The Great Day of World Missions

 THESE ARE GREAT WORLD-MISSION DAYS

When I was a new Christian, a young teenager, I would read a few chapters of the Bible in the morning - then when I got home from school in the afternoon, I'd take a smaller portion - or a topic - and study it more closely. When I left for school in the mornings I looked forward to getting home in the afternoon so I could get back into the Word.

(Later I read that Dr Billy Graham also recommended both approaches to Bible reading.)

Sometimes I’d also sit down to read whole books of the Bible in one go. One benefit of doing so—getting the whole sweep of a book like that—is that it can help solve problem verses.

Like:

𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐄𝐋 𝟏𝟐:𝟒
𝟒 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮, 𝐎 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥, 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝: 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝.

𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰; and 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥, it says.

I've never felt satisfied that that primarily meant jet travel, and modern technology.

The problem with citing technology as an 'End Time' sign, is that we can only compare current tech. with the past - we can't compare it with the future. There could come advancements in technology in the future yet which might make current tech. obsolete and look primitive. So to my mind, technological innovation has really been quite useless as a sure sign of the 'End Time' generation.

Not to mention that in our generation I think we are actually witnessing a loss of knowledge in many ways - like the loss of vocabulary; and of whole dialects worldwide; the loss of knowledge of natural remedies; of general history; and of traditional (non-automated) ways of doing and making things, such as navigation, and construction.

So one day I decided to read the entire Book of Daniel in a single sitting, in order to see what meaning might spring to light when I would arrive at this verse (chapter 12 verse 4).

After immersing my mind in Daniel's themes, his concerns, and his use of vocabulary throughout chapters 1-11, when I arrived at 12:4 a meaning immediately sprung to light, naturally - just shone off the page.

𝘙𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰 meant responding to the revealed prophetic word, by becoming heralds of its message - acting on the word, carrying God's Word; 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 meant the knowledge of God - knowing God.

That's what Daniel was concerned with! The idea that it's about the latest app. on your phone in your pocket, really seems to come from nowhere, and doesn't fit.

Daniel's concern was covenantal - about God - and the plight of God's people in an ungodly, pagan world.

God had a solution to Daniel's concerns, to be rolled out in a time future to Daniel. Meanwhile that part of Daniel's prophetic words (God's solution, His plan) was to be 'shut up' and 'closed', it says in the same verse. But there would come a time, Daniel was assured, when many would 'run to and fro'.

We see a similar expression in Habakkuk:

"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵" (2:2).

Habakkuk was to write a vision plainly so that anyone could immediately read it, and straightaway run - as a herald of its message, it meant.

Similarly, God had a wonderful solution for Daniel's concerns, but it wouldn't be rolled out until a time future to Daniel - then many would understand, and run with it - as heralds. As a result, knowledge (about that previously held-back plan) would be increased.

Jeremiah also foretold of the time coming when God would do something new with Israel and Judah - a whole new modus operandi, or covenant - when "𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥: 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥" (Jeremiah 31:34).

And not only Israel, and Judah, but all the earth, Habbakuk said:

"𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢," (Habakkuk 2:14).

There was to come an opening up of God's plan - something new, for Israel, first - resulting in an effulgence of knowing God, not only among Israelis but the whole world.

That's what the prophecy was about.

Did there ever come a time in Israel's history when that happened? Yes! Through the gospel of our Lord JESUS Christ.

"𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴" (Colossians 1:26).

The mystery has now been made manifest, to His saints.

('Saints' was also a Daniel term [five times in chapter 7). Paul claimed the term as being about believers in Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles.)

"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘚𝘰𝘯 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦" (I John 5:20).

God has given an understanding. First in Israel, with John the Baptist. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, Jesus said - and, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵. Jerusalem and all Judea went out to him.

As great as John's impact was, he was only the forerunner for Jesus. "Jesus made and baptised more disciples than John (though it was Jesus' disciples and not Jesus Himself who did the baptising)".

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘌𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵, 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨,

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘡𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘮, 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢, 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘯, 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴;

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱.

𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵: 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥" (Matthew 4:14-17).

Through Jesus, through the preaching of the gospel, a great light shone.

('The kingdom' was another Daniel term which Jesus and the Apostles claimed for the gospel -'the gospel of the kingdom of God'.)

"I am the light of the world," Jesus said, "he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness," (John 8:12).

