Galileans, speaking in unlearned languages with think country accents, drew the crowd on the Day of Pentecost. They had just been filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. The Book of Acts is a record of what the apostles of Christ did after Jesus rose from the tomb, showed himself alive to 500 people, and ascended through the clouds into Heaven.
Just as the shed blood of the Cross is central to redemption, so the fullness of the Spirit of God is vital for witness. Jesus said, “Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but wait…” Wait for what? They were to wait until they received “power from on high” (Acts 1:4-8).
A person who has not been baptized in the Holy Spirit will preach without power and so will have nothing to show that Jesus is alive. Peter preached and that same day, 3,000 repentant Jews from nations around the Mediterranean Sea believed and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. A witness to all present at the Feast and to those filled with the Holy Spirit an experience they would never forget!
Not long after I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ, I sat in a meeting viewing a film by Billy Graham of the crusades he had held across Australia. I had not been to any of those meetings and was enjoying the black and white documentary. Suddenly a voice spoke to me, saying: “See that man? He could not speak to those crowds the way he does, if I had not given him my Spirit. His lips would be clay, and he would not be able to speak like that.” Then the voice said, “You too will speak like that! My Spirit will enable you!” Then, from the high ceiling above me, angelic voices repeated “You will do that!”
I had not long been “born from above” (converted to Jesus Christ) and had not spoken to even a small group, much less a large crowd, so the promise was a mystery to me. I shared what I had heard with Lorraine (then my fiancée) but fifteen years passed before I understood that the words I heard while watching that film were God’s call to the ministry. After decades serving as a pastor, that call took me out to the nations.
The baptism with the Holy Spirit enabled me to preach the Gospel with signs following, and on every ministry mission I saw people saved, healed and set free from spiritual bondage. For another 33 years I pastored that same church, while also preaching Jesus Christ to the nations.
None of this was a result of my ability; it was a simple matter of my availability. I served God by serving His people and prayed and studied the Bible until I knew it well, and the Lord did the rest. There’s a new move of the Spirit of God in my life at the moment, and after a number of quieter years, the Lord has begun to launch me into a new phase of ministry.
I don’t wish to say much about this, but I am very grateful to God for the “rest” that He promised me in Zurich, Switzerland, and later that same year confirmed through a visiting preacher in the church led by my brother Murray in Melbourne. This coming year, I’ll have been more than 50 years in ministry…and right now the future is looking promising! All praise to God through my Lord, Jesus Christ!