The requirements of the miracle

Let's go to the word of God, Acts, Chapter 3, we continue with our study of the book of Acts and I want to take this time now. Chapter 3, I will try to cover in its entirety, if God gives me the wisdom to be thrifty and to get to the point on the special points of this Chapter so eloquent in many, many, different ways.

We remind the brothers that we are taking a tour through the Book of Acts with all its very deep, very powerful teachings. But I'm going to just read a few verses, Chapter 3 verse 1 says:

“…Peter and John went up to the temple together at the ninth hour, that of prayer. And a man lame from birth was brought, whom they laid every day at the gate of the temple called Beautiful..."

The temple had different very large doors or gates through which the worshipers entered the different sections of the temple. And this gate had the name of the Beautiful Gate. And there this man sat to ask for alms from those who entered the temple.

“… When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple, he begged them to give him alms. Peter, fixing his eyes on him, said to him, “Look at us”, so he was attentive to them, hoping to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold” – famous words. How many have heard that expression of the Apostle Peter?- …”I don't have silver or gold but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk." And taking him by the right hand, he raised him up and immediately his feet and ankles were firm and he jumped up and walked, and entered the temple with them walking and jumping and praising God. And all the people saw him walk and praise God and they recognized him as the one who sat begging at the door of the La Hermosa temple, and they were filled with astonishment and horror at what had happened to him….”

May the Lord bless his holy word. Amen. Well, here we have, brothers, in this passage and in all of Chapter 3, I would say that although there have been other miraculous moments like the baptism of Pentecost and other things like that, but it is like the first formal miracle, of course it records the Bible in the book of Acts. It is like the first miracle that occurs within this new age after Christ has ascended in the age of the church, this church that is in formation. It is the first miracle.

We see here another aspect of the life of the church that the evangelist Luke wants to present to us. He has told us about the life of the first disciples, as we saw last week, I think it was the week before, the week before, yes. And we have seen different things that have happened because they are like key moments in the development of the church. And now he wants to teach us something that we are going to see several times: healing and deliverance from demonic oppression in people.

We see here the miraculous, powerful move of the Holy Spirit, in a very graphic way, the healing, here they call him a lame man, but he was probably a paralytic because he is a man who cannot move in any way. So we see here this miraculous move of God. Jesus had in fact said that his followers, which he says, will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. This is recorded by the evangelist Mark in Mark 16:18. It was a promise from the Lord that those who followed him were going to do mighty things and that God would do healing through them.

And so we see here that word, that promise of the Lord Jesus Christ being fulfilled for the first time through prayer, the intervention of Peter and John. Notice something here, interesting things, it says that Peter and John went up to the temple at the ninth hour. Still the disciples worship the Jewish custom, they go to the temple. The gradual separation that we see in the book of Acts has not yet begun to take place between Judaism and Christianity. These Christians still consider themselves Jews, except that they are Jews who have found their messiah and recognize him as the person of Jesus Christ. In that they differ, but in reality they see themselves as Hebrews, Jews, united to the ancient Scripture of the prophets and everything that today we call the Old Testament and they go, as usual, to the prayers to which a pious jew.

And it seems that all the first Christians also met there to talk and talk about the things of God. But Pedro and Juan go in a kind of religious custom, as pious Jews to the temple at the ninth hour, it's about 3 in the afternoon more or less, it's a specific time when prayer was given in the Jewish ritual.

Surely, as I say, they were going to meet with other believers. We see here however that God is preparing like a divine encounter. At the same time that they are going to the temple, they are bringing a man, as usual, paralyzed, he says that they put him every day at the door of Hermosa. It is somewhat repetitive, so far everything is very normal. Some men go to adore as always, another man is brought perhaps by his parents, by a relative who carries him, and they always put him in the same place to collect his alms. Everything is as usual, except that God is preparing a divine meeting, a divine appointment. It is something that God wants to demonstrate. God is in the matter, there is power in the air. That is the difference, when the Holy Spirit is moving in the midst of a church, a Congregation, in the midst of the life of a believer, ordinary things turn into extraordinary things. And God is always providing opportunities to manifest his power.