"𝘈 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭," it was said of Jesus (Luke 2:32).

"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦" (Matthew 24:14).

'The end' is another Daniel term (found in this verse, 12:4, and elsewhere in Daniel). Jesus, and the apostles, claimed the term in relation to the gospel.

Notice 'the end' isn't only the future final few years of history:

"𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴: 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦" (I Corinthians 10:11).

"𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦," (I John 2:18).

"Behold I make all things new," Jesus said.

There shall be new heavens and a new earth.

The new creation project starts in us.

"If any man be in Christ...new creation!" Paul said.

This is the time when all people can know God, and Jesus Christ Whom He hath sent.

We're living in the overlap of the new upon the old.

"This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it".

"The acceptable year of the Lord."

Now is the time, Today, You can know Him!

Through the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

This is what Daniel foresaw.

"Abraham also rejoiced to see my day," Jesus said, "and he saw it and was glad".

Things like travel, and technology mightn't be outside the scope of what comes about through the knowledge of God. Every society that has received the gospel has also seen an improvement in its infrastructure and education. But the gospel is the main meaning, the source - knowing Jesus.

Any such material advancements would be positive, not negative. In the past nearly half-century, so-called 'end times' preaching has consistently viewed new tech negatively - until they themselves start utilising it for good, and new tech comes along which replaces the existing tech and makes it look eschatologically uninteresting to them. Then they ostracize the new tech at first.

It's all about JESUS.

"For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us" (II Corinthians 1:20).

The gospel is how God was faithful to His promise.

The great commission - world missions - is the unfolding of Daniel 12:4.

God's word has come to light through the gospel. We have been given an understanding of the mysteries of the kingdom. We are heralds. People are coming to know Him.

You and I today are in Daniel 12:4.

These are the great days when we have a ‘more sure word of prophecy’—the unveiling of that which Old Testament prophets wondered about—opened for all to hear and know and run with.

The angels declared it on the first Christmas.

“The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy”.

The great days of world missions.

In Christ We Can't Go Under For Going Over

 IN CHRIST WE CAN'T GO UNDER FOR GOING OVER

𝐏𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐌 𝟏𝟏

𝟏 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭: 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥, 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧?

Putting our trust in the Lord - that's our stance, no matter what.

𝟐 𝐅𝐨𝐫, 𝐥𝐨, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐰, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭.

When there is persecution, and shooting.

𝟑 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐨?

If the very foundations of good society and governance are destroyed.

𝟒 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧: 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐧.

It is the LORD who sits supreme, both 'religiously' ('in his holy temple') and politically ('the Lord's throne is in heaven').

And He doesn't miss a thing.

𝟓 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬: 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐭𝐡.

𝟔 𝐔𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭: 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐩.

There shall be Divine intervention, putting things right.

Both retribution...

𝟕 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬; 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

...and reward.

New Testament:

Romans 2:2-11

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘖 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥?

𝘖𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨; 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦?

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥;

𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴:

𝘛𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦:

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩,

𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭, 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦;

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦:

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘥.

Godliness is profitable, having promise both for this life, and the next:

I Timothy 4:8

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦: 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦.

Meanwhile, God wants all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth:

II Peter 3:9

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴; 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴-𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.

Our public attitude:

Philippians 2:14-16

𝘋𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴:

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘬𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥;

𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦; 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘯.

Philippians 4:5

𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥.

What we do:

I Thessalonians 5:14-24

𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬, 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘯.

𝘚𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯; 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘯.

𝘙𝘦𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.

𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘐𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴: 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵.

𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.

𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴; 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥.

𝘈𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘺; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵.

𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵.

Finally:

Philippians 4:4

𝘙𝘦𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴: 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘙𝘦𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦.

Nine Gifts of the Spirit

 Just a reminder:

NINE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟐:𝟕-𝟏𝟏
𝟕 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥.

The 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 (Strongs: exhibition, expression, bestowment) 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵. That's what we want - the Holy Spirit to be exhibited, expressed, bestowed - manifested - in our meetings.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯. Everyone of us has the privilege of being a vessel.

𝘛𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘭. So that everyone in the meetings benefits. It is beautiful when the Spirit meets needs. It can happen through you.

