The Acts of the Apostles
Luke, the author of the Gospel that bears his name, is also suspected of having written the book of Acts, about 63 A.D.
The book of Acts, which covers a period of about thirty-three years, records the beginnings and growth of the Christian Church in its early development. It is the only book that describes the earliest events of the Christian Church.
The book of Acts speaks of the risen Jesus who works through the apostles by the Holy Spirit. The latter is the main character of this book and appears as an intrinsic power behind the Church.
The Holy Spirit
The action of the Holy Spirit
The Spirit has inspired the Word of God and for this reason, He will always lead us to it.
The message of the Father is also the message of Jesus and the Holy Spirit can convey the message of Jesus as His. However as the Holy Spirit succeeds Jesus, He is committed to glorifying Jesus and built upon the redemptive work of Jesus. His role is to apply this work directly to our lives.
In John 16:13-14, Jesus shows us what the Holy Spirit does: He always reveals to us the Father and the Son and leads us to glorify them. When the Holy Spirit is manifested, He always exalts Jesus and proclaims His Lordship.
John 16 : 13-14 « 13Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. » KJV
The heritage of God, that of Christ, is accessible to us by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, we are the ones who set limits.
There are three words to understand the action of the Holy Spirit:
“Ruah” (in Hebrew), which means “breath”. The Holy Spirit is a breath of life from Genesis (Genesis 2:7).
“Dunamis”: this is what the Holy Spirit does in us, giving us abilities that exceed our human capacities. It is a power coating;
«Paraclete»: the Holy Spirit is the Parakletos (John 14:16-18), a Greek term that can be translated in seven different ways: Consoler, Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Fortifier and Helper. The Holy Spirit is all at the same time. He is called to be with us in our daily lives. He teaches, consoles, directs and teams. He is the Minister of Christ beside us.
The anointing
In the Old Testament, anointing was done on three types of people: the prophets, the kings and the priests. In the New Testament it dwells within each of us, within our inner man which is our spirit.
We must be renewed by the Spirit in our intelligence. God wants to change the way we conceive things, to project ourselves into this world and He wants to create in us an environment favorable to His ministry. The Spirit must penetrate our way of thinking.
Anointing is the covering of the power of the Holy Spirit, the divine ability given to a man to do what God has planned for him to do on earth. We have no control over the anointing. We must just learn to « flow with the Spirit », to exercise the ministry entrusted to us under the anointing.
This anointing can grow through the study of the Word of God and prayer.
To be anointed is to be set apart and consecrated to God. The anointing qualifies us for a service, an objective, a ministry, a destiny or to proclaim Good News, that of Jesus Christ.
It is the anointing that makes the difference. The Holy Spirit can make us transformed men and women in a dimension that is no longer ours, but His.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit
The gifts of the Spirit have never stopped over the centuries. In order to manifest gifts we need to be available and connected to the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:1 shows us that we can be ignorant of gifts.
1 Corinthians 12 : 1 « 1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. » KJV
There are those who do not even know they exist, those who know but do not know how to use them. There are also people who use them for bad intentions (claiming money).
Mark 16:17-20 shows us the purpose of gifts: to accompany the believer in confirming the Word preached.
1 Corinthians 12: 7-11 lists all the gifts.
1 Corinthians 12 : 7-11 « 7But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 11But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. » KJV
They can be classified into three categories:
The gifts of revelation (3): God reveals something to us: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge and the discernment of spirits;
The gifts of power (3), which do something: particular faith, healings and miracles;
The voice gifts (3), which say something: prophecy, diversity of tongues and their interpretation.
These gifts are listed in order of importance. Thus, the word of wisdom is the best of the three gifts of revelation; faith takes precedence over the other two gifts of power; and prophecy occupies first place in the category of vocal gifts. Of course, the best gift is always the one that is most useful in each specific situation.
The gifts of revelation
The word of wisdom : it is God’s plan for the future. The word of wisdom is a supernatural revelation by the Holy Spirit concerning a plan in the mind and will of God;
The word of knowledge : it is a revelation of a fact concerning the past or the present. It reveals the hearts of people, what they are experiencing, what they are praying for. It also reveals the past or how the person got there;
The gift of discerning spirits : It allows to perceive the spiritual realm.
The gifts of power
The gift of faith : the Spirit gives it to the believer so that he may receive miracles. The gift of faith is a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit which enables us to receive a miracle;
Healing gifts : tthe purpose of healing gifts is to deliver the sick and destroy the works of the devil in the human body, without recourse to natural remedies;
The gift of miracles : a miracle is a supernatural intervention through the Spirit of God in the normal course of things, a temporary interruption of the established order.
Voice gifts
The gift of prophecy : prophecy is a supernatural communication in a known language. In prophecy, God uses our mouth to speak. Prophecy is used to edify, comfort or exhort;
The gift of tongues : the diversity of tongues is the supernatural expression of the Holy Spirit in languages that have not been learned by the speaker and are not understood by his intelligence, or necessarily by the listener. Praying in tongues means praying for what the Holy Spirit gives us to express;
Tongues interpretation.