So we see that this encounter between these two elements takes place, and the presence of the Holy Spirit transforms. Who knows if Peter and John had not been baptized in the Holy Spirit? Or who knows if they passed this man many times, but nothing happened? But when there was the presence of the spirit in their lives, then they were able to transform that everyday moment into something spectacular, something dramatic.

That happens when there is anointing in the air, brothers, when there is a person filled with the spirit, things that are ordinary become something extraordinary. I remember, for example, when the Lord Jesus Christ goes to the synagogue and is there preaching a sermon as a guest and the Bible says that a person, a woman who had a demon manifests it and the Lord Jesus Christ rebukes the demon. And the devil himself denounces his presence and the Lord confronts him and that person is healed. That person went to church, he was there all the time, there was no power in the air, Judaism was dead, but when the Lord was there, that demon that was hidden had to come to light, he had to manifest himself to be denounced. and to be kicked out.

How important it is, brothers, that we fill our lives every day with that presence of the spirit, that we cultivate the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. That we ask the Lord to fill us with more and more of his power every day because that is what makes the difference. So many things that happen in our ordinary life, sometimes illnesses, oppression, family difficulties, many things that who knows if there were the presence of God manifest in the home, more prayer, more word of God, God could clarify many things for us spiritual ones that are hidden below the surface, and we could then confront them and live more powerful lives, more free from all the oppressions of life.

So it's important, that's why we preach these sermons on the book of Acts because we can see here the importance of this supernatural dimension. Now the dynamics of this miracle is very interesting: number 1, Peter comes before this man and tells him, "Look at us", why does Peter tell him to look at him? I believe that Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, understands that there is something, like a transfer of power that he wants to happen through that gaze. Sometimes we lay hands on a person to invoke healing. In this case, Pedro senses that it is important that this man look them in the eye. And this man says he's staring at him too, but what's up? What he is waiting for is for me to give him a coin. He looks at it with material interest. He says, well, this man might give me 20 bucks, who knows? He's telling me to look at him, or who knows if he's going to send me to a hospital to get cured or whatever. He is expecting something extraordinary too, but he is not expecting what Peter has in mind, which is to call on the power of God.

But, it was still important to win this person's attention. And to me, it's interesting and it's ironic that this man is not really in tune with what Peter wants to do spiritually, yet God still heals him. Their faith is imperfect, it is like the woman with the issue of blood who touches Jesus Christ by the edge of her cloak. Maybe she's just thinking, well, it's kind of superstitious, but anyway, that faith, what God is looking for, brothers, is that contact, that connection somehow.

Our faith does not have to be perfect, many times our faith is not all that it should be, but you know what? We have a merciful God. What God wants is that contact, what God wants is that search, that desire, that getting in tune with his person. The rest he completes. Our faith does not have to be perfect. We don't have to be perfect for God to move in our life, but there does have to be some kind of connection.

And I see this, that sometimes God uses the gaze to transfer power. The angel, when he appears to Gideon in the Old Testament to call him to become the liberator of Israel from the Marianites, looks at him, he says, as if that look commissioned him and transferred power to Gideon. From there Gideon comes out a liberator of his people.

There is something, they are mysteries. I very much believe in these prophetic elements, these physical symbols of the transfer of power from God. The Lord Jesus Christ many times touched the people, in his promise in Mark 16 it says, that they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. Sometimes he took, in one case he took dirt from the ground, spit on the dirt, made a strange mixture and put it on a person to heal him over his eyes.

There are many ways. I think it is important that as Christians we learn to discern the Lord, those symbols, those external forms of God's move. We Pentecostal charismatics believe that there is a blessing in coming forward, raising our hands, kneeling, dancing, getting out of the ordinary, because through all these symbols God often does marvelous things.

