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<>T H E S I G N O F 'SPIRIT SLAIN'<>

HOW IT IS ILLUSTRATED IN THE BIBLE

Generally, the common reference cited to slain-in-the-Spirit is

in John 18:6; The mob came to arrest Jesus. They said, "We seek

Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said, I Am [He]," they went backward,

and fell to the ground, stunned by the authority vested in the Holy

name of the all powerful incarnate God of Israel. These were hard

men, perhaps even reprobate, not fearing God or man. In like manner,

God showed His power in hardening the heart of Pharaoh, that

His name might be declared in all the earth.

Some have said that the mob simply retreated, but the Scriptures

are clear that they both retreated AND fell to the ground. The Greek

word for fall can mean to suddenly go from a standing posture to

a prone position, or it can mean to fall down in worship, or to quickly

change altitudes. Whatever the case, it is clear that these men were

not cast down by the devil, neither by fear which is of the devil; nor

were the men overcome by surprise to find Jesus there; Judas knew

Jesus was in the garden where Jesus often resorted to pray; it was

due to the words of Jesus that they fell. There is dynamite power in

the name, "I Am."

Praise be to God! --the same sunshine that hardens the clay, also

melts the ice!! When a person is slain in the Spirit, depending upon

the purposes of God, he has a chance for the hardening of the heart

which ends up in barrenness, or the softening of the heart which brings

fruit unto holiness.

Often, the sign of 'slain in the Spirit' is manifested during the laying on

of the hands of the anointed minister. The impartation of the Holy Spirit

through the laying on of hands is a FOUNDATIONAL doctrine listed in

Hebrews 6:1,2. Many churches and individuals have forsaken this part

of the foundation.

Read in Acts chapter 8 below:

V.14 "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria

had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

15 "Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might

receive the Holy Ghost:

16 "(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized

in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

17 "Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost."

The Holy Spirit has placed the slain-in-the-Spirit sign in the Church,

and it is documented throughout the Holy Scriptures:

To further support the claim regarding the term "SLAIN in the Spirit",

in the Book of Revelation 1:17, the Apostle John reported, "And when

I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though I were dead. And He laid His right

hand upon me, and said to me, 'Fear not; I Am the First and the Last ..."

I Kings 8:10,11 "And it came to pass, when the priests were come

out of the holy [place], that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,

so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for

the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD."

2 Chron. 5:13b, 14 "... The house was filled with a cloud, [even]

the house of the LORD; so that the priests could not stand to minister

by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house

of God."

The priests above were impressed to leave the sanctuary because they

could not stand to minister due to the immense power of the glory of

the Holy Spirit. It remains to be seen what would have occurred if they

had resisted the Spirit by trying to stay in the house. You see in the

immediately preceding verses that the priests had brought the ark into the

holy place, and it was then that the glory filled the house. It was this same

glory in 1 Samuel 5, verses 3 and 4 that caused the idol, Dagon, to fall

symbolically in worship before the ark of God. In verses 6 and 11 of the

same chapter we see that the hand of God was heavy upon the Philistines

whom He smote with sickness and death, because they violated the anointing,

resisting the glory of the Holy Spirit.

On the other hand, in Psalm 32:4,5 we see that when the hand of the Lord is

heavy upon one who has a fixed heart panting after God, good fruit results:

"For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into

the drought of summer. Selah.

I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said,

I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the

iniquity of my sin. Selah."

Dan. 8:17 "So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was

afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Under-

stand, O son of man: for at the time of the end [shall be] the vision.

18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face

toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.

26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which

was told [is] true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it [shall be]

for many days. 27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick [certain] days;

afterward I rose up, and did the king's business ..."

Gen. 2:21 "And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam,

and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh

instead thereof." Notice that painless surgery and healing was involved here.

The Holy Spirit was anaesthetic for Adam. People who have been slain

in the Spirit say it feels like falling on a pile of feathers. They often arise

healed from various afflictions.

Again, I Sam. 26:12b "... No man saw [it], nor knew [it], neither

awaked: for they [were] all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD

was fallen upon them."

You can see that God can suddenly induce a deep sleep. This sleep is

so deep that men are "as dead". You may call it what you want.

'Spirit slain' is as good an acronym as any. 'Spirit slain' is an

abbreviated way to describe an occurrence that would otherwise

take a mouthful to utter. The term is not found in Scripture anymore

than the words, 'rapture' or 'trinity', but these phrases readily communicate

in few words some areas of Biblical Truth. (Incidentally, 'triunity' is

more specific and accurate than the word, 'trinity'.)

