[Acts 4:29-35] “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, [30] By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus“.
[31] “And when 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”.
[32] “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. [33] And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. [34] 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, [35] And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need”.
Having established that soul winning is the heartbeat of God, it is important to continue to pray and trust Him to give us the things we need for effectiveness in soul winning; the fresh baptism of the Spirit and more manifestations.
What is the baptism and manifestation of the Spirit?
The baptism of the Spirit is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as written in Joel 2:28. It is the whole process by which God pours Himself into mortal men for ministry and for life.
The manifestation of the Spirit is the process by which God shows up and demonstrates for men to recognise that He has come. As in Act 4, He shook the place where they were praying. In the wilderness, He appeared in a fire and smoke. The manifestation of the Spirit includes manifesting His person, His gifts, or His acts.
The manifestation of the Spirit could include the shear “movement in the mulberry trees“, to filling the early church like wine and cloven tongues of fire, to shaking people, shaking places, blowing as wind, etc.
The manifestation of the Spirit may also be as the manifestations of gifts: word of knowledge, word of wisdom, speaking in tongues, interpreting of tongues, discerning of spirits, gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, or as the gift of faith.
We must believe for such manifestations in our services and meetings. We cannot just come and sing and clap and go back home. We need some manifestations all the time.
Why do we need this fresh baptism and more manifestations?
Many will not believe just because we preached the word. Rather, many would believe because they saw the word in action. It takes an intellectual to hear and believe that Jesus Christ heals, but everyone can believe when they see Him healing. We must pray like the early church, for God to give us more manifestations of the Spirit.
What we need is the revival of the Holy Ghost! We need a fresh baptism or outpouring of the Holy Ghost. May the Lord begin to pour Himself into us one more time. I pray that none of us shall miss the fresh fire baptism. We need it for the works of soul winning. The Holy Ghost is the agent of transformation. There is no way people can change except by the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts
Therefore, Apostle Paul said, “my preaching did not come with the enticing words of a man’s wisdom but by the demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that you faith will not dwell in the wisdom of men but in the power of God”. The manifestation of the Spirit gives foundation to faith. When a man sees something, his faith gains roots. We must, therefore, allow the Holy Spirit to evidently manifest in our meetings.
How can we see fresh baptism and more manifestations?
- Study more about the Holy Spirit
- Expect the manifestation
- Pray for the manifestation
- Open up to receive something
1. Know Him:
The Lord taught that you cannot receive the Holy Ghost if you don’t know Him. The Bible tells us that the world cannot receive Him because they don’t know Him. You need to know Him to be able to receive Him.
2. Expect Him:
The next big secret is to expect Him in every meeting, possibly invite Him to every meeting. The early church always expected the Lord to show up as He promised. He said, “where two or three are gathered in my name, I will be there.” (Matthew18:20) They expected the Lord anytime they met to pray or to worship. The expectation was always big.
3. Invite Him:
Then they prayed for the manifestation of the Holy Ghost. They prayed that the Lord would stretch forth His hand and heal. They needed the presence, and they knew it. They knew that it would take the grace of God and the tangible manifestation of the Holy Ghost to draw men to the saving knowledge of the Lord. You will win and never fail.
4. Open Up:
Finally, there can only be a tangible manifestation of the Spirit when we open up to receive. He said, “open your mouth wide and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10). He will fill our mouths with good things. You have what you open up to receive. Many of the sick in Israel were not healed because they did not open up to receive.
I pray that we shall arise and allow the Holy Ghost to manifest more and more in us. I pray that He will show up every day and manifest Himself to us. He is our comforter and we need Him to show up and help us.
Be blessed, I love you!
Noah Simpe Bediako
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point 2; expect the manifestation!! an eye opener