But the fact is that in this case God uses Peter's gaze as a way of channeling his power into this man's life, even though he has a very imperfect understanding of what is happening here. But God is sovereign, God wanted to perform a miracle, God wanted to bless this man. And Pedro too, look at all this dynamic of this miracle, Pedro gives a verbal order. Note in passing, the fact that it is Peter who is leading this, not John. Juan is with him, but what is happening here? One very interesting thing about the book of Acts is that Peter's spiritual leadership is beginning to take shape in the church. The Lord Jesus Christ had told Peter that he would make him a pillar of his church, remember? Peter became the main leader of the Apostles. He was recognized as number 1 and on many occasions in the book of Acts we see Peter taking the lead. Later, the ministry of the Apostle Paul arose, but in Jerusalem Peter was the main head, the number 1 head of all the Apostles.

And it is interesting, of course, from where the Catholic Church, for example, has taken this idea of the transfer of apostolic authority. The Catholic Pope is supposed to come from a direct line of Apostles or from people who come from the first bishop, who was Peter, that lineage through the centuries, because it is recognized that Peter had a very important role over the church in the beginning. same.

Here Peter gives a verbal command and says in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, be healed. This healing, note, is given in the name of Jesus Christ. It is the first time, in a sense, that this idea of the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth has been given. Before, Jesus himself gave the orders in his own person, in his own power, now the disciples use the name of Jesus.

Don't you see here a little bit of an implication of the deity of Jesus Christ as well? From the fact that it is in the name of Jesus. Peter does not say in the name of the Father, our almighty God, in the name of the Lord, referring to Jehovah. No, it says in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And that Jesus Christ of Nazareth gives a kind of character of importance and weight to the person of Jesus, the name of Jesus is the key. The power, the authority.

The Bible says that he gave Jesus a name that is above all names so that at the name of Jesus every roller of what is in heaven and on earth and under the earth should bow. The name of Jesus has great power. I have seen demons tremble and flee from a person when the name of Jesus is used. I don't know of another name that does that, you know? I've never seen, and forgive this, I've never seen a demon come out in the name of Mary, although glory to God for Mary, I don't mean to indicate any disrespect, you understand? But speak to the devil in the name of Jesus of Nazareth and you will see the difference, right? Praise God for that. That is, Jesus, the central Christ who has to be the believer.

So, another very interesting thing here is that when Peter touches the paralytic, look at how he tells him, verse 7 says:

"... and taking him by the right hand..." Now it would have also been by the left hand, I think it would have been the same, now let's not turn this into a rite that you have to take people by the right hand, so that God do something, right?

But the important thing here is that she took him by the hand and lifted him up and instantly his feet and ankles were firm. I dwell on this because it is very interesting that… Look perhaps when Peter said, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth receive healing, this man received healing. But what if Pedro had stayed there, okay, son, may God bless you and bandage yourself over there, God would… who knows if that man would have stayed there all his paralyzed life.

Pedro had to take a kind of risk and I sometimes say to people, don't try this at home, but he took him by the hand. It's like sometimes divine interventions need a physical part too. Sometimes we ask, Lord, heal me, and oh God send your spirit and lift me up. But we still have the same sick mentality, you know? And I believe that sometimes God requires a movement of faith as well.

Lord, get up. But, fool, get up, I already gave you the strength to do it. Get moving. It is important that we cooperate, so to speak, with the Holy Spirit as well. I am depressed back home, Lord, take this depression away from me, but one stays and gets even more into the sheet around the neck and gets deeper into the bed and entrenches himself even more. Well, I believe that if I asked the Lord to heal me from depression or discouragement, I have to take that sheet, throw it aside, take a good bath, perfume myself, put on the best clothes and say, in the name of of the Lord I believe. And when you do that, the blessing of God begins to flow.