𝟖 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ¹𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐃𝐎𝐌; 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ²𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭;
𝟗 𝐓𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 ³𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭; 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ⁴𝐆𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭;
𝟏𝟎 𝐓𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ⁵𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐒; 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 ⁶𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐘; 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 ⁷𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐒; 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 ⁸𝐃𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐒; 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ⁹𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐒:

I have witnessed the Holy Spirit being demonstrated in meetings in all nine of those expressions.

Which of those expression of the Spirit have you seen in meetings? It would be nice to hear you share the story, details.

𝟏𝟏 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭, 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥.

𝘈𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭. It is the Spirit's will to work in us, to be exhibited through us, each one of us, in our meetings.

I CORINTHIANS 14:1
𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘌𝘚𝘐𝘙𝘌 𝘚𝘗𝘐𝘙𝘐𝘛𝘜𝘈𝘓 𝘎𝘐𝘍𝘛𝘚...

𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 spiritual gifts is encouraged. Desire these kinds of meetings.

II Timothy 1:6,7
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶 𝘚𝘛𝘐𝘙 𝘜𝘗 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘎𝘐𝘍𝘛 𝘖𝘍 𝘎𝘖𝘋, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳; 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.

Sometimes a 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 is beneficial. 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘳 𝘶𝘱 the gift of God. Have these kinds of meetings again.

The Baptism in the Holy Spirit

"THERE IS AN EXPERIENCE DISTINCT FROM AND SUBSEQUENT TO THE NEW BIRTH CALLED THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT"

That's true.

John the Baptizer spoke of this experience:

𝐋𝐔𝐊𝐄 𝟑:𝟏𝟔
𝟏𝟔 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐈 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫; 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞: 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞:

The baptism with the Holy Ghost is an experience the disciples hadn't yet experienced while Jesus was still with them:

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝟕:𝟑𝟕-𝟑𝟗
𝟑𝟕 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤.
𝟑𝟖 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫.
𝟑𝟗 (𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧; 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝.)

But Jesus promised that after He would go away, He would send them the Spirit:

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝟏𝟔:𝟕
𝟕 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡; 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲: 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐠𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮; 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

After His resurrection, Jesus "𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵" (John 20).

𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝟏:𝟒,𝟓
𝟒 𝐀𝐧𝐝, 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐦, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡, 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞, 𝐲𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞.
𝟓 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫; 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.

Then He was caught up into heaven. About ten days later:

𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝟐:𝟏-𝟒
𝟏 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞.
𝟐 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.
𝟑 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.
𝟒 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.

Since Jesus was now ascended to heaven and glorified, the disciples - 120 in all - received the Spirit - they were filled with the Holy Ghost - baptized in the Holy Ghost.

𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝟐:𝟑𝟑
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫.

This experience is the ongoing fulfillment of Joel's prophecy:

𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝟐:𝟏𝟒 -𝟐𝟏
𝟏𝟒 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧, 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐘𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐞𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐦, 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬:
𝟏𝟓 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞, 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲.
𝟏𝟔 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐞𝐥;
𝟏𝟕 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡: 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬:
𝟏𝟖 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐲:
𝟏𝟗 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡; 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐞:
𝟐𝟎 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞:
𝟐𝟏 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐨𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝.

And the same gift is for all whom God calls, Peter said, not only for the apostles:

𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝟐:𝟑𝟖
𝟑𝟖 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭.
𝟑𝟗 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟𝐟, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥.

The promise is for you and me.

Notice in the above verse there was a three-phase experience:

a) Repent

b) and be baptized

c) and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost

Don't stop at #a in your personal experience - go all the way with JESUS!

We see these three phases in the experience of the Samaritans too:

𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝟖:𝟓
𝟓 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.
𝟔 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐤𝐞, 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝.
𝟕 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐬, 𝐜𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦: 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝.
𝟖 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲.

𝟏𝟐 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧.

They believed, and were baptized - but they hadn't yet experienced the third phase.

𝟏𝟒 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧:
𝟏𝟓 𝐖𝐡𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭:
𝟏𝟔 (𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦: 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬.)
𝟏𝟕 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭.

Peter and John came to pray for them, and when they laid hands on them they received the Holy Ghost - the third phase in their experience.

The same three phases were experienced by Gentiles too, at Cornelius' household:

𝟒𝟒 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝.
𝟒𝟓 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭.
𝟒𝟔 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫,
𝟒𝟕 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞?
𝟒𝟖 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.

While they were still hearing Peter speak the word, the Holy Ghost fell on all of them - so Peter commanded them to be baptized.

