Jesus wanted the disciples to teach
and feed the sheep [believers]. "He
saith unto him the third time, Simon, [son] of Jonas, lovest
thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third
time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou
knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus
saith unto him, Feed my sheep." (John
21:17)
Pentecost did not come until after Jesus ascended a second
time to the Father in heaven. And before he left,
he told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem
and wait for the promise of the Father of which Jesus
had spoken in times past. Referring to John the Baptist,
He told them: "For John truly baptized with water;
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
not many days hence." (Acts
1:5)
Receiving the Holy Ghost and the gifts of the Holy Ghost
by baptism have separate functions. Jesus Himself gave the Apostles
the authority to teach the good news. No one else received
the authority, teachers today just pass the Word of God
which they were authorized to write, along to others.
The Apostles were to record it as it had been taught by our
Lord Himself in Acts 1:2. Jesus through the Holy Ghost had given
commandments unto the Apostles. Why did Jesus tell them
to wait for Pentecost if they had already received the Holy
Ghost? Jesus said that they needed the power after the
Holy Ghost to witness unto Jesus unto the uttermost
part of the earth.
They were His chosen ones at the time of
Jesus' ministry. The rest of us are the "called"
ones. Israel had rejected the Messiah, which was
meant to be. The Gentiles would not have had a chance otherwise.
God is merciful. The Apostles were all Israelis including
Paul. The baptism with the Holy Ghost empowered the Holy
Ghost to speak through the Apostle Peter and prick
the hearts of listeners.
"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."
(Acts 2:38) John the Baptist baptized
Jesus with water, "And Jesus, when He was baptized,
went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens
were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:" (Matthew 3:16)
John the Baptist received the Holy Spirit within
his mother's womb by miracle. (see
Luke 1:15) He died for the Gospel and
people who say that only Pentecostals who speak in tongues
are saved are rejecting the Word as it is written.
The Apostle Paul's baptism in Acts 9:17 was not at
Pentecost. He received the baptism by
laying on of hands by Ananias which
was so ordered by God. "And straightway he preached Christ
in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. Any imitation
of signs and wonders is going to fail ultimately.
God Himself said that His Word is sufficient.
Building upon other prophets results in a house of cards.
Lie upon lie collapses the minute one examines
the content. There is no substitute for the
Word of God, because it was written by those men who were
authorized and used by God, who breathed the Scripture
Himself.
Another miracle took place in Acts 4:29-31, "..
they had prayed, the place was shaken where they
were assembled together; and they were all filled with
the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with
boldness." (Acts 4:31) Notice a forerunner
of the weeding between sheep and goats at the final
judgment.
"Neither was there any among them that lacked:
for as many as were possessors of lands or houses
sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were
sold, And laid [them] down at the apostles' feet: and distribution
was made unto every man according as he had
need." (Acts 4:34,35)
The power which was flowing from what had just happened
at Calvary was so intense that liars were bereft
of their lives. Another miracle happened at the jail
which held the Apostles captive unsuccessfully. And finally
when Simon saw that the Holy Ghost could be transferred
by laying on of hands, he begged to buy the Holy Ghost
and the Apostle Peter chastised him to a point of cursing
him.
Jesus came to earth with great power, drawing people
unto Himself as an infant even. He came with power to teach,
to heal, to resurrect and left in great power
which overflowed on all those in his
presence. They truly had a heart change, as Jesus
called it a circumcision of the heart, a cut into heart that
was as real as the back of our hands and stood as evidence
from that day forward.
In turn the opposition raised its head almost as
powerfully to kill and destroy all physical evidence
of God, Solomon's temple. The Apostles perished
after writing the New Testament as God commanded, sow God's
seeds, the Words breathed by God, could be planted in our
hearts continuously to make a cut and circumcise us forever.
The Church, the Body of Christ, is alive today because the
Holy Spirit is inherent in the Word through the 12 Apostles.
"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,
that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly
our fellowship [is] with the Father, and with
His Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:3)
"But whoso keepeth his Word, in him verily
is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that
we are in Him." (1 John 2:5) Amen.
