Holy Spirit Agenda
Written by: Reinhard Bonnke
26 June 2007
The secret of power is first the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and then to go ahead in faith – be a Moses, be a David facing Goliath, challenge the hosts of Midian, dare to be an Ezra, link arm in arm with the apostles who lit lamps all over the pitch-black world.
That is for now. The Holy Spirit has come; He is now here, whereas He was not before. Jesus has sent Him to abide with us. He makes today the day of salvation, the day of the Spirit, the day of great things for God, the day of miracles. Today is the day of new Davids, of Gideons and Ezras and Elishas who knew nothing about the baptism and the abiding Spirit. This is the day for new and greater exploits of faith.
We have to catch up if we pray for God to move, for He already has moved and still moves. It is He, who is waiting for us to move. The agenda of the Spirit is the same as that of Jesus. However, what is our agenda? Is it connected with His? Jesus offers us His agenda. “He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father” (John 14:12).
The opening verse of Acts uses similar terms – “all that Jesus began both to do and teach”. That is a reference to His daily ministry. Christ’s supreme objective was redemption, a Divine task. Sinners had no part in it, except to be saved. The Redeemer, by His suffering and resurrection, would finish a work in which no one else could share. “I even I am the Lord, and beside me there is no Saviour”. That holy purpose He brought to a triumphant and glorious finality. It would shape all eternity. Those ghastly hours of arrest, humiliation, and agony He had often predicted as “My hour”, until, in John 17, He said “Father the hour has come”. Then, in His dying moments, He raised His voice in a shout that must have dismayed Satan and all his minions, “It is finished!” That work need never be renewed, never repeated. It was a deed that marked God Himself on the throne of the universe, and was as if woven into the fabric of the very stars, a Divine decree, the salvation of God.
But, having established eternal salvation, He then brought us into partnership with the same Spirit. The Church became God’s great new creative concern and channel. Jesus said, “I will build my church”. Until Jesus returns, the years are to be filled with endless activity. The ultimate aims of God could not be achieved by a single miracle stroke, but only by the millions of those whom He called and chose. He planned to bring those multitudes through trials of fire, in order to reveal pure gold.
One special work that John the Baptist announced, Jesus did not do before He departed. “He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire”. During His time on earth, Jesus did not baptise anybody. However, He began baptising in the Spirit, ten days after He left the disciples gazing into heaven. In a thousand ways, Jesus continues His ministry today – the same yesterday, today, and forever.
God speaks. The Bible refers to the ‘living God’ 23 times, twelve of which are in the New Testament, and it signifies a God who speaks. God challenged the world’s gods that they do not speak, and are not living gods. Psalm 115:5 draws that distinction, “They have mouths, but they do not speak”. Speaking is the sign of personality. He made that a gulf between us and the animals; we are persons, but an animal is not. God means us to talk. In one early instance (Exodus 4:11), God told Moses to speak to Pharaoh, but Moses excused himself, saying he was not eloquent. But the Lord demanded “Who has made man’s mouth?” Over 400 similar references to the mouth and speaking occur in Scripture. A god that does not speak is not worth listening to! The God of Pentecost gave the disciples “utterance”.
God is the living God, and He leaves no room for speculation. God came in flesh, and “was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities”, and died on the cursed cross. He is the image of God, and portrayed the love of the true God here on earth. He is too real for mystics and the learned, for God has “hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes”. Mark 12:37 tells us, “The common people heard him gladly”, and they still do. Jesus revealed profound truths to women. He is the Christ of halleluiahs, clapping, dancing, revival, hot gospel ‘steam on the window pane’, the Jesus that John described “which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled” (1 John 1:1).
When Moses spoke to God, he used concrete terms. In a most astonishing prayer, Moses said, “If Your Presence does not go with us ... how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight?” (Exodus 33:15-16). God alone made Israel noticeable. He identified with them. God is no mere figment of the imagination. The world will have to put up with God as He is, reachable, knowable, and even friendly. There is not any other God. If anyone seeks God, they will find that He is seeking them.
That is the God we know. He is in constant action on earth. Our God lives and acts. That is what this ministry letter is about. Jesus was here, and He “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38). It would be a hollow ‘sameness’ if He did not do the same things.
It was the great promise of Jesus to be with us always. The Holy Spirit would take over His agenda. The Spirit is the active “Spirit of Jesus Christ”. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and … us!
God’s call represents the invitation of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It is our greatest opportunity to a life investment that pays eternal dividends. Come right in on the Christ-Spirit purposes, and we are backed by endless means. Tie our own aims to theirs as they move forward, and we become successful in the greatest possible project – the Gospel.
All non-God operations are temporary, but the Jesus-Holy Spirit and church partnership will swing past anything else that moves. This was God’s order from creation and goes on for ever – with or without us. We are free to be losers if we want – or heroes of faith.
