Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
Part 1: The witness of the Holy Spirit
The first example of the giving of the Holy Spirit to the church was at Pentecost.
Acts
1 ...And, being assembled together with them, (HE, Jesus) commanded them that they
should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the
Father, which, saith HE , ye have heard of me. 5For John truly baptized
with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence... ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Some
people in churches try to witness without having the Spirit of God.
They even teach each other how to "witness". But when we have the
Spirit of God in us, we are a witness.
When you
throw a rock into a pond of water, ripples go in all directions. You do
not have to try to make this happen. It is a by-product of the rock
hitting the water.
When you have the Holy Spirit in
you, you do not have to try to witness. You are a witness. You are so
different as a result of having the Holy Spirit in you that you are
different from those who do not have HIS Spirit. You just stand out in
that crowd. Many people will hate you because you are different. Those
who are of God will recognize you because of HIS Spirit.
Here are two examples, one of the flesh trying to witness and the other of the Spirit of God witnessing.
After I was born again, I
went to a copy store to make copies of some papers. I was waiting to
copy the papers. An elderly man approached me and said, "Little lady ... you didn't park behind that green and gold car did you?" I replied, "No sir." He said, "That's a Baylor (Baptist University) car." I replied, "Okay ..."
Then he said, "You don't happen to be a Christian do you?" With that, I excitedly replied ... "Well yes ... as matter of fact I am!"
He then stopped smiling and began showing displeasure in his face and said to me, "OH HECK ... I just joined the witnessing class at First Baptist Church and you are the first person I chose to witness to."
He was disappointed that I am a Christian!
The second example, happened
to me after I was born again in 1975 ... I owned a business and was
flying to Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA) on a buying trip. Many of my
relatives lived in Albuquerque at that time. My cousin met me at the
plane.
Just as the plane landed, I heard these words from the Holy Spirit, "Be baptized."
When my cousin picked me up and we got into her car, I said, "Jeanne ... if you can arrange it at church I will be baptized this afternoon before I return to Dallas." She replied: "But you've already been baptized." "Yes," I said, "But I wasn't born again until now."
Jeanne
was a member of Church of Christ. They love to baptize in water. So
she arranged for me to be baptized that afternoon. Many of my relatives
(who were also Church of Christ) gathered at the church building.
Before being taken to the baptistry, the young minister said to me: "Would you like to say something?" I was greatly shocked for Church of Christ never allow woman to speak at the church. But I replied, "I guess so." And
I began speaking by the Holy Spirit. I noticed my uncle who was seated
in the congregation. He was crying. I also noticed a cousin. She was
shaking her head up and down and very excited as I spoke.
When I was baptized and the minister lowered me into the water, the Holy Spirit began teaching me. The Holy Spirit said to me, "This is like being buried with Christ."
As the minister raised me out of the water, the Holy Spirit said to me, "This is like being raised with Christ."
I didn't know Romans 6 at that time but that is exactly what Romans 6 teaches us. Know
ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into his death? 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism
into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
After
the baptism, I dressed and returned to the congregation area of the
church building and my uncle came to me. He was very excited. He said,
"I've never heard anything like that which you said today. Could you write that out for me and send it to me?" I
told him I thought I could. So when I returned to Dallas I wrote it
and sent it to him. I think my uncle was born again at the time he
heard what the Holy Spirit spoke through me before I was baptized that
day.
When the Holy Spirit is doing the work through us there is power.
To be continued tomorrow ...
(These writings are not available in printed paper form. Only Internet form. You may copy off Internet and distribute to your church.)