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Hi, Friend,

A New Release!

An exciting new book
by Peter Wade!

Based on his unaltering foundational belief that the Bible is the “God-breathed” Word of God, Peter Wade brings his newest and best work to you – IMPACT: Pentecost and the Early Church. Focused on the first five chapters of The Book of Acts, Impact is “filled to overflowing” with scripture, and Peter Wade brings discernment and insight from a lifetime of Bible study to its pages.

Impact passionately and accurately presents people and events (that have been part of Christian history) as they were then: authentic, living but demanding of your attention now!  

You will begin to grasp the significance of that first display of the power of the holy spirit within the Apostles and its impact on believers, who came to know the manifestation of speaking in tongues as “flowing rivers of living water.” You’ll accurately understand how Stephen spoke so boldly in the face of death, and how Peter healed thousands with Christ in him, and thousands believed. Impact will clearly demonstrate to you how these lives and events interact with you today.
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*Get 20% off the retail price by using the Coupon Code PREORD577 at Checkout. Shipping before the end of May.



 

PRE-ORDER NOW!

*Remember, 20% off the retail price by using the coupon code PREORD577 at Checkout. Shipping before the end of May.



 



 

Read a Sample


Wait! There’s More


In the 40 days between the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus, there are records of many witnesses to the facts. Let’s look at a few moments of this period when the resurrected Christ walked on this earth.

“He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). On one occasion He appeared to over 500 believers at one time (I Corinthians 15:6), and to the disciples both individually and collectively many times.

In Luke 24:30-48 (same event as John 20:19-25), Jesus appeared to all his disciples (except Thomas), “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.’” (Luke 24:45-49 ESV).

“Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (verse 49 KJV).
This is the “Wait! There’s more.” He had spoken about this promise before. In John 7:38-39 in that famous incident in the temple on the last day of the feast, Jesus alluded to the coming Pentecost, “‘Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (ESV).

Then on the night before Jesus was killed, he told his disciples clearly, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). So it should have been no surprise to be told to “stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Then in Acts 1:4-5 Luke states: “And while staying with them he ordered them not to 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 [in] the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’”

The Azusa Street Pentecostal revival of 1906 (which came out of the holiness movement of the 1800s) took this command to tarry as being applicable to all believers in Christ for all time. Pentecostal churches held “tarrying meetings” where they would pray and plead to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, the Helper, the Comforter, the giver of power from on high (Acts 1:8). However, the command was obviously given at the Ascension only to the eleven remaining disciples to stay in Jerusalem, the city where they were when Jesus gave the instruction.

Preachers do not need to see the command as figurative, such as “your Jerusalem, the city where you live,” but should accept the narrative as literal. “Wait for… not many days from now” (verse 5). And that is what they did for however long it took, which was 10 days after the Ascension. No-one appears to have waited again in the records of the book of Acts. Once other believers knew the promise was activated, they received the gift without tarrying.

We should also note that after the Day of Pentecost, the term “baptized” was used only once in relation to the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:6) and that was a quotation of the promise given in Acts 1:5. All other references are to John’s ritual of baptism in water for new converts. “The basic act of receiving the spirit can be described as being baptized or filled, but the verb ‘baptize’ is not used for subsequent experiences. Footnote: The noun-phrase ‘baptism in the Holy Spirit’ does not occur in the NT” (Tyndale New Testament Commentary, 2008) but “baptized with the Holy Spirit” is used in Acts 11:16. Both phrases are, however, common among Pentecostals and Charismatics. In Acts 2:38 Peter renamed the experience “the gift of the Holy Spirit,” and that term also appears in Acts chapters 8, 10 and 11.

You don’t have to “tarry” or “stay in the city,” for just as Christ died “once for all” (Romans 6:10), so the Holy Spirit was given once to include all believers for the entire church age. You don’t have to beg and plead, you just need to accept the gift. “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11:11-13).

“Pentecost” is the Greek word for “the fiftieth day” and refers to 50 days after the Passover, when the Jewish people held the Feast of the Harvest. The Acts 2 occasion of Pentecost was a once only historical event that ushered in a replacement for the old Jewish religion. The Church Universal is under the headship of the resurrected Christ, who now sits on the right hand of the Father’s throne. The Book of Acts is the history of the first 33 years of the early church as they followed the instructions of ascended Christ by the power of the Spirit within them to share the good news with the then known world.
Whenever they needed help it was available by revelation, including how to fix their mistakes, where to go next, what to say in front of rulers, and how to encourage one another in the outworking of the spirit within. You and I also have that same Helper, Comforter, who is resident within us, and we should listen to his guidance and use his power to meet the needs of people the Father sends across our paths.

*Get 20% off the retail price by using the Coupon Code PREORD577 at Checkout. Shipping before the end of May.

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