The book of Acts

The working of the spirit

The book of Acts was written by Luke, in many cases there are language such as we.
Luke was a physician, and possibly a Jewish proselyte with a Greek name like Lucanus
He had accompanied Paul in many of his missionary trips
He is writing this account to Theophilus, mentioning his original book now this is the sequel part two.
Terminator one, terminator 2 Films
Lord of the rings 1, pt2 & they even have a part three
In other words it didn't finish at the cross, this is what follows
I was watching the passion which was a great film, very graphic, but I did not seem to have message apart from Jesus suffered, I want to tell you that Jesus did not only suffer but he rose again. That's not where the story ends, I am sorry but there is more the grave could not hold him, he overcame death and every other principality, was on earth for over 5 weeks.
So the book of Acts is the sequel
Luke names it he acts, of the Apostles but really it is the Acts of the Holy Spirit in the Apostles.
It is a blueprint of the church; there are some practices like casting lots to appoint leaders, circumcision rites, eating blood and things strangled some of that was of their culture. But in General we can use it as the pattern for the New Testament church.
Luke begins with Jesus last words, lets pick that up in verse 4…chapt 1
Stay in Jerusalem Wait for the promise
They were concerned about Israel and when she would be restored, it told them it was none of their business, but tarry or wait for the promise in other words something is coming wait for it.
He describes it so you know it when it comes, endued with power, the Greek word is dunamis, comes from the word dynamo and dynamite, I think your getting the idea that this thing when required can be explosive
Don't worry you will know when It comes it will be explosive
I don't want to get to deep, because in the Greek as in the Jewish a lot of the words used were contextual, the English translation in this case is fine….power
It is the 50th day after the Passover, the Pentecost harvest
It was literally the best time for outreach due to the pilgrimage of the Jews from every quarter of the world
That is one of the main reasons why God showed up, my bishop used to sat , the Holy Spirit have sense, we in our finite human mind patronize it
Some preachers get so deep in the beginning was the word ….notice W if you turn it upside down it turns into M, W is like to valleys an M is like two mountain tops God will turn your Valley into a mountain top what rubbish, half these preachers need to go back to bible college, all they do is make applications.
The key is that they will know it when it comes
STAY and Wait this is a big problem with so many, Christians when is the most common word, everything has to be instant today instant coffee instant tea, instant delight, Fast food, take away while you wait, everything is fast.

This is a western mentality; everything is a rush, as soon as the stop lights change immediately they are beeping you.
In other cultures it is different when they say they are making you a cup of tea you could wait up to an hour for they have to boil it.
We need to learn patience

The working of the spirit

But when you taste it was worth waiting for I am worried when you visit someone and they ask you if you want a cup of tea and the in 60seconds here you are pastor ,,,no no no we need to brew the tea
The Holy Ghost is worth waiting for
You shall receive power and when you get you must then witness to Jerusalem first, Samaria the mixed race Jews, then the gentiles.
In other words you are not equipped to go until……you get this
We need to understand the power of Waiting, Tarry, Hold on
Modern Pentecostal and Charismatic cannot wait
" We will have revival wether God shows up or not" and that is exactly what some of us do

lets break it down " Ive given you the car, it is v6 turbo but wait till I start it as I have the spark plugs that will fire the engine, so that you get combustion.
We cant wait so praise the lord we get some brothers to push the car and even ask God to help us to push it
And yes the car does move but it is limited results because we cannot wait
Jesus said wait!!!!!!

Acts Chapter 2
Look what happens when the Holy Spirit really turns up

We have to change our theology the Holy Spirit is not a pet or a toy
It comes to direct and lead us, if someone is leading you who is in front
No Today we tell god what we want

We impose our wills
It is him and it is his will that is paramount
This is the problem with the workings of God Human will gets in the way
Another work that the Holy Spirit does it convicts, a person of sin
We can if we are not careful take that area into our hands
We arrange the music so it pulls at the heart strings, we create an emotional state or atmosphere, play a lot of minor chords
Our message is like that great revival preacher in the 17thcentury
"Sinners in the hands of an angry God "where we talk about hell
This still cannot do it.
When you are filled with the Holy Spirit all you have to say to a sinner like Mathew follow me that message was so powerful Mathew changed his lifestyle at that very instant
This same message caused James and John to leave there nets and resigns from Zebedee fisheries and Sons.
It was not the words that Jesus spoke but what was behind the words…..the anointing

Peter's sermon was so powerful that it convicted them of sin,
Peter also explains that they are not drunk for it is only nine in the morning and the off licences were closed as well as the pubs and wine bars, so the manifestation you are seeing is not drunkenness but Joel talked about it and as the scripture says they were cut to the heart.
Notice it said they, the Holy Spirit was moving on three thousand hearts at the same time.
These disciples were intoxicated by the spirit
Just as Drink enslaves and takes you over, in the same way the Spirit of God takes you over.
We need that kind of anointing in our lives and in our churches, one of the things Evan Roberts the catalyst of the Welsh revival said was bend us Lord
He did not see the Holy Spirit as an amulet, some magical mysterious presence under our control he knew for the Holy Spirit to work it was all or nothing

BEND US LORD TO YOUR WILL…………………
To break it down you will understand specially if you are computer literate, the computer I have was really playing up, it was freezing, and shutting down, to summarize it just wasn't working properly
I went into PC world, they asked if I had an anti virus package, I said there is one built in they said there is your problem what you need is Norton which is an anti virus package, I did that but still had problems they said you need an updated version with afire wall
I said what does that do, they said the antivirus is good but there are some bugs that are not detectable, and to prevent ads and people attaching to your mail this Programme puts up a wall against the Viruses
You see you get saved and deal with some of the viruses, sin is our virus
But we need Norton
We need more than a confession we need spiritually Norton
John puts it this way "I Baptise you with water but there is one coming after that will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with Fire
This fire blocks the viruses of sin, rebellion, lust, hate wrath.
You need the Holy Ghost and fire to be installed.
What a baptism service, it went right through till midnight
We need this important experience in our lives

It gave them the power and the boldness to preach the Gospel with effect
Without the Holy Ghost you do not have the right tools for the Job

Paul made it clear that the gospel he preached was not with wisdom of words but in demonstration of the Holy Spirit and in Power, Paul could have preached in wisdom because he had a respected background in Theology studied at the feet of Gamileil .
We need the right tools for the Job
In the last mission in Subukia Kenya. I made a point of saying you need to update your equipment, so last year I brought with me an Amplifier, which was to powerful for the speakers.
So we invest and bought speakers alone to save money, we bought a box, but we would have to adjust the hole to the size of the speakers, I said all you need is a saw
I left it with them, when I began to see they were using a hammer and a screwdriver as a chisel chipping away at the box which was any chipboard they did this and the Hole what a shape, the speaker could not fit.
The problem was they did not have the right tools for the job, we need the right tools for the Job or we make a mess.
We need the Holy Ghost
We need the power of the spirit.
Why play in a puddle when God has a great sea for us.
The Holy Ghost is dynamite and you cannot control dynamite.
What England need is not bigger churches, better choirs, more exposure on the God channel, more Christian channels No
The UK needs an explosion of the Holy Spirit