That is something very interesting. The other days I was running around Sommerville, I run in the morning when I can, and I got a pain in my knee. Nothing because you run on the pavement, and at 35 the thing is... it's not as easy as when I was 20. But I felt something, I was hitting my knee, and I almost feel tempted to stop and return to my home. But you know what? God kind of put enough faith in me because that same thing has happened to me before, and I said, Lord, in the name of Jesus I am going to follow and you are going to anoint, because once I had… well, through the years one always has different types of... and I have seen how truly when one believes in the Lord and prays, and claims God's blessing, God does incredible things. God restores muscles, restores joints, things like that. You know what? I kept running, I'm not going to give you all the details, but I kept crying out to the Lord, I kept praying and declaring anointing and healing and this little pain kept persisting. And like three times in the process… but I kept going because I felt like this was a test that God was giving me to learn something about healing.

The summary is that, brothers, after a while that pain disappeared and I did it, you know, I'm going to run more than ever so that I don't do it again, and I continued and glory to God that never affected me again... and it had been several days that I was getting that pain precisely. I believe in a God who heals, brothers.

But I also believe that when we ask for healing and we cry out to the Lord for healing, we have to do things that support what we are declaring in our lives. We have to put into practice what we declare. We Pentecostals are very good at saying this and that, but when the time comes to test and do things in the Lord, that's where we crack, as the Mexicans say.

Then Peter says, in the name of Jesus get up and walk, but he does not leave him there, but rather takes him by the hand, lifts him up and there in that action of faith is where the powerful move of God is unleashed. I think there is a lesson there. Meditate on that. It's not necessarily always going to happen that way, but there are times when God is going to tell you, you know what? You have asked me for something, so move then.

When Peter says, Lord, if it is you, help me to walk on the water, as you have done. And what does Jesus Christ say? Well, jump out of the boat, dare if you are a man, then jump in and let's see what happens. And Peter got out and walked on the water, but his faith failed him. He says that when the noise of the waves began, and of the rain and thunder, he began to sink because he took away his gaze from Jesus.

Many times the miracles of the Lord require us to persist, to stay there, to fight. Warrior for your miracle. Take risks, move, activate the power of God in your life, in other words. For me it is one of the most revealing things, it was at the moment when Pedro took him by the hand and pulled him from his place when the power that was already declared over him was activated. Brother and sister, meditate on that. I don't have all the time to get as much juice out of it as I'd like, but there's a lot there that we can learn.

So another interesting thing about this miracle is that the healing is complete. When God does things, brothers, he does them from a to z, perfect. This is tremendous healing. The lame man jumps, walks, praises, he was almost missing to do a few somersaults in the air. This is total, radical healing. And later in Chapter 3, in verse 16, Peter refers to that fact, he says here:

“…and by faith in his name, Jesus, this one whom you see and know has confirmed his name and the faith that is for him has given him this complete healing in the presence of all of you…”

How nice it is when God does one of those radical healings, isn't it? is beautiful. Sometimes God's healings are gradual, sometimes they are not total, why, don't ask me. But it's nice to see total healing like that, because God can do that, God does it when he chooses that way.

Now, another thing about this miracle is that God chooses a strategic person to perform it. Someone long known as a paralytic. There was no doubt that a miracle had occurred. This man was known on the streets. Ah, look there is so-and-so. They had watched him for years and years, he had been paralyzed since childhood. In other words, there was no way to say that this was a trick, that they had brought it from somewhere else. No, this man was known and the miracle that God had done was indisputable.

One last thing about the miracle, notice Peter's comment: I don't have silver or gold, but what I have I give you. The power of God will always be much more useful for the advancement of the Gospel than money or the physical accessories of power. That is what I learn from there.

How many churches have big speakers and temples and phd in all the pastors, but there is no power from God. They have a great deal of money but a completely bankrupt theology and teaching. There is no power. But just the opposite, when the power of God is in a little church, those little ones over there, when the presence of God is manifested in worship, where there are people who cry out to God, where there are people who are looking for the power of God who they know how to unleash the presence of God, things happen.

Brothers, I prefer at any moment to be poor but have the grace of God in my life, than to have a lot of money and be a wretch. I mean, not funny, that's what I mean.

