Encouragement
Fellowship Of The Holy Spirit
As we look into the book of Acts we can easily see that early Church enjoyed the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in their lives and ministry. We can also easily see that they had power and miracles in their lives and ministries. I have come to realize that the only difference between then and now is the people. They sought the fellowship of the Spirit and we do not. They had the power and the miracles and we do not. Let me start off by saying that every person in the body of Christ is a minister. Jesus Himself was a minister, a servant. We cannot hope to be more than Jesus was. If Jesus was a minister, a servant, then all of us are ministers or servants. Jesus said: “ The Son of Man came not to be Ministered unto, but to Minister, and to give His life a ransom for humanity“. Jesus said that He came to serve, not to be served. Jesus was a servant and everyone in the body of Christ are servants. Jesus enjoyed the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in His ministry from the time of His baptism until after His resurrection. We read in Acts 1:2 “Until the day in which He was taken up, after that He through the Holy Ghost had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen “. When Jesus came back to earth after His Resurrection and Ascension to instruct the apostles, He continued to be led by the Spirit for the word tells us that He spoke through the Holy Spirit. If you are on earth then you need the fellowship of the Spirit
In Acts 8:29 we see the Holy Spirit directing Philip to go and minister to the Ethiopian eunuch. And after he ministered the Holy Spirit supernaturally transported Philip to another city to minister further. This is the type of ministry that Saints have that welcomes the fellowship of the Spirit. Look at the word of God in Acts 9:31 “ Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; walking in the fear of God, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost.” Jesus told the disciples that He was going to send them Another Comforter, while Jesus was on earth, He was the Comforter. Here in this verse of scripture we can see the Holy Spirit is in His role as Comforter of the church. Are you enjoying the fellowship of the Spirit? Are you comforted?
We read in Acts 10 about the conversion of Cornelius and his family, the first Gentiles to be saved. We know that an angel was sent to Cornelius who told hip to send for Peter. We know that the Lord gave Peter a vision. “ While Peter thought on the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, behold, three men seek you, go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them: The Holy Spirit told Peter that it was He that sent the men that came from Cornelius’s house. If the Holy Spirit sent the men from Cornelius, then it was the Holy Spirit who sent the angel to Cornelius at the beginning. We can see that it is the Holy Spirit who orchestrated everything that happen in the early church and in the lives and ministries of the Saints. Who is it that is orchestrating in your life? Is it the Holy Spirit of God? “As they ministered to the Lord {served God} and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, separate for Me Barnabas and Saul for a work whereto I have called them”. Here we see the Holy Spirit giving out ministry assignments in the church.
In Acts 15 we see a group of Jewish believers teaching that in order for a Gentile to be saved they had to keep the law of Moses in addition to accepting the death of Christ as payment for their sins. So the Apostles and Elders called a meeting to consider this matter. After the meeting they sent letters to all the churches giving them the outcome of the meeting, they said: “ For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things….They included the Holy Spirit in their meeting. They did not make any decisions without the fellowship of the Holy Ghost. Listen to what we are told in Acts 20:28 “ Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. It was the Holy Ghost who appointed the overseers, or the Pastors. Today every time five people get together and one of them thinks that he has received a revelation, they start a church. But in the early church, it was the Holy Ghost who appointed the Pastors, and there was power, there was miracles. He was able to do this because the Saints of old welcomed Him into their fellowship. If you are a child of God, you are a minister, you have a ministry.In 2 Corinthians 13:14 Paul concludes his letter with a prayer:" The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion, fellowship, of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen. This is also my prayer for your life, in Jesus' name.
Bernard A. Jones
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Excellent, and very true!
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