Pastor Ron Axon writes
One thing that puzzled me for years is that the Holy Spirit seemed to be much more powerful in the days of the early New Testament Church than he does today in the Western Church.
The Holy Spirit is God and God does not change. If God did great and powerful things 2,000 years ago He can do them today, anywhere on Earth. When I read the message which the apostle Peter preached in the book of Acts, Chapter 2, I got some answers as to why the Holy Spirit moved so powerfully then.
In verse 36, he refers to Jesus as "Lord and Christ". The word "Christ" means anointed one. Anointing is very much to do with God's call and Jesus's call was to bring salvation to men and women through the sufferings and death on the cross. There is more to this salvation than salvation from the lake of fire. Our salvation involves forgiveness of sins but overall it is deliverance from Satan's control and into the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom of God we are entitled to benefits and privileges that are not on offer to the unbeliever. To preach Jesus as Christ is very much about the Jesus who blesses.
The fact that Jesus is Lord means that we are both His possession and servants, so to embrace the Lordship of Christ we have to be surrendered and committed to Him.
In verse 38, Peter speaks about repentance, which is and about turn from living for self and sin to live for God gives us the power to live for Him by the Holy Spirit. It is vital that we respond to the Holy Spirit.
Also in verse 38, Peter issues a call for converts to be baptised. There is much I could write about baptism but I will deal with just one point. When we are baptised in water, we are telling others that we have been saved, that we are putting the old life behind us and are now committed to living a new life in Christ, I know that the Ethiopian in Acts, Chapter 8, was not baptised in public but it is recorded in Church history that when he returned home, he testified about his conversion and a Christian revival broke out, in Ethiopia as the Lord used his testimony.
Finally, in verse 40, Peter calls for separation from the world. This is not a physical separation but a spiritual one, the main evidence of which is distinctiveness. The behaviour and conversation of a Christian should be radically different from the ungodly.
I am sure that we would like to see a wonderful move of God in our Churches and in our nation during 2008. The apostle Peter gives the Church some keys to the releasing of The Holy Spirit's mighty power.
I wish you all God's richest blessings for 2008 and beyond.
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