In the experience of Cornelius, his relatives and close friends, the order was 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦→𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵→𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥; while the Samaritans' experience was 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦→𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥→𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵. So water baptism and the baptism in the Holy Spirit can happen in either order - but in both cases, and in every case in the Book of Acts, 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 always came first.

Saul's experience was three-phase. After Saul's Damascus road encounter with the risen Lord, a certain disciple named Ananias was sent to him that he might receive his sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost - and Saul arose, and was baptized.

At Ephesus, Paul told them about Jesus - they were baptized - and then he laid hands on them and they were filled with the Holy Ghost. Three phases.

I was born again on Sunday 16th December 1979; baptized in the Holy Spirit on Saturday 22 March 1980 - then baptized in water on Friday 25 April. I experienced salvation first of course, then empowerment (after the Holy Ghost came upon me), and then the feeling of having 'fulfilled all righteousness' (through baptism) next, in that order.

Others I know were baptized in water, and later received the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes the three phases can be separated by days or longer. One person I knew experienced it all together the same evening.

You see examples of all that, both in the New Testament, and in present-day experience.

The change in me, and soon afterwards in my brother also, and then in our friends, just teenagers, after having this three-fold experience, was poignant.

Throughout the New Testament we see that receiving the Holy Ghost was an observable and audible experience:

In Acts 2 they were 'all filled with the began to speak with other tongues'. This was 'noised abroad', prompting a whole multitude came together. Peter then talked to the multitude about what they'd just 'seen and heard'.

At Samaria, even Simon the sorcerer could 'see' that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the 'Holy Ghost was given'.

At Corenelius' household, Peter and company knew they were receiving the Spirit, 'for we heard them speak with tongues and magnify God,' Peter explained.

The Ephesians were filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke in tongues and prophesied.

That's an experience that can be seen and heard.

RECEIVING THE HOLY GHOST

Some believers belong to denominations which don't teach this experience; therefore some feel wary of it.

My beloved dad, a missionary to the Japanese, now with the Lord, prayed to the Lord one day, saying something like, "If this is of you, let me receive it."

Dad said he was filled with the Spirit right there and then sitting in a park while on deputation in Perth, Western Australia. And a short time afterwards, dad spoke in tongues.

My older sibling, my brother, said he observed a change in Dad and in dad's ministry from that moment on - an empowerment (even though dad had already been saved and baptized and preaching and even completed a first term of overseas missions).

𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝟏:𝟖
𝟖 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮: 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐞𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡.

𝐈𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟐:𝟒,𝟓
𝟒 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫:
𝟓 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝.

𝐈𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟒:𝟐𝟎
𝟐𝟎 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫.

Do you desire that?

𝐋𝐔𝐊𝐄 𝟏𝟏:𝟗-𝟏𝟑
𝟗 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐀𝐬𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮; 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝; 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮.
𝟏𝟎 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐡; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐡; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝.
𝟏𝟏 𝐈𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞? 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭?
𝟏𝟐 𝐎𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐠𝐠, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧?
𝟏𝟑 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧: 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐦?

The Holy Spirit can be received alone, without anyone else ministering to you.

Or you can also ask someone to pray for you.

MINISTERING THE SPIRIT

We can minister the Spirit to others.

𝐆𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟑:𝟓
𝟓 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰, 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡?

Minister (Strongs furnish, fully supply, aid or contribute) the Spirit.

One way to see the Holy Spirit given to others, is by laying hands on them.

Another way, when you sense the Holy Spirit fall, is to just let Him take the room and hold the floor - even if He does so while you're still speaking. I've seen that happen too. In fact, we can actively see it happen more.

It wasn't only the apostles who ministered the Spirit, but also 'a certain disciple named Ananias', it says in Acts. He was the one who prayed for Paul. That's you and I - a certain disciple - whether we're also apostles or not.

My brother and my friends and I were laying hands on people and seeing them filled with the Spirit and speak in tongues from when I was just a 12 year old high school student.

So can you.

Laying on of hands is a principle of the doctrine of Christ, along with the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms [plural], and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment (see Hebrews 6:1,2).

Praying for people to be baptised in the Holy Spirit. Let's remember to keep doing the foundational stuff.

God Gives the Increase

GOD GIVETH THE INCREASE

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟑:𝟔
𝟔 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝; 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐆𝐎𝐃 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄.
𝟕 𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡; 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐓𝐇 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄.

