Spirit brings refreshing but living by the letter brings spiritual death.

Isaiah 28:11-13

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

“For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people…” Isaiah 28:11

That verse is referring to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. In the book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit infilled people, who came to Jesus Christ, they began to speak in “tongues”, “with stammering lips and another tongue”. Paul refers to the verses of Isaiah 28:11-12 when he said, “In the law it is written: “With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,” says the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 14:21

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is spoken about within the posts from Acts 2:14-21

Click here for a list of Scriptures of Paul speaking about the non-essential nature of “tongues”.

The Lord gave the Holy Spirit to whoever came to Jesus Christ, which included the non-Jewish Gentiles. Many Gentiles spoke in tongues as a sign to the unbelieving Jewish culture, but even then, the Jewish people refused to hear about and receive Jesus as the Christ and Son of God. “Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.” 1 Corinthians 14:21 Prophesying means to speak the testimony of Jesus Christ, “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelations 19:10 Prophesying is for we who speak the testimony of Jesus, not for unbelievers.

The Holy Spirit, through Paul, made it clear that the testimony of Jesus Christ is much more important than “tongues”, as quoted, “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.” 1 Corinthians 14:4 Also, the Holy Spirit, through Paul, said that tongues is a gift that not everyone receives, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” 1 Cori 12:7-11

“To whom He said, “This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest,” and, “This is the refreshing”; Yet they would not hear.” Isaiah 28:12

Living by the infilling of the Holy Spirit gives us rest and refreshing, unlike trying to live by the letter of the laws of Judaism, and other rules, regulations, and mandates. The Holy Spirit brings life to our spirit, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death…Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 8:2, Acts 3:19, Romans 10:13

The rest we have is in Jesus Christ, as quoted, “For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His...For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Hebrews 4:10, Ephesians 2:9-10. The Christ Jesus says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

If you can say that Jesus is your Lord, and not to speak against Him, you have the Holy Spirit, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:3

“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:38-39

The Jewish people, and the culture of the beast of today, do not want to hear about the refreshing of the Holy Spirit. They do not want to say “Yes!” to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and do not want the Holy Spirit to be part of who they are. Today’s culture, which is global, serves the beast that gives them what to feel, think, say, and do. The beast gives breath/life to the image of the beast to speak by speaking and living through people. By what they are given to say and do, they are groomed to the mark, name, number of the beast.

Joel 2:28-32 speaks of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and is quoted in the post on Acts 2:17-18.

“But the word of the Lord was to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little,” that they might go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught.” Isaiah 28:13

The Spirit of the Lord, through Isaiah, was speaking against the Israelites for refusing to listen to the Spirit of His word that would have brought them rest and refreshing. That is what the Christ Jesus had against the Jewish people of His day, as quoted, “For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers…For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in…For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Matthew 23:15:4, 13, 15

Today, the Lord is against the Jewish people for rejecting life in the Holy Spirit, rejecting Jesus as the Christ and Son of God, and for not “hearing” the word of God concerning Jesus. The Jewish culture lives by the letter of the laws of Judaism, like precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little there a little. The letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives rest, refreshing, and life, “…[Jesus] who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” 2 Corinthians 3:6 As we see today, the Jewish people have fallen backward, are being broken, and caught in the snare of their rejection of Jesus Christ, “See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you will see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” Matthew 23:38-39

The letter of the law that today’s culture is living by is given by the beast that gives them what to speak, do, think, and feel, like precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little there a little. The beast intends to kill the refreshing and rest found in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit. The sole purpose of the beast is to give breath/life to the image of the beast to speak by speaking and living through people. The global culture of the beast will go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught.

“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’” Matthew 9:13

Our Lord Jesus came as a human being, with a human spirit, and given conception by the Spirit of God. He is our example that God wants to bring us refreshing and rest within our spirit by the presence of the Holy Spirit. We must be born-again in the Spirit by our faith in the testimony of Jesus, “Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 True worshippers will worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11