Bible In One Year-Day 311 (Friday, November 07, 2014)

Commentary: Acts1-4. As we have seen that there are two sides to the knowledge of Jesus Christ; in knowledge and in spirit (i.e. revelation by the Spirit of God). The filling of our intellect with the knowledge of Christ is one thing and the filling of our heart with the Spirit of life of Christ Jesus is another thing. Those who are filled with the Spirit of life are the true worshippers because they are led by the Spirit of God and not by the flesh. Such true worshippers are not carried away by the gift of the Spirit but take more delight in the infilling of the Spirit of life; you know them by the fruit of the Spirit and not by the gift of the Spirit. Before the death of Jesus, the disciples had operated in the gift of healing, deliverance and raising the death, but at that time they had not experienced Jesus as Spirit because He was not yet glorified. As at that time, they still engaged in non-essentials of life and fight over superiority and greatness. They take pride in demons subjecting to them and not in what heaven says about them. It was easier for them to deny Jesus or even run when He got into trouble. Their weaknesses were clearly evidence in their dealings. But now that He is glorified, He wants us to have Him as Spirit within us so that He could help us and strengthen us in our weaknesses. To operate in the gift of the Spirit is not having Him as Spirit in you. If you have Him as Spirit in you, the best evidence is that people will ‘percieve’ (not see) the FRUIT of His Spirit (it is possible to ‘act’ the fruit of the Spirit in the flesh, but it profits nothing).

Matthew 7:20 “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them,”

Here is what Apostle Paul says;

2 Corinthians 10:7 “Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s.”

God had made us know through Prophet Samuel what the danger is by looking at things in the outward appearance.

1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

You receive Him by faith, but you must remain faithful to Him. To remain faithful to Him is to do as the Spirit suggests to you and not as you think or feel. The Holy Spirit must be the administrator of the gift you have received. Walking in the Spirit is to be faithful and these are the people God is waiting for to commend, Matt25:21. Samuel told Saul about this aspect of doing things as the Spirit suggests. He called it “as occasion demands”

1 Samuel 10:7 “And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.”

This means when the Spirit says it is necessary then it is necessary. But Saul acted outside of the Spirit’s suggestion; he dispised the presence of God that was with Him. If God is with you, then respect Him as the General who gives the command; this is the meaning of ‘Jesus is the Lord’ of your life. An example of what we are saying in the book we are reading now is Peter.

Acts 4:8 “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,”

Peter acted as the Spirit suggested, i.e. directed. This is in line with what Jesus told them before His bodily departure from the surface of this earth.

Luke 12:11-12 “And when they bring you to the synagogues, and to magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: For the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.”

If you do good out of emotion and not as the Spirit directs could lead into serious trouble just like the man who wanted to prevent the ark from tilting over was in trouble because he acted out of emotion without the Spirits involvement. Acting without the Spirit’s involvement is like allowing Satan to do his work through the flesh. This leads us to another example of the couple who wanted to bless the Lord without experiencing Jesus as Spirit and Satan took advantage. They wanted to impress men and not heaven.

Acts 5:1-3 “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?”

Instead of this couple to allow themselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit just like Peter was filled, they prefered to be filled with Satan by trying to impress men. Two things are evident in this fillings; truth and lies. These are the fruit of different fillings. If you are filled with Jesus as His Spirit, you will be known by the truth you speak.

1 John 3:6 “Whoever abideth in him sinneth not: whoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.”

1 John 5:18 “We know that whoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.”

On the other hand, if you find it so easy to deceive or lie, Satan has taken over. Unfortunately, this type of infilling has taken over many hearts and pulpits and the result is lying to one another. Many tongues are prophesying lies in the name of the Lord. Some mouths are actually anointed to deceive, yet they are workers in the vineyard. From the experience of Ananias and Sapphira, evidently, one could be in the church and still be an instrument in the hand of Satan. Have you experienced the other side of Jesus?

Matthew 7:16 “Ye shall know them by their fruits: Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?”

It is possible to gather by lies. The truth still remains that by the same lie, there shall be a scattering.

Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

The end of this couple brought fear upon the church and the result of the truth spoken increased the church.

Acts 5:11-14 “And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things. And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)”

Unfortunately, this type of church is very rare now. A church where there is:

1. Fear of God and not of man
2. Prophecies and preachings by the Spirit of God and not by man’s spirit
3. Sinners are not comfortable in the isle talkless of being a worker; “the rest durst (i.e. outsiders, sinners, unbelievers) no man join himself to them” because the presence of the other side of Jesus heavily present.
4. Increase in faithful believers

Experiencing the other side of Jesus is not about the gift of the Spirit but about the fruit of the Spirit. You need to know that what we are talking about is not what really happened in the upper room but what happened in the lives of the disciples when Jesus breathed into them; this was when they really experienced the inwardness of Jesus. The upper chamber is for service and therefore they received the gift for the service. But it was the presence of the breath of Jesus in them that promoted the unity which gathered them in the upper room to receive the gift. Their prayer was not for the gift but for them to experience more of the other side of Jesus. The first baptism of the Holy Spirit was not in the upper chamber but when Jesus released His breath on them.

John 20:22 “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith to them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit:”

From this point, their attitude to one another changed. They began to seek for more of Jesus in prayer. They became more tolerant of one another. Their hearts were of oneness. There was no more superiority complexity, rather, they respected and exalted one another. Love abounded and fellowship was more desired. They had and did things in common. This is the church God is looking for.

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is Acts5-8. Keep the fire of burning and alive.

Supo Abayode

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Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries

Delaware, USA