To try to dissect in the languages of Hebrew, Chaldean, and Greek these

contemporary theological phrases: 'Spirit slain' or 'falling out in the Spirit'

--is putting a square peg in a round hole. It is already established that these

are only convenient descriptive terms modern Christians use for some

ancient Bible themes.

Nonetheless, the word 'slain' refers to 'being dead'. We see the word 'dead' in

several of the verses above. Thankfully, the awesome presence of the Lord didn't

actually slay these men, but they were only "as dead." 'As dead' is the best

way the Holy Ghost could explain to our human minds what happened.

How about the expression 'falling out in the Holy Ghost'? Is the word

'falling' always negative. We FALL down and worship the Lord.

We talk about FALLING peacefully asleep,

or FALLING vibrantly in love with our Lord. How about partaking of

a drink of the FALLING refreshing rain of the Holy Spirit? How about

falling in line with sound doctrine or think of Christian soldiers obediently

falling in step to the voice of the Captain of our Salvation, the Lord of

Hosts, the Lord Mighty in battle !

Some have depicted 'Spirit slain' as being overwhelmed or overcome by

a blanket of waves of the love of God. I have been admonished, on the

other hand, that 'overwhelm' and 'overcome' are oppressive demonic

words. To that I say we are more than conquerors, OVERCOMERS in

Christ, and through the power of the Spirit HE will overcome the proud

resistance of our flesh. He will burn out the dross that is in us. One of

the ways He does this is by 'slaying a person in the Spirit'. Who can

stand in the awesome presence of God?

When the evil King Saul was OVERCOME by the Spirit of God "he stripped

off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay

down naked all that day and all that night." [1 Sam. 19:19-24]

Do you have to be slain in the Spirit?

No. This is only one of several ways He deals with us, but we should

make every effort to insure that we are in such an environment.

Many are running from this manifestation of the Lord because they are

not sure that He that is in them (the Christ) is greater that he (the devil)

that is in the world. "... Be of good cheer; I have OVERCOME the world."

The worldliness that needs to be conquered first is the worldliness in our

own hearts. Fear not to be slain in the Spirit by the overwhelming infinite

love of God; God is love, and perfect love casts out fear, for he that fears

is not yet made perfect in love.

As the temple of God, the Church, nears completion, I look forward to that

day when I as a spiritual Levite, prostrate before the Lord, will not be able to

stand in the glory of the temple, because of the overflowing abundance of the

presence of the Spirit as foreshadowed in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.

[Haggai 2:9] "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the

former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith

the Lord of hosts."

THE NATURE OF SKEPTICS:

Those who oppose the changes in their lives facilitated by the Spirit of

Revival do so because they fear change, resist restored truths (new to them)

and refuse to come out of their comfortable theological zone. They are

harboring carnal desires, knowing that the Spirit will purge away these

things if they should enter an environment not bound by dead tradition,

an environment where the Spirit of the Living God is flowing in breathtaking

splendor.

Because of this crusty veil over their hearts many cannot see the relationship

between the 'deep sleep' mentioned above and the dynamic sign, Spirit

slain. It is necessary for the seed to die in order for it to bring forth much

fruit. Those slain in the Spirit have made another step in the sequence of death

unto self. We see in the above verses how the men (Daniel/John) FELL at

an angel's feet or the feet of Jesus (depending on what verse you are reading)

as if dead due to this sudden deep sleep, and emerged from their sleep to gain

a greater revelation of the wisdom of God. This is most certainly good fruit.

We are reaping the benefits of that fruit today, as we read their inspired report.

Notice that there was nothing demonic or uncomely when Daniel and John

FELL down into a deep sleep.

AS TO NEGATIVE FRUIT:

We have heard distant rumors of people barking like dogs and

behaving with uncomely deportment. We have never observed the

like firsthand. The aforesaid actions sound like some sort of overreaction

or perhaps a carnal counterfeit. We also denounce this behavior.

What starts in the Spirit can sometimes degenerate into fleshly

false humility, if there is not proper mature oversight. This is why

we so urgently stress the restoration of the true Bible pattern of

apostolic order and structure in the present church. Allegedly,

some of these negative occurrences were in DENOMINATIONAL

churches not completely familiar with God's pattern for leadership.

Praise God that their denominational background did not prevent

them from being open to the Holy Spirit, and the sign of 'Spirit

slain', despite whatever setbacks they may have incurred. No doubt,

compensatory adjustments have long ago been made.