How beautiful it is, brothers, we always have… well, we thank God for his provisions, we thank God for all the things he provides, but let us not forget that the church of Jesus Christ runs with spiritual fuel. It is not with a sword or with an army, but with my spirit, says the Lord. We have to cultivate first the presence of God, the filling of the Holy Spirit. Before you look for anything else, make sure your sack is full of gifts from the Holy Spirit and God's power in your life. Be a person hungry for the grace and power of God. That is number 1.

Everything else is very good, very beautiful, a beautiful, precious temple, a good bank account, tremendous, good electronic devices, wonderful; But if I don't have the power of God, don't dress, you're not going anywhere. The power of God is paramount. It's good that Pedro was able to say, look brother, I'm broke, I don't have anything in my pocket, but you know what? I have a little thing that is going to be better. How much would that man have given to receive what he received from Pedro. The power of God is more powerful than any amount of money or any material thing.

Let us ask the Lord that we can also say like Peter, what I have I give you. The devil often asks Christians, well, what do you have? We'll see. I hope you say, I have the power of the Holy Spirit with me. I have the presence of God in my life and that you can use that to carry out the tasks that God has for you.

Let's look a little further ahead, I still have a few minutes left. It says here that:

"... holding onto Pedro and Juan, this man was holding on to them, what had happened was something truly extraordinary and a great commotion arose, people know this man, they see that he is jumping, before they had seen him totally handicapped, and Pedro , as in the first time in his first sermon, what does he do? Seize the moment to preach another evangelistic sermon. He rubs his hands together and says, here's my chance, fresh meat. The people gathered around him and again it is important to take advantage of the moments, brothers. God opens moments for us to preach to people, do not be slow or lazy, either, preach the Gospel on time and at the wrong time. You are an evangelist. Pedro took advantage of this opportunity. People were surprised and he immediately jumped at the opportunity. Look what Peter does in this sermon?

Number 1, he looks away from himself and John and stares squarely at Jesus. He says, why are you looking at us? Who are we? We are nobody. Look at Jesus, the one who has done this miracle. That is what every servant of God must do, he must look away from himself and put it on the Lord.

We are just a finger pointing towards Jesus Christ. How many believe that? Amen. Today I see a lot on television, all these evangelistic systems, what happens? The person is glorified so much. Today the preachers are like movie stars, big houses, private planes everywhere, $5000 a night hotels, $400 tie, and so-and-so, so-and-so, they're like movie stars, brothers.

Now, I think it's good that the importance of a name is recognized, because everything moves today with advertising and all these things. I see, for example, the differences between a Billy Graham, people talked about Billy Graham's campaigns, amen, but I always saw in Billy Graham, a man who always pointed towards Jesus Christ. Always sober, never drawing so much attention to himself. It was important, yes, his name, because people knew that when Billy Graham was there, they were going to receive a good word, good teaching, a man anointed by God, but there was not that cult of personality that there is today in many cases.

Brother, don't worship any man please. Do not put your eyes on anyone. We are very, very failed columns. Do not put your faith in any pastor, or in any church either, put it in Jesus Christ because any man is going to fail you, you know? Put it on Jesus. A church can fail you, but Christ will never fail you.

Peter says, “…why do you marvel at this? Why do they lay eyes on us? As if by our power or mercy we had made this man walk. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified his Son Jesus…” you see? It is Christ who has performed this miracle through the Father, who has glorified him.

See here this interaction also the principle of the Trinity, the outline of the Trinity, the Father glorifies the Son by performing miracles in the name of the Son so that it is known that the Son is the Son and that he is the Messiah that he has sent.

So Pedro says, don't look at us, don't adore us, don't turn us now into a cult of our personality. No, God, using his Son Jesus Christ, has done this to glorify his Son. This is very important. And he has glorified his Son Jesus, edocsasen, it is a word that means, where the word docsology comes from, he has made him glorious, he has exalted him, he has adorned him, he has given a special glory to his Son, doing this that you come here. This is for the merit of Jesus and not for our merit.

