"And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word... After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness." — Acts 4:29&31
Reflecting on the historical accounts by St. Luke, on the Acts of the Apostles, I think it's more appropriate to be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:4-5 & 8 recorded previously:
"And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, 'which,' He said, '...you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now…But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.'"
As in the days of the early Apostles, it was the power of the Holy Spirit working through each of the apostles that they were able to face intense persecutions, including imprisonments, floggings and martyrdom. For many the Gospel was boldly preached in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria and even the far reaches of the earth along the Roman roads which criss-crossed the powerful Roman empire that straddled continents.
Since the time after Christ's first Coming, Death & Resurrection, the Holy Spirit has fanned the flames of evangelism across continents and eventually brought about the Christianisation in many parts of the European continent. Subsequently, resulted in the Christianisation of ex-European colonies, countries like the Philippines, where Roman Catholicism is a major religion or even small countries like Singapore where selfless missionaries left the comforts of homes and loved ones to board ocean-going ships that landed them onto our shores and established the first Catholic outpost 200 years ago. And so as the ministers and missionaries of other Christian denominations such as the Anglicans, Methodists and countless others.
I truly believe that the current storm of Covid-19 has been permitted by God to allow His Bride on earth, ie, His sons and daughters-in-Christ, to rise up and show a hurting world that salvation can only be found in One Name, ie. Jesus Christ, not in the vaccines nor technological advancements. In fact as Augustine had written, "Our heart is restless until it rests in you." St. Augustine's life exemplified the Parable of the Prodigal Son, as he had spent the early years of his life as an atheist with numerous flings, and broke the heart of his Christian mother until the Spirit of God convicted his heart through a formidable bishop St Ambrose. He finally turned away from sinful living and devoted himself wholeheartedly into a religious life and became one of the greatest theologian in church history, and in AD395 became the bishop of Hippo.
Each of us, no matter how far or distant we may think we are from God, has the power to rise above our circumstances and become bold witnesses of His Grace, with the help of the Holy Spirit, our Paraclete.
I will close with this Worship Song of Love to the Holy Spirit – Come Holy Spirit
Verse 1
Come Holy Spirit, fall on me now
I need your anointing, come in Your power
I love You Holy Spirit
You captivated my soul
and everyday I grow to love You more
Chorus
I'm reaching for Your heart
You hold my life in Your hand
Drawing me closer to You
I feel Your power renewed
Nothing compares to this place
Where I can see You face to face
I worship You in spirit and in truth
Ending
I worship You in spirit and in truth (3x)
YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/-R8fJO1hlg8
Reflection on Acts 4:23-31 by Chris Tan
No comments:
Post a Comment