GOD GIVES THE INCREASE.

The growth.

Addition.

Multiplication.

It's GOD who gives that.

Not our effort.

All we have to do, is do faithfully whatever He has given to us to do, and He will do the rest.

Isn't that GREAT.

It's like the thrill of checking up on an old investment - one you'd nearly forgotten you had - and discovering not only that it's still there, not only that it's been added to - it's been MULTIPLIED.

We are contributing to something that already has its own built-in increase-factor.

When you minister in whatever way God has allocated to you, it's like sowing or watering something that already has its own built-in growth factor.

𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝟐:𝟒𝟐-𝟒𝟕
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬' 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬.
𝟒𝟑 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥: 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬.
𝟒𝟒 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧;
𝟒𝟓 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝.
𝟒𝟔 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭,
𝟒𝟕 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞...

They just did their God-given part...

...𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝.

...and the Lord did His.

𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝟔:𝟕
𝟕 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐲; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡.

He causes the increase. From addition to multiplication.

And you don't even need to know how it works.

In another context, JESUS touched on this:

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝟒:𝟐𝟔-𝟐𝟗
𝟐𝟔 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐒𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝;
𝟐𝟕 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐏, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐩, 𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐓𝐇 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐖.
𝟐𝟖 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅; 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫.
𝟐𝟗 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡, 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞.

After the man sowed seed, the growth took care of itself. The man didn't even have to know how it works. All 𝘩𝘦 did was sow. Then one day, he gets to enjoy the HARVEST. Just because he sowed.

Whatever God has allocated to you to do - whether sowing or watering - it is really God who makes it grow.

And we don't even really need to know 𝘩𝘰𝘸 it can happen. That's not your burden. Just flow in the Holy Ghost: and God will take care of the rest.

Talk about 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 seminars! Faithful sowing and watering, when truly done in God, is really all we need to know or be responsible for.

"Just relax, and let God do it," a good friend said once - and it's still timeless good advice.

Before my beloved dad went to be with the Lord recently, a friend visited and spoke at length of many of the blessings they'd received from the Lord in their family through him, desiring to honour dad. Dad's response was just, "Well, you just do what you have to do, meanwhile God does...

They're two separate things," dad said.

𝟖 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞: 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫.
𝟗 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐨𝐝: 𝐲𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝'𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐲, 𝐲𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝'𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠.

We are labourers together with God. We just have to do our part - He does His.

And He really does do it! You can be confident of that.

Revivalists throughout church history often acted quite simply, in comparison to the vast blessing that ensued. Churches which experienced extraordinary growth - often the pastors themselves weren't quite expecting the extent of it at the time.

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝟑:𝟐𝟔,𝟐𝟕
𝟐𝟔 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐑𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢, 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐧, 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦.
𝟐𝟕 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐀 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧.

All men came to Jesus - because heaven gave it Him.

"No one comes to me, except the Father draw Him," Jesus said.

The Father was doing that - Jesus did his part.

But even Jesus' part, was given to him by His Father - it wasn't of himself nor his own judgment:

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝟓:𝟑𝟎
𝟑𝟎 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞: 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭; 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞.

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝟏𝟒:𝟏𝟎
𝟏𝟎 ...𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞, 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬.

God causes the increase: we only have to do our part.

But even our part is not of ourselves - God gives even that to us.

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟐:𝟓-𝟕
𝟓 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.
𝟔 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥.
𝟕 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥.

The Holy Spirit gives our contribution to us - then He does what we cannot do: causes growth.

And our contribution mightn't always be quite the same, in each time and place.

When we contribute only what the Spirit has given us, for each time and place - whether sowing, watering, or praying - your contribution will be like hitting the sweet spot on the cricket bat - that precise part of the bat that gives maximum effect - with comparative ease you watch the ball go all the way to the boundary, with seeming elasticity like a super ball. All you had to do was hit the sweet spot. God gives us each our personal sweet spot. When we hit it, we contribute best to the team win.

Because what you contributed, you did in God.

It came from the Spirit.

You carried it out with meekness.

Unity.

And faithfulness.

He rewards faithfulness to our part, not the publicity and size of the result. Because the size of the result is His doing, not ours. He rewards us for our part in it.

My beloved parents, for example, were for many years, over 60 years, called to minister among Japanese. I've occasionally said Japan may be one of the hardest mission locations in the world, after Mecca perhaps. The mission they were part of has seen many churches planted across Japan. There were years of their lives when my parents were part of other things too in different places.

