not begin at the birth of Jesus, but after his death: "For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator" (Heb.9:16). So we see that the disciples did not receive the covenant of the Spirit prior to Jesus' death. The New Testament also could not have begun sometime between Jesus' resurrection and his ascension: "Whereupon, neither the first testament was dedicated without blood... It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these" (Heb.9:18,23). Just as the high priest went into the holy of holies with the blood of the lamb each year, so Christ also had to enter into the true holy of holies in heaven. The first covenant needed an offering of blood to make it effectual. Likewise,
the blood of the Lamb needed to be offered for Jesus to obtain the "promise" of the Father for us. Therefore, the disciples were not born again until sometime AFTER Jesus ascended into heaven.It Took Pentecost...
The disciples could only have been born again on the Day of Pentecost. For Jesus had to first "receive of the Father the promise of the holy Ghost" (Acts 2:33). That process took 50 days ("Pentecost" means "50th"): 3 days he was buried in the tomb (Luke 24:46); 40 days seen of men on the earth (Acts
1:3); and 7 days (as the disciples were in the upper room) for Jesus' consecration as the high priest, prior to his entering the true "holy of holies" (Lev.8:33). It was at Pentecost where the disciples first received the Spirit (Acts 1:4-8). That is when they were "born again" and when they entered the church. It was all the same event. What Does it Mean?
It means that no one is born again until they have received the "holy Ghost baptism" just as the disciples did for the first time at Pentecost. It means that only those receiving the same Spirit baptism are in the church: "For by one spirit are ye all baptized into one body" (1Cor.12:13). Pastor, "Christianity" is not the church. Those believing in, and speaking well of Jesus are not the church (no matter how many there are). But it is vital that we know "who the church is"! The church consists only of those who have received God's Spirit. The issue then becomes, "does everyone who receives the Spirit speak with other tongues?" Jesus said Yes (John 3:1-8). Paul said yes (1Cor.14:21-22). I urge you to order, free of charge, our materials to find out why the answer must be "yes", and how knowing that will help you as a pastor. If you love the Lord, you love the Spirit "for the Lord is that Spirit" (2Cor.3:17). And if you love the Lord, you love God's people . . . Let's get the truth out to the hungry sheep of God!
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