“And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33 KJV).
It is time to pray for the rain. We want the rain of the Holy Spirit upon us because that is what will cause the church to be a body without spot or wrinkle.
The rain is what causes people to change. We lose our possessiveness. We stop the lying and hypocrisy. The rain produces great grace upon all who desire it.
When the Holy Spirit fell on the early church, they lost their possessiveness. They came to the place where they wanted to be a blessing to anybody. They gave of their possessions and of their help. Because of the giving of the saints, there were no needs among these people; all of the selfishness was washed away when the rain fell.
Great grace was upon them. Grace is divine power. Grace is divine help. Grace is help from the Holy Spirit, and grace is the favor of God. Great grace came on them when they began to pray in unity and one accord.
Great favor came on them. Great anointing came on them. God saved many daily, such as should be saved. We don’t know how many thousands of people were saved, but every day more people were getting saved.
During time of rain there were some unscrupulous people, Ananias and Sapphira. They came in lying, pretending that they sold their land and gave a certain amount of the profit to the church. Now they did not have to participate. The problem here was not that they didn’t give. The problem was that they lied in a time when the anointing was high. And when they lied in a time of high anointing they both fell down dead.
Now great grace is on the apostles during this time of high anointing. The power is resting heavily on everybody in the crowd. But I want you to know that it is not just the apostles that are anointed. Everybody was anointed. It says that great grace was upon them all. It wasn’t just the preachers that got heavily anointed.
No, Grandma sitting in the back of the church was anointed. The person in section 5b was anointed. Everybody had great anointing on them. The whole church was flowing in the anointing together.
When the anointing is resting strongly and manifesting itself on every member of the church, it becomes a church without spot or wrinkle. That church will be holy and without blemish. And it is a church that is a candidate to usher in Jesus’ return.
Scripture Reference: Acts 5:1-11; Ephesians 5:25-27
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Keith Butler has been an ordained minister since 1974. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds diplomas from Canada Christian College and Rhema Bible Training Center.
He serves in ministry with the support of his lovely wife, Pastor Deborah L. Butler, and their children: Pastor Andre Butler (granddaughters Alexis, Angela, and April), Pastor MiChelle Ferguson and husband Pastor Lee (grandson Lucas), and Minister Kristina Jenkins and husband Pastor Joel (grandsons Andrew and Austin, and granddaughter Alyssa).