26 June 2007
The secret of power is first the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and then to go ahead in faith – be a Moses, be a David facing Goliath, challenge the hosts of Midian, dare to be an Ezra, link arm in arm with the apostles who lit lamps all over the pitch-black world.
That is for now. The Holy Spirit has come; He is now here, whereas He was not before. Jesus has sent Him to abide with us. He makes today the day of salvation, the day of the Spirit, the day of great things for God, the day of miracles. Today is the day of new Davids, of Gideons and Ezras and Elishas who knew nothing about the baptism and the abiding Spirit. This is the day for new and greater exploits of faith.
We have to catch up if we pray for God to move, for He already has moved and still moves. It is He, who is waiting for us to move. The agenda of the Spirit is the same as that of Jesus. However, what is our agenda? Is it connected with His? Jesus offers us His agenda. “He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father” (John 14:12).
The opening verse of Acts uses similar terms – “all that Jesus began both to do and teach”. That is a reference to His daily ministry. Christ’s supreme objective was redemption, a Divine task. Sinners had no part in it, except to be saved. The Redeemer, by His suffering and resurrection, would finish a work in which no one else could share. “I even I am the Lord, and beside me there is no Saviour”. That holy purpose He brought to a triumphant and glorious finality. It would shape all eternity. Those ghastly hours of arrest, humiliation, and agony He had often predicted as “My hour”, until, in John 17, He said “Father the hour has come”. Then, in His dying moments, He raised His voice in a shout that must have dismayed Satan and all his minions, “It is finished!” That work need never be renewed, never repeated. It was a deed that marked God Himself on the throne of the universe, and was as if woven into the fabric of the very stars, a Divine decree, the salvation of God.
But, having established eternal salvation, He then brought us into partnership with the same Spirit. The Church became God’s great new creative concern and channel. Jesus said, “I will build my church”. Until Jesus returns, the years are to be filled with endless activity. The ultimate aims of God could not be achieved by a single miracle stroke, but only by the millions of those whom He called and chose. He planned to bring those multitudes through trials of fire, in order to reveal pure gold.
One special work that John the Baptist announced, Jesus did not do before He departed. “He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire”. During His time on earth, Jesus did not baptise anybody. However, He began baptising in the Spirit, ten days after He left the disciples gazing into heaven. In a thousand ways, Jesus continues His ministry today – the same yesterday, today, and forever.
God speaks. The Bible refers to the ‘living God’ 23 times, twelve of which are in the New Testament, and it signifies a God who speaks. God challenged the world’s gods that they do not speak, and are not living gods. Psalm 115:5 draws that distinction, “They have mouths, but they do not speak”. Speaking is the sign of personality. He made that a gulf between us and the animals; we are persons, but an animal is not. God means us to talk. In one early instance (Exodus 4:11), God told Moses to speak to Pharaoh, but Moses excused himself, saying he was not eloquent. But the Lord demanded “Who has made man’s mouth?” Over 400 similar references to the mouth and speaking occur in Scripture. A god that does not speak is not worth listening to! The God of Pentecost gave the disciples “utterance”.
God is the living God, and He leaves no room for speculation. God came in flesh, and “was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities”, and died on the cursed cross. He is the image of God, and portrayed the love of the true God here on earth. He is too real for mystics and the learned, for God has “hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes”. Mark 12:37 tells us, “The common people heard him gladly”, and they still do. Jesus revealed profound truths to women. He is the Christ of halleluiahs, clapping, dancing, revival, hot gospel ‘steam on the window pane’, the Jesus that John described “which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled” (1 John 1:1).
When Moses spoke to God, he used concrete terms. In a most astonishing prayer, Moses said, “If Your Presence does not go with us ... how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight?” (Exodus 33:15-16). God alone made Israel noticeable. He identified with them. God is no mere figment of the imagination. The world will have to put up with God as He is, reachable, knowable, and even friendly. There is not any other God. If anyone seeks God, they will find that He is seeking them.
That is the God we know. He is in constant action on earth. Our God lives and acts. That is what this ministry letter is about. Jesus was here, and He “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38). It would be a hollow ‘sameness’ if He did not do the same things.
It was the great promise of Jesus to be with us always. The Holy Spirit would take over His agenda. The Spirit is the active “Spirit of Jesus Christ”. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and … us!
God’s call represents the invitation of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It is our greatest opportunity to a life investment that pays eternal dividends. Come right in on the Christ-Spirit purposes, and we are backed by endless means. Tie our own aims to theirs as they move forward, and we become successful in the greatest possible project – the Gospel.
All non-God operations are temporary, but the Jesus-Holy Spirit and church partnership will swing past anything else that moves. This was God’s order from creation and goes on for ever – with or without us. We are free to be losers if we want – or heroes of faith.
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