Encounters of a Heavenly Kind—Part 2
By: Pastors Rodney & Adonica Howard-BrownePublish date: 07/28/2019
Fire Week 2019—Summer Campmeeting
Foundation Scriptures:
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. 12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. 19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; 20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Revelation 1:10-20 KJV
1. John on the Isle of Patmos.
a. “I was in the Spirit [rapt in His power].” (AMPC)
b. Rapt means: deeply engrossed or absorbed; transported with emotion; carried off spiritually to another place, or sphere of existence.
c. “On the Lord’s Day, the Spirit took control of me.” (Easy-to-Read Version)
d. His head and hair were white like wool—wool that is white as snow.
e. His eyes were like flames of fire.
f. His feet were like brass that glows hot in a furnace.
g. His voice was like the noise of flooding water.
h. He held seven stars in his right hand.
i. A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth.
j. He looked like the sun shining at its brightest time.
k. When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man.
2. Changed from Glory to Glory.
a. 2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV — But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
b. My life was changed—40 years ago, July 1979—the fire fell on me.
c. The inner fire.
d. 2 Timothy 1:5-6 AMPC — I am calling up memories of your sincere and unqualified faith (the leaning of your entire personality on God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), [a faith] that first lived permanently in [the heart of] your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am [fully] persuaded, [dwells] in you also. 6 That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination].
e. Stir up the inner fire.
f. Rekindle the embers.
g. Fan the flame.
h. Keep burning!
i. 2 Timothy 1:7-8 KJV — For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God.
3. Fire in My Bones.
a. What is in your bones?
b. A fire you cannot contain.
c. Jeremiah 20:9 ERV — Sometimes I say to myself, “I will forget about the Lord. I will not speak anymore in his name.” But when I say that, then the Lord’s message is like a fire burning inside of me! It feels like it is burning deep in my bones! I get tired of trying to hold his message inside of me. And finally, I am not able to hold it in.
d. Hot, cold, or lukewarm.
e. Revelation 3:14-22 KJV — And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
f. It’s time Church!