Another thing, in the way that Pedro speaks there is a clear and direct confrontation. The Jews have crucified the author of life. Ironically, they have killed the one who is the author of life. Now, who is the author of life but God? right yes? There's something interesting there too, isn't there? is it an implication that Jesus Christ is God, because only God creates life, yes or no? and Christ says, he is the creator of life, he is the author of life, so there is an implication there.

See why the church has always believed that Jesus Christ is God? Because it is that in the biblical mind, as there is no separation between the Son and the Father, of his divinity. God is the creator of life, he is the author of life. He says in verse 14:

"... you denied the holy and just and asked that a murderer be given to you, and you killed the author of life..."

Then there is a confrontation of the people. Brothers, and Pedro does not do it in a cruel or harmful way. He is simply notifying, you killed the one who gives life, it is an irony. I have always said that you have to talk to people about their sins, but not with the guise of being one holier than them or anything, but simply tell them that we are all sinners and need repentance and healing through Jesus Christ.

We cannot ignore that, we cannot remove the importance of sin, the sanctity of repentance, from the Christian repertoire. Then Peter confronts them and lets them know that they have done something terrible and that they have killed the one that God himself authorized as the Son of God, as the Messiah, and that they need to repent.

Then comes mercy. Says:

"... but now, brothers, I know that through ignorance you have done it as well as your rulers -verse 17-"

In other words, don't worry, it's okay, don't shoot yourself, there's still hope, right? Take it easy, right? yes they made a mistake but there is a possibility of solution. Verse 19:

"... so repent and convert so that your sins may be erased, so that times of refreshment may come from the presence of the Lord..."

What is the call? It's okay, they committed a sin, but hope is there. Repent and turn to the Lord. Change your mind. Do you remember what repentance was? Change mind, change direction, change behavior. That is the answer.

Here is something interesting, I don't have time for so many things but, notice that in the first sermon Peter says, repent, be baptized for the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Because in that context, what caught people's attention was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Notice here that he omits that part of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. A little note there, just a detail. Interesting, right? Like on this occasion that part doesn't seem so relevant, it's not that the baptism of the Holy Spirit isn't important, but he doesn't mention it.

And so at different times in the Bible there's not like total consistency that this has to come after the other, and after the other. But it just seems interesting to me, right? for in this case he does not mention as in the first the question of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

And finally, a verse that captivated me a lot, number 21, says:

"... so that he may send Jesus Christ who was previously announced to you, verse 20, then 21, whom it is necessary for heaven to receive until the times of restoration of all things that God spoke of through the mouth of his holy prophets …”

That is, speaking of Jesus Christ, he says, whom indeed it is necessary for heaven to receive. In other words, like heaven retaining, heaven holding Jesus, that he is up there as he still is 2000 years ago that heaven is receiving him, it is holding him up there. He is there waiting for his moment. It is important that Jesus stays up there, until how long? Until the times of restoration of all things.

The word restoration is apocatastaceo, where the word apocalypse comes from, apocatastaceo, is the end of time. Now, what about the restoration of times? The Apostle Peter does not explain, nor does the Bible explain, what Peter means. But it's interesting in light of what we've been saying, I believe, brethren, that Jesus Christ will not come. I made sure to read some comments, for example John Wexley, who is one of God's great men, is exactly what I think this means. I do not believe that Jesus Christ is going to come until certain corrections that have to be given in this world are given, until God has fulfilled his purpose.

The Lord Jesus Christ told the church, go and make disciples of the nations. The Lord gave the church authority. The Lord, I don't think it's necessarily going to come until the church has done all that it has to do here on earth. I do not believe that Jesus is going to come until Israel reaches the point of knowing something of the Lord. I believe that certain corrections have to be made, certain things in this world. I do not believe that Christ is going to come to a totally chaotic and broken world, I believe that the church still has to establish a lot of order in this world, and still everything that the church has to fulfill on this earth has not been given.

