God Pours Out His Spirit
Luke 24:49 'And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.'
John's baptism was a baptism with water unto repentance for the remission of sins. John preached that the Lamb of God came to take away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29), but he didn't administer the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
However, both John the Baptist and Jesus prophesied the church age, when believers would be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, but it was not only for these few individuals. Peter said in Acts 2:39, 'For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the...
Kinds Of Evangelism
Luke 24:48 'And ye are witnesses of these things.'
One of the great mistakes of the modern church is to think that evangelism is something done within the four walls of the church building. Acts 8:1-4 makes it apparent that evangelism was not done by the pastor or clergy but by believers that went everywhere preaching the Word (Acts 8:4).
Some methods of evangelism mentioned in scripture are: (1) House to house evangelism - '...and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ' (Acts 5:42). (2) Personal one-on-one evangelism - Philip ministered to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-38), Paul to Sergius Paulus (Acts 13:7), Jesus to Mary Magdalene, Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the thief on the cross, and others. There...
THE RESURRECTION - CAN YOU PROVE IT HAPPENED?
Let God's Peace Lead You
Luke 24:36 'And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.'
Just as every sport has disputes that must be settled by the officials, the peace of God is the umpire that settles all disputes as to what the will of God is for our lives. We must learn to listen to and heed the peace of God in our hearts.
God's peace is something that every born-again believer has. It's a fruit of the Spirit. That peace is always umpiring; we just don't always pay attention. How many times have you acted contrary to the peace in your heart and afterwards, you experience disaster? You say, 'I never did feel good about that.' That was the peace of God umpiring, but we chose to play by our own...
The Father's Plan
Luke 24:21 'But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.'
When the right time came, God sent forth His Son from Heaven in His pre-existent state, into the world. He was born of a woman (virgin birth) and was made subject to the requirements of the law. Jesus was sent at a specific time. The entrance of Jesus into the physical realm was not a random thing occurring at a haphazard time. There were developments that had to take place before Christ could come to earth and redeem man. The Father sent His Son to the earth at the earliest possible time. Anytime prior to the time Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, would have been premature.
His...
Proof Of The Resurrection
Matthew 28:11 'Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.'
In the Jews' efforts to prevent anything from happening that would cause people to believe that Jesus was resurrected, they gave one of the most sure proofs of His resurrection. They sealed the tomb so it would be obvious if it had been opened and they obtained a guard of soldiers to protect it.
This removes all doubt that the followers of Jesus could have stolen His body. Therefore, the enemies of Jesus became a historical witness that Jesus literally rose from the dead.
The guards told the chief priests everything that happened at the tomb. This means that they had a...