THE DANGER OF SKEPTICISM

If a person has convinced himself that the sign we sometimes

call 'Spirit slain' is not in the written Word, then that same Word

is prepared to make a further appeal to them:

As the unique ministry of Jesus unfolded before all, it was said,

"Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened

the eyes of one that was born blind." i.e. such a miracle was

NOT recorded in the Old Testament (Tanaach). The miracle

stood on its own merits, without a scriptural precedent. It was a new

precedent. But the murmuring Pharisees (in other words) said, "If it is

not in the Old Testament, we will not believe. It therefore must be the

power of beelzebub." They could not discern the positive quality of

the Holy Spirit. If the eye is dark (referring to one's biased manner

of viewing things) then the whole body including the heart is darkened.

To the impure in heart, all things are unclean.

The pessimist always sees a cup that is half-full as being half-empty;

He worships the negative. To him everything is wrong and nothing right.

These Pharisees were placed on the fulcrum point of either

blaspheming, or receiving the ministry of the Holy Spirit displayed in

the healing ministry of Jesus. It was a moral decision, not a cerebral

decision. Jesus rejoiced that Spiritual revelation is given unto babes.

This same apostolic anointing turns the hearts of the children

toward the fathers, as well as the heart of the father into

a maleable receptive child's heart.

It is hardly surprising that those who resist this sign of 'Spirit

slain' in their hearts should also war against the final acceleration

of the last days 'Elijah Ministry' that dynamically changes hearts as the

refreshing power of the Holy Ghost is poured out on mankind.

If the first century is depicted as the last days, how much more

so this blessed late hour in which we live! Though sin abounds,

grace much more abounds. While the world waxes darker and

darker, the Church will glow brighter and brighter with the reflected

glory of the Christ. Persecution will be the catalyst, as "Gideon's

candles" shine forth from broken clay vessels. Proverbs 4:18 -

"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more

and more unto the perfect day."

Daniel 11:32b "... but the people that do know their God shall be

strong, and do exploits." V. 33 - "And they that understand among

the people shall instruct many, yet they shall fall by the sword, and by

flame, by captivity, and by spoil many days."

"For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness

the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall

be seen upon thee." [Is. 60:2]

A WORD OF CAUTION:

The enemy may have a counterfeit for the sign of slain-in-the-Spirit. But

Our assurance as Christians is in Luke 11:11 - "If a son shall ask bread of

any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish,

will he for a fish give him a serpent?

V.12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children:

how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them

that ask Him?"

Can a Christian be possessed of the devil when he is the possession of

God, bought by the precious blood of Jesus ? Oppressed maybe.

Possessed never.

If an adversary should declare all manifestations of slain-in-the-Spirit to

be of the devil, they are close to "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit", attributing

the works of God to Satan: [Mark 3:29] "But he that shall blaspheme against

the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

V.30 Because they said, 'HE [JESUS] HATH AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT.'"

Matt. 12:36 "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak,

they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment."

I pray that they only in ignorance come against the Holy Spirit and the sign

of slain in the Spirit. One who eschews anointed churches is indeed ignorant,

due to lack of empirical evidence.

"Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say,

nor whereof they affirm." [I Tim. 1:7]

Proverbs 14:7 - "Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou

perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge."

In 2 Tim. 3:5 we read of the last day's counterfeit church: "Having a form of

godliness, but denying the POWER thereof: from such turn away."

If I were an adversary, I would say that this power is the gospel alone, the

'power of God unto salvation', but God Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, said

that these signs shall follow those that believe [the Gospel]: casting out

demons, healing, tongues, etc. are these signs. How much healing and casting

out of devils do you see amongst those who resist the sign of 'Spirit slain' ?!!

Many who say,

"Lord, Lord ..." have the gospel in so many WORDS, that is, they can quote

the Bible, but "the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in POWER."

Power is not philosophical or theoretical--it is demonstrated:

1 Cor. 2:4 "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing

words of man's wisdom, but in DEMONSTRATION of the Spirit and of power:

V.5 "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power

of God."

CONCLUSION:

Many well meaning people greatly misunderstand the operations of the

Spirit if they cannot comprehend the function or operation of the

Spirit with their carnal minds. When the human spirit is ignited by

an intimate encounter with the Almighty God, it is a miracle that we

can even survive such an encounter, seeing how great the Holiness

of God is. Thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ that enables us

to bask in His Presence free of guilt, while we are gently but firmly

transformed by the awesome power of His Holiness, instead of being

destroyed! PRAISE KING JESUS CHRIST !!! (to go to Revival page)