Good morning. Now to Luke’s version of the great commission: but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. Notice that it says when the Holy Spirit has come upon not within you. Some Pentecostals do not believe that anyone has the Holy Spirit within them until they receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I believe that when Jesus breathed on them and said “receive the Holy Spirit”, that is when the disciples received the Holy Spirit within them. However, they were not empowered by the Holy Spirit until the day of Pentecost. In the great commission in Matthew, Jesus told them to make disciples of all the nations. Here He gives the pattern – first in Jerusalem where you are right now; then you branch out to the areas close to you in Judea and Samaria; and finally you go into all the world. For us that would be like your city; county; state; country; the rest of the world. As we shall see, they got so “comfortable“ in Jerusalem that it took something dramatic to make them branch out. Sometimes God has to make us “uncomfortable“ in order to get us to do what He has told us to do. It’s not that they were doing a bad thing; it’s that they were not doing the entire thing that He told them to do. We cannot point fingers at them; we do the same kind of thing ourselves. Father thank You that You did not leave us powerless, but You sent the baptism in the Holy Spirit to give us all that we need to spread Your word throughout the world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God

  Good morning. While Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. Jesus was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men. Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. It doesn’t say, but I assume it is still during this time of the Passover. This man came to Jesus by night. Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do the signs that You do unless God is with him. It just said that the people believed in His name because of the signs He was doing; yet it does not say what those signs were. Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. That is why unbelievers cannot tell what is of the kingdom of God and what is not – they’re not born again. Nicodemus doesn’t have a clue. How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he? Unless one is born of water and the Spirit ...
Read more

And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds

  Good morning. And men repented, right? And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and the water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. Previously, the 6th angel blew his trumpet and told them to release the four angels at the river Euphrates so that the army of 200 million could cross over. Back to the bowl: and I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great Day of God, the Almighty. Father continue to bring blessings upon the reader and his/her family every day  of their lives.
Read more

So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed

  Good morning. We left John at the entrance of the tomb, stooping and looking in. “Shy” Peter then arrives following John, and enters the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there. So the other disciple, John, who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. It does not say whether or not Peter believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes. I’m not exactly sure what it means by their own homes. They were originally from Galilee and would not have had homes in Jerusalem. Perhaps it means the homes where they were staying while in Jerusalem. Apparently, they were not staying in the upper room, or it would have said so. But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped (just like John) and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been l...
Read more