At the Gold Coast Japanese Church, there was one Sunday when no-one turned up. Mum and dad waited about 40 minutes, then went home. But my parents never missed a single Sunday, not even at Christmas time, never took a holiday - the only two Sundays they ever missed in nearly 24 years pastoring that particular church was when Dad was in hospital having surgery, and another time when he was away ministering for Japanese people elsewhere anyway.

Dad and mum spent time studying the language; dad prepared and preached probably thousands of sermons in Japanese; and mum baked cakes and fed many weekly. They did much of the setting up. And dad never expected to be paid for it. He worked with his own hands, supplying others needs. But God was working with them and the congregation, and many were baptised, over the years. It was a precious and beautiful thing.

The Gold Coast Japanese Church never got as big as some churches elsewhere in the world might with similar effort. But God rewards each man in each place not necessarily for the publicity or size his work attains, but for his faithfulness to yield to the Holy Spirit in service.

We each want to accurately discern what the Spirit wants us to do. We don't want to be like the kids' game ‘shapes’, and try to put the wrong shape in the wrong hole.

What the Spirit genuinely gives you to do and to aim for, can be done while always esteeming others above ourselves. It's not something you'll ever have to step on anyone else's feet to do.

Have the right purpose, not one that may have fitted you better at a different time and place.

Otherwise that's not hitting the sweet spot on the bat. You'll get too much vibration that way, friction, with minimum output, not maximum power for minimal effort.

Play the game of putting the right shape in the right hole for you for this time and place.

Let it be seen that what you do, you do in God, not of yourself.

𝐏𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐌 𝟐𝟕
𝟏 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭: 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐧.
𝟐 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬: 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩.
𝟑 𝐋𝐨, 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝: 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐛 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝.
𝟒 𝐀𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧; 𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡.
𝟓 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦: 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞.

It is the Lord who builds, keeps, gives, bequeaths and rewards. And He gives fully.

So partner-up with God. With what He is doing. Do exactly what the Spirit gives you supernaturally for here and now. And watch Him do the rest, no stress about that part.

As we each do that, He causes the increase.

He has a gift for us as a church.

It's all the gift of God, the work of the Spirit.

“There shall be revival,” as Dr Rodney Howard-Browne said.

Can it get any better, easier and more enjoyable than that?

Okay, heading off to church now...

The Acceptable Year of the Lord

 THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD

𝐈𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐀𝐇 𝟔𝟏:𝟏-𝟐
𝟏 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞; 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐤; 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝;
𝟐 𝐓𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐃, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐝; 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧;

The prophet Isaiah foretold of the ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.

𝐋𝐔𝐊𝐄 𝟒:𝟏𝟔-𝟐𝟏
𝟏𝟔 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐮𝐩: 𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝.
𝟏𝟕 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭 𝐄𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐚𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧,
𝟏𝟖 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫; 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝,
𝟏𝟗 𝐓𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐃.
𝟐𝟎 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦.
𝟐𝟏 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒.

In the synagogue JESUS read those words from Isaiah, and announced, '𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴'.

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝟏:𝟏𝟒,𝟏𝟓
𝟏𝟒 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝,
𝟏𝟓 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝: 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥.

Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, '𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥, and the kingdom of God is at hand...'

Then writing to gentiles, Paul said (quoting Isaiah 49:8):

𝐈𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟔;𝟐
𝟐 (𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐈 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐞: 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄; 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.)

The acceptable time - the day of salvation - extended beyond Jesus' time and ministry to Israel, to the gentiles and our time.

NOW is the accepted time - the acceptable year of the Lord - the day of salvation.

For you & for me - for every one of us.

The ancient Jewish Jubilee year foreshadowed JESUS, the kingdom of God, salvation.

𝐈𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏:𝟐𝟎
𝟐𝟎 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐮𝐬.

𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟓:𝟐𝟗
𝟐𝟗 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭.

𝐏𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐌 𝟏𝟏𝟖:𝟐𝟒
𝟐𝟒 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞; 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Seven Verses in Acts 19

THE FOLLOWING SEVEN, SHORT, SIMPLE VERSES IN ACTS 19 CAN SPARK BLESSING, AND CLEAR UP SOME COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS

(𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵; 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴.)

It begins saying Paul came to Ephesus, and found "𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬" (verse 1).

They were 'disciples', it says.

As we'll see, they were actually still only disciples of John the Baptist, not yet fully-fledged disciples of the Lord Jesus. But evidently Paul at first assumed they were disciples of Christ - as the next verse shows.

"𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝?" Paul asked them (verse 2).

"...since ye believed" - believed in Jesus, he meant.

Paul assumed they had believed in Jesus and were disciples of Jesus Christ.

And yet, despite assuming they were Christians, Paul asked them whether they'd received the Holy Ghost.

The fact Paul asked that, shows that Paul thought it was possible for someone to have believed in Jesus - to be a disciple of Jesus - and yet not have received the Holy Ghost.

There are many believers today who have experienced receiving the Holy Spirit. But there are some who still haven't received the Holy Spirit, in the sense that Paul was talking about here.

Some question whether God really wants to give it to them. Others think the experience passed away with the Apostles once the New Testament was written. Still others think there is no experience to be had besides getting born again: it's all one and the same thing, they think.

But in the Book of Acts there were some who received the Holy Ghost the moment they believed - and others who received soon afterwards, either on the same day or some days later.

You can really sense the difference when you come across a believer who has received the Holy Spirit, from a believer who hasn't yet no matter how sincere they may be.

You can also tell the difference when a whole church congregation are generally Spirit-filled, and a church where most people aren't yet.

When I was still just a child, in a Baptist church in Ipswich, there was one particular lady, I could tell there was something different about her, even before I was born again myself. She happened to be Welsh. And she'd been a missionary in Japan. She was different. She had life in her, and I could feel it. It drew me.

Then the first time my parents took us to a Charismatic church in Brisbane, it felt like everyone, and even the place itself was filled. It was amazing.

The difference when a believer has the Spirit, is visible and audible. And that's probably why Paul was prompted to ask these disciples whether they had or hadn't yet received the Holy Ghost. Maybe he was beginning to sense there was something lacking in them.

So they answered, "𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭".

Turns out, these disciples hadn't even heard about the Holy Spirit.

This prompted Paul to ask further, "𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝?" (verse 3).

The fact that Paul was prompted to query their baptism, once they told him they'd never heard about a Holy Spirit, shows that in Paul's mind, it was ordinary to at least hear about the Holy Spirit at Christian baptisms.

This shows that Jesus' command to the disciples to "𝘎𝘰 𝘺𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵: 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 (Matthew 28:19,20) isn't a false formula for baptism that was only inserted into the text later: it was the ordinary practice of the early church to at least mention the Holy Spirit, at baptisms, so Paul thought anyway - not strictly the name of Jesus only.

They answered, "𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧'𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐦."

They were still only disciples of John, not yet of Jesus Christ.

So Paul filled them in:

"𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬, 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬" (verse 4).

Paul told them the gospel more completely. John's intention, he explained, was that his disciples should go on to believe on Christ Jesus.

"𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬" (verse 5).

"When they heard this..." That means, they believed. You can't believe without hearing. They believed first, then got baptised. Believing came first before Christian baptism.

So, now they were baptised Christians, but still there was something more.

"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐝" (verse 6).

They'd believed, and been baptised - become disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ - but they still hadn't received the Holy Spirit.

So Paul laid hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them.

Receving the Holy Spirit is distinct from believing, and from baptism - and the promise is for all whom the Lord calls. That includes you and me.

Throughout the Book of Acts there are incidences where believers got baptised first, and later received the Holy Spirit; and there is an instance when believers received the Holy Spirit when they heard and believed, and got baptised next - but believing always came first.

That shows that baptising someone before he’s capable of believing wasn't the way.

But the fact God gave some the Holy Spirit before they'd been baptised, also shows God accepts people who mightn't have been baptised yet.

But getting baptised is important too. Even Jesus got baptised.

Jesus said, "...𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴" (Matthew 3:15).

Notice, it doesn't say they were baptised in the name of Jesus only - they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus, it says.

You meet people sometimes who insist that the only right formula for baptism is in the name of Jesus only.

I met someone once who insisted on it. He was going around telling believers they needed to be re-baptised.

So I pointed out to him that here in Acts 19, and elsewhere in Acts, it says they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus, or in the name of Jesus Christ - it doesn't say in the name of Jesus only. Off the top of my head I can't think of a single incident in the Book of Acts where it says anyone was baptised in the name of Jesus only. That brother hasn't answered my calls since.

