Right from Genesis chapter 1 to Revelation22, the presence and manifestation of the Holy Spirit is prominent. The Spirit of God is not a silent observer but a key player in God's planning and execution.
Jesus had an extraordinary ministry as he walked the face of the earth. It is interesting that Jesus at age 12 knew all he needed to know about God and the Scriptures. In the temple among the most learned, astute and law experts in the Sanhedrin he demonstrated superiority and excellence that the elders of Israel were left bewildered.
One day, a melancholic but pragmatic Nicodemus was beyond curiosity, came to Jesus by night and honestly wanted the truth. And he began to express his excitement about his observation.
Jesus was not a man given to praises. He cut through the cheese and laid it out to him.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”NIV
John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”NIV
Born of the water and the Spirit.
Spirit gives birth to spirit.
As the wind is mysterious so is everyone born of the Spirit.
Nicodemus left with a touch of the Spirit that night. More over, he saw where Phariseesm was missing it. The were strrict adherents of the letter but lost the connection with the author of the Letter, the Holy Spirit.
Salvation is totally a work of the Spirit. Jesus earned salvation for us by giving his life for us on the Cross at Calvary. He accomplised redemption for us from death and brought us to life everlasting.
However, it is only the Holy Spirit that makes our salvation a reality. When the Word of God is preached, the Holy Spirit both inspires the witness and then opens the heart of the listener. The believer is inspired, given utterance and boldness as he speaks, while the listener receives understanding and conviction in his heart, then ultimately transforming his heart when he accepts God's offer of salvation.
We see in Acts this full minsitry demonstrated in Philip. The angel of Lord spoke to him to go to Azotus in Acts 8:26-40. There we see evangelism total led by the Holy Spirit, there was less stress and extraordinary results.
Philip as the Spirit led him led the Ethiopian eunuch, the treasurer of the Ethiopian Jewish queen, who eventually brought the gospel to Africa first. His works stands today as the Ethiopian Coptic church. Winning a single soul can save nations!
You can never imagine what a single life saved can do!
The Holy Spirit has given us the inspiration to follow Jesus words to go into all the world to preach the good news.
The Holy Spirit energizes and inspires the believer in witnessing with boldness.
The Holy Spirit gives guidance on how to speak, what scripture, illustration or example to use.
The Holy Spirit anoints the lips of the Witness with grace and utterance.
The Holy Spirit illuminates the heart of the listener, and gives him understanding and wisdom.
The Holy Spirit convicts the heart of the sinner, concerning his pitiful state of sin, his need for God's help and the fear of eternal damnation.
Then the Holy Spirit consummates the whole process by recreating, degenerating and transforming the sinner into a saint.
When an unbeliever receives Jesus as Lord, the Spirit does an amazing work in him as stated in Romans 8:16 "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children."
The Holy bears witness with the renewed spirit of man that this person is the child of God. That is why a person cannot be save and yet be ignorant of it. If you are saved, you know it.
Then right through the stages of development towards discipleship, the Holy Spirit is the teacher.
"Reinhard Bonnke wrote in his book, "HOLY SPIRIT REVELATION AND REVOLUTION, (E-R Productions LLC ) "One hundred years ago a new age of the Holy Spirit dawned. A new dynamism has since animated hundreds of millions of Christians. It has taken time to impact the world. But what an impact! It is the primary phenomenon in history.
"The UK engelical magazine IDEA quotes David Martin, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics, as saying that the Holy Spirit movement in thr last century " is the most dramaticc development of Christianity in tbhe century recently concluded. " Harvey Cox, Professor of Divinity at Harvard has caled it "the reshaping of religion in the 21st century."
"It has been claimed that greater ad ances have been madein understanding the Spirit - the theology - since 1990 than in the previous 1, 900 years. This may well be the case. We know nothing about God unless God reveals it. Jesus said the Spirit would speak not about himself but about the Son: "He, the Spirit of truth, will bring glory to me by taking what is mine and makingit known to you." (John 16:13-14)
Reinhard Bonnke, the founder of Christ for all Nations has changed the face of Africa. He has impacted Christianity in Africa like no other through 400 Great Gospel Campaigns, countless smaller events and preaching engagements, radio and TV ministry, and millions of books and study materials given away free of charge. CfaN’s Campaigns have gained momentum from the beginning, so that today they are always huge open-air events. The largest single meeting to date took place in Lagos (Nigeria) in November 2000, with 1.6 million in attendance. In total, over 75 million people received Jesus as their Savior through the ministry of CfaN. And 190 million copies of Reinhard Bonnke’s books are in circulation in 143 different languages.
And evangelist Bonnke credits the Holy Spirit as the driver.
In his last instruction, he made it clear that the primary concern and the next step for the disciples was to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, who wikl lead to the next greatest protect of God ~ witnessing, discipleship and missions.
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Today this remains the primary call and goal of the Church.
Get up from your comfort zone and your air conditioned office and let's focus back on our calling.
God bless you.
David Pam McQuel
The Holy Spirit who is a person. I describe Him as the Properller and Pathfinder of our life. Whoever that has him never gets exhausted, never misses target.
ReplyDeleteThe Holy Spirit who is a person. I describe Him as the Properller and Pathfinder of our life. Whoever that has him never gets exhausted, never misses target.
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