I don't believe that Jesus Christ is going to come until there is, at least, I don't know exactly what he means, but until there is a restoration of this world. And that is why I always live saying, Lord, what is it that you have in mind? What are you going to do yet? Because there is still a lot to do. I do not believe that this world is still restored as God wants it and that is my sign that my time is over. As you can see, I'm trying to be more responsible with you, especially in the summer when people's patience is a little lower.

But no, I'm also training to be a little more sparing in the teachings because otherwise you can't go everywhere. But, it is important, brothers, that we ask the Lord for clarity about that. Lord, what do you still need to do before Christ comes?

It also says elsewhere that until the times of the Gentiles, when the times of the Gentiles have been fulfilled, then Jesus Christ will come. That is, God has a clock, the least that this means is that God knows the precise moment. There are things that have to happen in this world, there are restorations, there are corrections that have to take place in this world before the Lord comes. And what we have to do, at least I know that amount, I don't know exactly everything. Speak here of which the ancient prophets spoke. Well, go to the prophets. This summer when I was on vacation I went through all the prophetic books, I am making a summary, I am taking out all the prophetic texts, and I clearly see there the restoration of Israel, the judgment of the nations, changes in nature, many things that they have to happen, of which the prophets speak: Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Zechariah, Malachi, Joel. There are many things that have to happen before Christ comes and not all of them have happened yet.

So don't buy the parachute yet because who knows if you still have time before you go up. There are many people who say, well, already tomorrow and who knows Christ can come at any time. But don't go too fast yet, there's a lot of work to do here on earth, you know? And a lot of blessing that God still wants to give his people. Amen.

So still tighten your seatbelts, my brother, my sister, because good things are going to happen. Amen. Glory to the name of the Lord.

We are going to stand up and we are going to thank God for his word. Go later in the week, meditate on this miracle. Ask Him Lord, I want to live that miraculous life of these first disciples. Wow, how the Lord moved. I live with hunger and thirst to see that move of God in the life of his church. A new Pentecost, we need a baptism of the Holy Spirit, a move of God in the church for those moments to occur. Because people will then be interested in listening and God will open opportunities for us to preach the Gospel to him.

Today the church moves and not a fly takes notice and that is why we have to keep breaking the door for people to let us in to talk about the Gospel. If the spirit of God is moving, if there is an anointing of God in the air, people are going to come and we are going to have to take advantage of opportunities that God is going to open up in our lives. I want God to give us a radioactive church, I want to be a magnetic person for God. I have to fill myself with the Holy Spirit. I have to live a life… there is a price to pay, these people had paid a price, they had received the anointing of the spirit.

Ask God to make you interesting, ask God to make you intriguing. Ask God to make you magnetic so that others will come and ask you, what do you have? Tell me. What makes the difference in your life? And we can talk to you about that Christ we know.

So, Father, in the name of Jesus we ask this morning, Lord, for a fresh anointing of your spirit. Thank you because you left these miracles registered in your word, Lord, which remind us above all that you have not finished with us. You want this same thing to happen in our times in your church, in this place, Lord, in this Congregation. Send your spirit, Father, make us evangelistic people, make us restless people, make us people, Father, that God moves around us in such a way that it is impossible to hide the fact that Christ lives and that God has glorified him through the power of his spirit on his behalf.

I bless my brothers, Lord, this morning and I ask that your grace rest on each one of them. Bless their lives, Lord, take them from this place with your blessing and with the powerful presence of your spirit, Lord. Your issues, your struggles, your difficulties, your challenges, jobs, lack of work, housing, homelessness, marital or family situations, Father, your emotions, I declare that powerful move of Jesus Christ in your lives, and that when you leave here, Lord, let us go out like Peter and John to be witnesses of a Christ who still lives, a risen Christ, a Christ of power, a Christ of miracles and healings, Lord. Fill us with your spirit again Father, because without your spirit we can do nothing. To you we give all the glory and all the honor, Lord, and we point to you, Lord Jesus, the only and wise God, the only one who deserves all glory, all honor, all honor forever and ever. We adore you Lord, blessed be your name, amen and amen. Glory to the name of the Lord, brothers. I bless you in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen.