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Was the Holy Spirit poured out for only the time of the apostles in Acts chapter 2? Reverend Daniel shares the powerful implications from that day 2,000 years ago.

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We are beginning a sermon series on selected portions in the book of Acts. So the next couple of weeks, what we'll do is we'll look at certain uh portions of Acts that is pivotal in the story of early of the early church, early Christianity, right? And uh one of the key pivotal uh moments for the early Christians is Acts chapter 2. Right? So Acts chapter 2 describes the coming of the Holy Spirit, and this is promised by Jesus earlier. The disciples were ordered by Jesus in Acts chapter 1, verses 4 to 5, his specific instructions to his disciples before uh his ascension, he said he said this do not depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, You heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. So the disciples were waiting, and when the day of Pentecost arrived, the disciples were all together in one place, and they had what we call an experience of a divine theophany. A theophany is basically a visible manifestation of God to humans. So uh when when the in the Bible, when people experience, Moses experienced a theophany because he saw a manifestation of God, a bush that does not burn up. So in this instance, the early disciples had a divine theophany, a visible manifestation of God to humans. They heard the sound of a mighty rushing wind, divided tongues as of fire appeared and rested on them, and they began to speak in other tongues. The coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2 has often been associated with the gift of speaking in tongues. However, this wasn't the purpose of Acts chapter 2, to expound or to build or to build up a doctrine of the gift of tongues for today. This will come later when Paul speaks of it in 1 Corinthians 14 in the context of spiritual gifts and its usage in the context of the Corinthian church. Rather, I'd like to suggest to us that the focus of Acts chapter 2 is more than speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues was the phenomenon that uh manifestation of God's presence, but it was not the main thing. The focus of Acts chapter 2 was how the barrier between uh Hebraic Jews, basically they were Jews who spoke Hebrew, and the Hellenistic Jews, basically, they were Greek-speaking Jews, right? So there were Jews, Hebrew Jews, and uh Greek-speaking Jews. So the barrier between them was broken down. God came upon the early church to break down all barriers that would prevent them from advancing the gospel beyond their ethnic uh group, so to speak. So they heard one another in their own tongues and they began to hear, X tells us one another, telling of the mighty works of God in their own tongues. So following the divine theophany, Peter stood up and spoke of how in the last days God would pour out his spirit on all flesh, all peoples. You and I uh are part of this pouring, the outpouring of God's spirit upon our lives. Uh because we are living in the last days, the days between Jesus' first coming and second coming again. And Peter's speech is central for us to understand what the coming of the spirit means for us. And he describes, he paints a picture. He says, Sons and daughters shall prophesize, young men shall see visions, old men shall dream dreams, even on my male servants and female servants, God would pour out his spirit and they shall prophesize. Right? So there's no God is no respecter of persons, the spirit of prophecy is for all people, right? Uh even on male servants and maidservants. In other words, Peter is saying there's no uh differentiation when the last days which we are in now, God will pour out his spirit on all people, which is all of us here, seated here. All of us can prophesize, all of us can see visions, all of us can dream dreams. There's nothing uh stopping the move of God in our lives today. So Peter goes on in his speech to say he would also show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below. Blood and fire, vapor and smoke, the sun shall be turned to darkness, the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day, and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. There'll be an outpouring of the Spirit in the last days. This was foretold in Joel, in the book of Joel, chapter 2, verse 28 to 32. Uh, as I said, the Holy Spirit presence will be made visible through prophecies, visions, dreams, along with signs and wonders and salvation to those who believe. So the implication for us this morning as we as we reflect together on the coming of the Holy Spirit is this no one is too insignificant to receive the work of the Spirit in our lives. God's spirit will be poured out on all flesh, on all peoples. My sharing today will be in two parts. Hopefully, it will be easily understood uh in these two parts. One is God speaks in and through the Holy Spirit. And we see that in verse 17 and 18 of Acts chapter 2. And secondly, God works in and through the Holy Spirit. So, firstly, God speaks in and through the Holy Spirit. I will spend uh quite some time talking about prophecy because it's something uh very crucial in the life of the church, but it's something perhaps we are fearful to tread uh into because we are afraid you know there'll be heresy, we are afraid we'll go beyond what is stated in God's word and all. But if you look at the New Testament in particular, realize that prophecy or prophesizing in the early church was part and parcel of their life as a church, as a body of Christ. Notice that uh in it's mentioned twice in Acts chapter 2, verse 17 your sons and daughters shall prophesize. In Acts 2, 18, again, even on my male servants and female servants, in those days I will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesize. So I hope to set some parameters and guidelines today so that we will better understand how prophecy works in the past and how it works today. So, in the past, going all the way back to the Old Testament, prophets were the messengers from God, sent to speak to men and women with words from God, carrying his divine authority. So we read about Haggai the prophet. Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message. Similarly, the Lord sent a message by Nathan the prophet to King David, and the Lord gave Isaiah the prophet a message to deliver to King Hezekiah. So in the Old Testament, which is part of what we call uh the scripture that we inherit today, uh to reject the words of the prophet is to reject the words of God, and we see that very clearly in the Old Testament. And to disbelieve or disobey a prophet's words is to disbelieve or to disobey God. So, in other words, they carry God's very word and authority when they speak. So when they speak, it's as if God is speaking. So when a prophet speaks, God speaks, right? That's the Old Testament, right? And Elijah can come uh into the scene and face King Ahab and say, Thus says the Lord, except on my word there shall be no rain on the land. So if any of us here today come up, or even myself say that, I think perhaps our eyes will roll. We wonder what's this pastor talking about? Is there, you know, do you have such authority to make such statement? Right? So the Old Testament, the prophets had that authority because they were commissioned specifically, very directly by God to declare his word. So we move on in Judaism. It was believed with the closing of the Old Testament, the voice of prophecy and the spirit has ceased. And those who study into uh the early church, the text realize that in several non-canonical Jewish writings, there is a sense reflected in those uh primary sources that the voice of prophecy and the spirit had ceased. No one talks about uh prophecy and spirit, right? Uh, because during that time, uh it was a time where yeah, there was just a general belief that God, the word of the Lord is rare, uh is silent. Yet Judaism also believed that at the end of history, with the arrival of the Messiah, with Jesus, uh the Messiah, the voice of prophecy and the spirit would resume. Therefore, uh prophets speak of the coming of the spirit being poured out in uh in a future time. For example, Joel chapter 2, verse 28 to 32. Right, so this is Judaism, Old Testament, then Judaism, then we move on to the time of the New Uh Testament. And in the time of the New Testament, we hardly see uh a definite, definitive prophet coming on the scene and saying, Thus says the Lord. Right? So uh Wayne Grudum uh explains to us that actually an equivalent of a prophet in the New Testament is the apostle, right? So those are the pillar of the church, right? The apostles and prophets. Paul would say that they're the foundations of the church, the apostles uh of the New Testament, uh, the prophets of the Old Testament, because they were the ones who laid the foundation, declaring God's word, uh, being commissioned to uh spread the gospel. So why do we say that the equivalent in the New Testament of the Old Testament prophet is the apostle? It's because an apostle was also commissioned by Christ uh in the early church, sent by him on a specific apostolic mission, just as Old Testament prophets were sent by God as his messengers. Right? So apostles are being sent by God to carry the gospel, to carry his message. So in the Old Testament prophets, they were one, the ones that declare God's word uh uh orally or sometimes through visions, through signs. But in the New Testament, uh we see that the apostles, instead of conveying God's word orally, declaring God's word, uh the apostles actually wrote uh scriptures, right? And and and that's why we have today the Bible, the scriptures. And these were eyewitnesses, people like Peter, Paul himself was an apostle, and we know that he wrote many parts of the New Testament. And those carry weight, it carries divine authority because they were carried by the Holy Spirit and they have written down what they are inspired by God uh to write down, and they carry divine authority. And none of us here today, if we say uh the New Testament or Paul's letters are heresy, you know, or they are not truthful to what God intends, because these the writings that carry uh God's authority, apostolic authority. And this ability, the similarity between prophets and apostles is that for apostles, the message comes from directly from Christ Himself. For example, the apostle Paul would say, uh, his message has not come from man, but from Jesus Christ Himself. Uh he could say that because he's apostle, he was the one that walked with Jesus. And uh, sorry, not walked with Jesus, call it myself, he was the one that uh whom Jesus revealed to as the one he was persecuting. So in Galatians 1, verse 11 to 12, he says, The gospel which was preached by me is not a man's gospel, for I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ. So it's authoritative because it came through revelation, not mediated by man, but through a revelation that Paul received as an apostle. So such an insistence of the divine origin of his message for Paul is clearly in the tradition of the Old Testament prophets. Those of us who study languages or or who like me like languages, we realize we learn that words do change and take on different meanings in varying contexts. So when you put forth an argument, just speaking of how this word is used, people can counter that by using other words in other contexts to argue against what you say. Right? So words must be understood in context. And the meaning of words do change over time. Certain words we learn, uh, we used to associate those words with uh other meanings, right? But over time, words evolve and change depending on the context in which the word takes place at the latter time. So by the time of the New Testament, the term prophet in everyday use often simply means one who has supernatural knowledge. A prophet is one that uh just has knowledge, supernatural knowledge, uh, and or one who predicts the future, or even just a spokesman, right? So uh, in fact, if you you you read further on the word prophet and how it's understood outside the Bible, you realize that anything can be called a prophet. Even a skilled craftsman, uh someone who is uh uh has a vocation, a job, is also called a prophet. So the word is uh is very widely uh nuanced, so it can carry many meanings. So by the time of the New Testament, when the New Testament writers apply the word prophet and and uh other related words to someone other than the Old Testament prophet, right? So the connotation does not always mean the understanding of how we understand Old Testament prophets in uh when we read the Old Testament. So the meaning of how prophets and prophecy is being defined needs to be understood in the context of the text itself. Uh so certainly when we move on, even to our day and age, when we want to apply prophecy, we cannot say that the word must always mean one who speaks the very words of God. Right? So today, if I stand here and give a word of prophecy, I wouldn't dare say that these are the very words of God, like the words of an old testament prophet or uh an apostle in scripture. Right? So for us today, we ought uh to recognize and give room uh to allow God to speak to us through words of prophecy, because this is the age in which God pours out his spirit on all flesh and gives the spirit without measure. We see a precedence for this in Joel's prediction of prophecy for all people will now be fulfilled in Acts chapter 2. God will pour out his spirit on all flesh, and we will prophesy. So similarly in Numbers 11, verse 29, Moses looked forward to a time where there'll be widespread prophesying prophesying. He said, Would that all the Lord's people were prophets? So, how does prophecy work for us today? What are some guidelines to move in this area? Let us briefly look at 1 Corinthians 14, uh, verse 29 to 33, which addresses the exercise of the gift of prophecy in a worship setting. 1 Corinthians 14, verse 29 to 33. Uh Paul says this let two or three prophets speak and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesize one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged. And the spirit of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. So clearly, in Paul's time and which is uh applied to a worship setting, uh things are weighed, measured of discerned, right? All these words come to play. So it's not so much of someone coming here and you know saying that this is the word of the Lord for all of us, you know, and this is definitive, but rather everything uh has to be weighed and measured. That's why there's certain order, right? When two or three uh so-called people with uh the prophetic word, things must be weighed off, take turns to speak, one is silent, you know. And the purpose is that all may be encouraged together, right? So there's a subjection, not a complete authority to say what you want, because the spirit of prophets are subject to prophets. And all this because in a worship setting, how we uh come together as God's people has to reflect God's character. And verse 33 says, God is not a God of confusion, not a God of disorder, but of peace. So as a prophet or one who exercises the gift of prophecy is speaking, the others, referring to the perhaps the congregation, would listen carefully, evaluating the prophecy in the light of scripture and the authority, authoritative teaching that we know. So no member of the congregation, when a prophecy is being given, would need to feel useless because every one of us are silently weighing and evaluating what is being said. And uh there should even be some kind of confirmation uh from the congregation receiving the prophecy that uh it is actually uh encouraging to them, it actually builds up their life. Right? So this is uh a guideline to help us to see that how in the exercise of uh the gift of prophecy, in which God desires us to pursue, uh, we there's some order and there's some uh edification and encouragement. Right? So I'd like to suggest to us that today, uh in the church today, in the New Testament church and also for us today, prophecy functions not so much as the authoritative word of God for us, you know, and to make it definitive and say that you know we are we have to be under that word, right? And uh and and live in fear that and that word has to be fulfilled. Rather, prophecy functions more as something that God brings to our mind, right? I like to put it in this way prophecy functions as something that God brings to our mind. As we worship Him, God gives impressions to us, God speaks to us, God uh gives us visions, pictures, confirmation from his word. So oftentimes uh it is based on a revelation from the Holy Spirit impressed upon our minds. You know, uh we are worshiping, and suddenly a thought comes to our mind uh from the Holy Spirit. It comes spontaneously, often not planned, right? Prophecy is not something we engineer or plan, but it comes as we in a context of worship, right? It comes spontaneously by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. It brings insight from God's perspective as the Holy Spirit does the revealing to us. Right? So some principles of how prophecy should be evaluated, and uh there are four four guidelines I like to share with us, you know, and I think there. Will be opportunities for us going forward, you know, as a church, you know, to move in this area of prophecy as much as we know that it is a place where we want to be edified, we want to be encouraged. So prophecy does have a role of encouraging and edifying the body. So some principles of how it should be evaluated. Firstly, something as we gather for worship, God brings something to our minds. We are suddenly impressed by the spirit of a scripture, of a word, of a picture. So God brings something to our mind. Secondly, it's not carrying the weight of being an absolute word of God. It cannot be, right? Because in the New Testament, uh there is a discerning, there is a weighing of words being released. So it does not carry the weight of an absolute word of God. Thirdly, it edifies and builds the church. It must edify, it must encourage us in our bodily life together. And lastly, that should be a confirmation by those who have been edified by the prophetic word, meaning that it is something that would have to be confirmed within our congregation. And many times that comes through conversations. You know, uh sometimes when you pray for people, you sense an impression, God brings something to your mind, you pray for them, and after that you forgot about it. I experienced that many times when I pray for people. A few weeks later, the person says, Pastor, thank you for praying for me, because that word, you know, was what I needed at that time. So then my next question to them was, What did I pray for you about? I I can't remember, you know, but they remember because it is a confirmation of God's word upon their lives. And sometimes prophecy takes years and decades to fulfill, you know, and sometimes, you know, when I remember many, many years ago when I was still uh, I think, was I a staff? Probably I wasn't a staff. I was attending one of the church camps and there was an invited speaker. So they said, uh, all you uh young people come up, come up to to receive prayer. So I also went up, and I think there was a there was a speaker who prayed over me and prophesied. That time I was probably just in secondary school. He said, Oh, I'm going to uh I'm going to teach the word of God, I'm going to you know uh teach his truth and so on. And so that time I was a young boy, I I didn't know how to you know receive the word. Right, but of course, like all prophecies, when it's being made, you know, uh sometimes it could be made for the future, right? Um so I just receive it, but because I didn't think much about it, I don't lose my sleep over a prophecy. And none of us should do that, lose our sleep over prophecy. So I receive it, right? And yeah, I think because of my role, I do teaching also involved in teaching. So perhaps you can say that's a fulfillment, maybe 20 years later, right? So so this is this is what it is, right? And it's something that I pray that if you are the first time hearing this, you know, and thinking, you know, is real prophecy really for the church. I like to suggest to us it is, right? Because the New Testament church moved in that. Uh and and Paul himself said, pursue a spiritual gift, desire the gift of prophecy. And it's not unique to anyone. All of us can prophesize, all of us can heal God, all of us, you know, as we worship the Lord, He can bring thoughts to our minds, right? So I like to just remind us from 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 19 to 21. I think if you can just look at that verse, I think it kind of summarizes quite a bit. It says, Do not quench the spirit, do not quench the spirit, do not despise prophecies, but test everything. Hold fast what is good. Right? So this is a principle in which we want to hold on to. And in the days ahead, you know, where there may be opportunity for us as a church doing corporate worship to just grow in this area, to allow God to speak to the body so that we can be edified, we can be encouraged, so that the church, all of us here, can be built up, right? And we need the whole body to rise up, not just the pastor, to for the church to grow and to be vitalized. Right? So, how does God speak to us today? And I spend quite a lot of time talking about prophecy because I think it's important for us to have the right understanding. And very quickly, God speaks to us also through visions and dreams. In the last days, God speaks to his people through visions and dreams. Acts 2.17 tells us, your young man shall see visions, your old man shall dream dreams. Right? So, vision in biblical prophecy is often the means by which God reveals the future to his prophets. Right? So we are not talking about that kind of vision uh because we are talking more about how God speaks to us today through visions. A lot of times it could be a word picture or images that God gives to us. Right? Remember, there was a time where I was praying and seeking the Lord uh intentionally. Um yeah, so there was a time where I was going through, I won't say a rough patch, but I was going through uh uh some healing uh training, uh ministry, uh, to be equipped to uh move in the area of uh healing and deliverance. So I was there, I was in some way forced to be quiet and wait on the Lord, you know. So the question that all of us participants, we were there, uh, we asked the Lord, all of us supposed to hear God. We are supposed to ask God one question God, what do you want to tell me today about my life, my situation? So all of us uh in the course, we had to just wait upon the Lord. One area which the Lord wants to minister to you, what is it? So all of us close our eyes, you know, and and we probably have spent the next half an hour or so thinking about that. So I closed my eyes and I yeah, I just prayed. And suddenly I saw darkness, uh yeah, just speech darkness. I said, Oh my goodness, what's that? What's darkness about? So as I prayed, I closed my eyes. Then I saw a very dark hole. I said, uh, so Lord, what are you trying to tell me? Show me darkness and show me a dark hole. So as I wait, waited on the Lord, you know, I began to see that this darkness and dark hole begins to brighten up and start to light up, slowly removing and dispelling the darkness. So the darkness was removed. There's a sense of brightness, light coming in, and then I was brought to the scene of a beach, of a beach, right? Where it's a seaside setting. I was sitting uh in my younger days, I like to get out to nature, and usually I'll sit on an elevated slab, uh, sometimes for walks. East Coast Park, there's one, Sambang Park, there used to be. So I was there. The picture that I received that I was sitting there uh with a sense of a feeling of helplessness and loneliness. I don't know why those words came. So I was there, so and yeah, feeling quite helpless and lonely. Uh, and and suddenly I was brought to a passage in uh Matthew chapter 11, verse 28. Right, so uh this is what uh Jesus said Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I'm gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Right. So uh after that uh I sensed the Lord uh saying uh these words, or rather, I saw a picture of uh God uh with me. Uh I was in the beach uh running uh with God, you know, and after much playing and panting, um we sat down for a while, right? Then he said to me uh these words He said, Life can be fun and easy. Take it easy, come to me. Right? So these were the words, of course, in visions, pictures that we receive, I think uh we should allow for some imagination, right? So God is not literally there, but in the vision I saw God playing with with me, you know, like a father on the beach, right? It's just a picture I receive, you know. But the key word that I think the Lord wanted to convey to me, actually it's very simple. He says, relax, lah, you know, life, life is easy, lah. You know why? Because Jesus' yoke is easy and his burden is like so that's a simple message, right? But sometimes as we wait on the Lord, he does give us a download, you know, bring brings us through uh meandering sometimes, different word pictures, and then to scripture. Right? So this is just one instance. I don't usually uh receive such visions and images, not on a daily basis, but I'm sharing this just to say that sometimes God speaks to us through word pictures, through visions. And of course, at that time I was encouraged. So we had to share our experience with one another, with the facilitator, and then pray through that and pray for healing. Right, so there are also dreams. Uh X tells us that old man shall dream dreams. Uh perhaps for some of us, God speaks to us uh through dreams. I've not encountered that before, God speaking to me through dreams, but that could be a powerful way in which God reveals himself to us too. And I believe if I, you know, some of us along here, I mean on the ground here in the church uh century, perhaps we, you know, God speaks to us through dreams, and that could happen too. Right? Let me move on to my my second point, which is God works in and through the Holy Spirit. So we have seen how God speaks to us in and through the Holy Spirit, through prophecy, through uh through dreams, through visions, but God also works in us through in and through the Holy Spirit. So Acts 2, chapter 9, Acts chapter 2, verse 19 to 21 talks about cosmic signs about the end of the world. Along with the cosmic signs of the end of the world, uh there's also the gift of tongues and prophecy, along with various healing miracles in Acts, which attest to the signs and wonders of the presence of God's kingdom. So the signs and wonders uh have the purpose of opening the gospel to all, such that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And a lot of times, uh in the case of prophecy, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 24 to 25, if all prophesies and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all. He's called to account by all. The secrets of his hearts are disclosed. Right? So prophecy, in a way, is could be a sign of the kingdom to outsiders. When they hear, they realize God is among us. Right? Speaking in tongues with interpretation also helps to witness to unbelievers of the reality of God. And we also see the healing miracles in in the book of Acts points to the reality of the kingdom of God. It's almost as if in the book of Acts, healing is the open door to preach the kingdom or the gospel. Signs and wonders uh followed the early disciples, not because they desire it and they they they want to be glamorous and uh and have big bombastic uh ministry of signs and wonders, but this was how God chose to reveal his salvation through healing uh the sick. The door is open for the gospel. And we see that many times in the book of Acts. In Acts chapter 9, verse 32 to 35, the healing of Aeneas, a man, bedridden for eight years, led to the whole rest, the residence of Jobah and Sharon to turn to the Lord. Just one uh incident of a healing opened the gospel to the residence in Jopa and Sharon. Again in Acts chapter 9, verse 36 to 43, uh Tabitha, a disciple, became ill and died. Peter went to pray for her, spoke to the body, uh, and said, Arise. And Tabitha rose from the dead and she opened her eyes and sat up. This became known throughout all Jobah, and many believed in the Lord. In Acts 14, verse 3, Paul and Barnabas remained a long time in iconium, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness, who bore witness to the word of his grace. How? Granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. So signs and wonders are not something we deliberately try to pursue to build a uh a grand uh grand ministry, but rather it is a sign of the kingdom, it's a sign of God's grace, the gospel at work. Right? Uh they are witness to God's word. Signs and wonders often accompany the word of God when it's being preached. It is the Spirit's work and his authentication of the word preached. So, in other words, God's word when it's being preached, their times will be followed with God's words, wonders, signs and miracles. I'd like to close with by sharing a story of uh Uncle Go. So um the story begins like this Uncle Go, Kim Kwang, his whole name, uh his full name, sorry, was a caretaker at a church. He suffered a bad fall in uh 2 Zhou Zhou 8. Uh after that, he often felt pain in his leg. The pain would rise and subside and go away after some rest and stretching. But one morning in 2 Zhou 1 1, Uncle Go woke up and felt such immense pain that he could not walk. He was 71 at that time. Out of desperation, he asked his daughter to call for an ambulance. Through his son, uh Hokchai, Uncle Go now, 82, tells his story. On the morning, I was taken to the hospital. The specialist sent me to have an x-ray. The nurses took me there in a wheelchair. I expected the worst given my age and past injuries. The specialist replied that it was hopeless. Not even an operation could restore my leg. Later, when the specialist looked at the results of the x-ray, he pointed out that my leg was seriously twisted. I asked if it was possible at all for him to realign it. He replied that it was hopeless. Not even an operation could restore my leg because of my old age. With no other options, he gave me an injection to manage the pain and discharged me. He advised me not to go out too much and to try to stay at home. So I stopped going to church to work. The pain persisted and I couldn't walk with ease. Every step I took hurt. As I raised my hand, I started to cry. Members from the Hokkien service at Podesta Badot Tampanist Church, where I worked, missed me and came to visit. I wasn't a Christian at the time. So he was working in uh overseeing facilities, but he's not a Christian. He was working in a church, but he was not a Christian. He was overseeing facilities. So this group of believers visited him and he goes on to say, they told me about God's love. One man who visited me shared his testimony and his personal encounter with Jesus. After that, they offered to pray for my leg. I gladly agreed. They also asked if I wanted to accept Jesus into my life. Suddenly I remembered that my mom once told me, if you are at your wit's end, call to Jesus. He will help you. This memory moved me to open my heart to invite Jesus into my life. I wanted to experience God's love for myself. As I raised my hand, I started to cry. I felt so sorry that I had taken so long to come to Him. I felt terrible that I'll come running to Jesus when I was in trouble. After praying for me, my friends left. My daughter asked, Father, you can walk comfortably without limping already? At first, I didn't notice anything, but as I was clearing the table, I realized that my leg seemed to feel fine. I wasn't sure, so I didn't tell anyone. My daughter also observed that my leg was better. She asked, Father, you can walk comfortably without limping already. But I told her, Shh, don't tell anyone yet. That night I had a dream of Jesus. He looked really beautiful and he held my hand and smiled at me. I think he was amused by how long it took me to finally call out to him. Then I woke up. I glanced at the clock. It was around 3:30 a.m. After a few weeks, I went back to the hospital to have my leg checked. The specialist was very surprised that I was healed. He asked me if I'd taken any special medication. I told him no. So how is it your leg has fully recovered? He asked. Oh doctor, I said, uh, you told me there's no hope for recovery. But I called to Shang Ti, which is God, and he healed me. I told him how friends from the Hokkien ministry at the church I worked at had prayed for me and I was healed. I also told him about the dream I had of Jesus. The doctor recorded everything I said in his notes. He then asked me if I was a Christian. I told him I'm in Shangti's club now. The doctor shared that he was also a Christian and he congratulated me. So this picture uh is actually a picture of Uncle Go, right? He was sharing in Hokkien, actually, Hokkien speaking, how the doctor told him there was no way to fix his leg. So uh this uh uh testimony is taken from uh salt and light. Uh uh in fact, his son is actually, if I'm not wrong, uh one of the quite a senior worker at Campus Crusade, or they call it Crew Singapore, right? So it's a marvelous testimony. I think he's really happy, you know, that God met his father then and spoke in such an unusual way, dreams, confirmation, getting people to pray for him, simple faith, church members visiting and praying. Right. I perhaps it doesn't say that the pastor was there. Maybe the pastor wasn't there, right? But yeah, church members there prayed in simple faith. God chose to heal him there and then, you know, and thereafter, still not enough, followed up with a dream that he you know saw Jesus, and yeah, so he he's now worshipping regularly uh in one of the hockey and services in uh uh pedestal uh church. So we thank God, you know, that this is these are all testimonies and uh openings uh where uh the gospel uh gets to go out because God works in and through the Holy Spirit. And you'll be surprised, all of us can also uh work miracles as the Lord leads us. We can pray for people, people can be healed, people can be restored, right? You don't need the pastor to always be the one praying for people for them to be healed, because this is the last days in which God has poured out his spirit on all flesh, all of us without exemption, can move in the gifts and the power of the pray that you've been ministered to by the Word of God today.

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