One time while I was visiting a church in Papua New Guinea, the pastor told me that some years beforehand some Australian preachers had visited the church and taught that if they'd been baptised using any formula besides the name of Jesus only, their baptism was illegitimate and they needed to be baptised again properly. It split the congregation.

Part left, and continued meeting under a tree. While those who embraced the new doctrine, continued to use the building.

Then there was a dispute over which group owned the building. For eight long years, while they were waiting for a ruling or a resolution, the building sat unused. Dogs wandered through the church. The grass outside was overgrown.

By the time I visited the church, they'd only been back in the building a few months. Those who hadn't been touched by the Holy Spirit got filled, young and old alike. Over six weeks all received a refreshing. Then we all repainted the building. The ladies put up nice material decorations, and flowers. And a brother fitted electric lights. It was a time of restoration in more ways than one.

The message of Acts is that Jesus is Lord and Christ; and it was normal, so Paul thought, that the Holy Spirit would at least be mentioned at baptism. It's not worth destroying other brothers' consciences, or splitting a church and shutting a building down, over a formula that wasn't necessarily stated here at Ephesus and elsewhere in Acts.

I said to the pastor, if someone's conscience requires it, perhaps say, "I baptise you in the name of Jesus, in the name of the Lord Jesus, in the name of Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost". That covers it all!

But really, it's the meaning that baptism has in our hearts that counts, not so much a formula.

"...𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥" Peter said (I Peter 3:21).

They spoke with tongues, and prophesied, it says.

"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞" (verse 7).

The fact that 12 people had spoken with tongues and prophesied shows that Paul's advice to the church at Corinth that "𝘐𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘰, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵" (I Corinthians 14:27) didn't at all mean that we can't also have moments in a meeting when everyone speaks with tongues. Otherwise even Acts chapter 2 should never happened, when it says "𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 [𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 120 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦] 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦" (Acts 2:4).

Can you imagine Peter standing up on the day of Pentecost, and telling 117 or 118 of those gathered in the upper room that they shouldn't speak with tongues because the allowable limit is two or three people?

Or Paul telling 9 or 10 of those new believers at Ephesus that they shouldn't speak with tongues, because two or three of them had already done so? Or that they should be quiet about it, do it later when they're by themself.

No, it's totally Scriptural for everyone in a gathering to speak with tongues when the Spirit falls.

What Paul was addressing at Corinth was a different scenario. Individuals were evidently standing up, holding the floor, demanding the whole congregation's undivided attention, while they addressed them in an unknown tongue - without caring that the audience weren't benefiting. Even unbelievers would know that's not sensible.

Whereas when the Spirit falls on a congregation and all speak with tongues, no-one is being obtrusive. No individual is addressing the congregation per se.

"𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘥: 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮; 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴" (I Corinthians 14:2).

Peter said they were 'declaring the wonderful works of God', and 'magnifying God'.

In those instances an individual wasn't speaking to the audience. They were all speaking to God in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

When unbelievers hear that, they don't normally think it lacks common considerateness. On the contrary, on the day of Pentecost, it was the very sign that resulted in 3,000 of them getting saved.

I've never met an unbeliever yet who wasn't intrigued by the experience of speaking in tongues, even when the Spirit falls on a whole congregation. All the people I've ever met who were upset about it, is church attendees who mistook Paul to mean something in Corinthians which would contradict his own experience at Ephesus.

Addressing a congregation in tongues, is one function of the gift of tongues. And we'd all agree: two or three lecturing in unknown tongues is plenty before letting someone interpret for the audience. Or the speaker can pray that he might interpret for the congregation himself, Paul said. And that's a blessing to a church.

But tongues also has a function besides addressing a congregation. You can pray in tongues, praise in tongues, give thanks, bless, and sing in tongues, and just talk to God in tongues privately, Paul also said.

And a whole congregation can do so in unison when the Spirit falls upon them. The Book of Acts has a number of examples of that happening.

Each of those are entirely Scriptural expressions and functions of the gift of tongues.

All of that is illustrated in these seven verses in Acts 19 alone.

Where are you up to in your walk with the Lord?

"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵...

...𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘴...

...𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵.

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭" (Acts 2:38,39).

"𝘏𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦: 𝘢𝘴𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭" (John 16:24).