My point is, basic salvation and the baptism with the Holy Spirit are not sufficient to deal with the self-will so prominent in the Christian churches.

The central characteristic of Satan, of Antichrist, of the False Prophet, is self-will. All the other sins spring from self-will.

Satan wants to be like God but yet maintain his self-will.

Satan seduced Eve into exercising her will against God.

The first sin was not immorality, murder, or covetousness, the first sin was disobedience.

The first punishment was not entrance into Hell, it was death. This is because self-will separates us from God.

The Christian churches of today are filled with self-will.

In the secular realm in America, self-will is glorified. The rights of the individual are elevated over the rights of society as a whole. This is Antichrist.

We cannot endure patiently with Jesus Christ unless we are willing to let the Lord crucify our self-will. It is our personal cross that will keep us from being deceived by the wickedness of the last days. Jesus will guard us against deception if we will agree to patiently bear our cross. Our cross will destroy our self-will if we will bear it faithfully.

We have been saved. We have been filled with the Spirit. Now we must go back to the Lord. God is not requiring of most of us to attempt to save the nations of the earth. What God is looking for in our day is believers who will return to Him and allow Him to deal with the worldliness, lust, and self-seeking in their personality.

The seven furnishings of the Tabernacle of the Congregation portray our growth in Christ, commencing with the Altar of Burnt Offering and finishing with the Lid of Propitiation (Mercy Seat).

While we are at Pentecost we are at the place of the golden Lampstand. The Lampstand was the fourth furnishing. The Lampstand was the most ornate of the seven furnishings of the Tabernacle and threw light on the Table of Showbread and the Altar of Incense. So it is that Pentecost is beautiful and illumines the other aspects of God's dealings with us.

We of Pentecost are standing at the Lampstand.

The next furnishing, the one following the Lampstand as we approach the Veil, was the Altar of Incense. The Altar of Incense, the fifth furnishing, was the last stop before we passed through the Veil into the very Presence of God.

The spiritual fulfillment of the Altar of Incense is characterized by the cup of suffering. It is here we bow in death to our self-will. It is here we cry "Not my will but Yours be done" and drink the cup of total obedience to God's will.

Our Pentecostal experience strengthens us so we can hold up our body as a living sacrifice to God in fulfillment of the Altar of Incense.

Another type of our death to self is the River Jordan. We must die here to all of our personal ambition before we can begin the conquest of the land of promise.

Yet another type of our death to self is the Jewish Day of Atonement or Day of Reconciliation. We are reconciled to God by submitting to His perfect will in every aspect of our personality and behavior. The Day of Atonement is a period of warfare as God comes against everything in our personality that is not in harmony with His will.

To be continued.