RESTORING THE CONNECTION

Acts chapter 1






Today we are walking in: Restoring the Connection








Joel 2:28


And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit H7307 upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:



SPIRIT




Today we look to the word-SPIRIT- H7307-RUWACH-wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being:—air, anger, blast, breath,





The Torah Testifies……………………….


Genesis 1:2


And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit H7307 of God moved upon the face of the waters.




Genesis 6:3


And the LORD said, My spirit H7307 shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.



Exodus 28:3


And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit H7307 of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.








The Prophets Proclaim……………………….



Isaiah 31:3


Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit H7307. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.



Ezekiel 2:2


And the spirit H7307 entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.




Haggai 1:14


And the LORD stirred up the spirit H7307 of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit H7307 of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit H7307 of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,







The Writings Witness………………………..


Job 10:12


Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit H7307.



Psalm 34:18


The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. H7307



Proverbs 15:4


A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit H7307.





Restoring the Connection


The future of a plant is staying attached to the soil.


The King-Son had promised his disciples concerning the Governor, “He lives with you and will be in you.” He would connect them to the Father through the Ruach. After his resurrection, the work of preparing humanity to receive the Governor was complete. The Ruach of rebellion and independence from the kingdom was broken. Any human being who personally received the sacrifice of Yahusha, applying it to his own life, was now cleansed and qualified to be a residence for the Governor.


The Breath of Yahusha


Yahusha’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection therefore led up to his most important act on earth: the giving of the Governor. Shortly after his resurrection, Yahusha came to the room where his disciples had gathered, and said, “‘As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Ruach HaQadesh.’”


Note that Yahusha breathed on them. Does that act seem familiar? It was very similar to what the Creator did when he first made Adam a living being: “The Most High Yah formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” But in this life-giving act, the King-Son specifically explained what this meant. He didn’t just say, “Receive the breath of life.” He said, “Receive the Ruach HaQadesh.”


The breath of life is the Ruach HaQadesh; the Governor is the life of humanity. Without Him, even though our bodies may be physically alive for a limited length of time, we are dead to the kingdom, to the heavenly influence we were created to live in, and to the Creator-King himself.


In other words, when the Creator first breathed into Adam, he was essentially saying, “Receive the Ruach HaQadesh.” Now, Yahusha was saying to his disciples, as the first human beings (besides himself) to be filled with the Ruach, “Receive the Ruach HaQadesh.” In the English language, we don’t use the word ceive as a verb, but the English word receive comes from the Latin re- (again) and capere (to take). When Adam rebelled, he lost the Ruach he had been given. So when Yahusha brought the disciples together after the resurrection, he was saying, in effect, “Humanity, take the Ruach again, as Adam did.” He was giving human beings back what they had lost.


In breathing on his disciples, Yahusha reconnected humanity to the kingdom of heaven. He was literally bringing his disciples into identity with heaven’s government. He was renewing human beings’ standing and authority in the kingdom. They were restored to their original assignment as vice governors of earth. So the disciples of Yahusha were the first human beings after Yahusha to receive the Governor resident within them again.


The return of the Ruach HaQadesh is the most important act of redemption in Yah’s program for humanity. At that moment, the kingdom of Yah returned to earth because the Ruach lived within humanity once more!


Note that, after his resurrection, Yahusha’ message continued to be the kingdom. Luke the physician wrote,


In my former teaching...I talked about all that Yahusha began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Ruach HaQadesh to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of Yah.


Some people question whether the kingdom of heaven is on earth right now. The answer is absolutely yes. In order to understand why, we have to remember the nature of kingdoms. Wherever the Governor is, the kingdom is present. Wherever the Ruach of the King is, the kingdom is. The Governor is the presence of the absent King. Luke recorded Yahusha’ response when he was asked about this very question:


Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of Yah would come, Yahusha replied, “The kingdom of Yah does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘there it is,’ because the kingdom of Yah is within you.”


The kingdom of Yah is within you when the Governor is resident within you. And when the Governor is resident within you, the kingdom of heaven is present on earth. Yahusha told his followers, “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of Yah come with power.” According to Luke’s account in his second book, Acts, about one hundred twenty disciples were present when the Governor was poured out and fully reinstated on earth.


Waiting for the Fire


Yahusha’ purpose was to reintroduce the government that had been recalled from earth by humanity’s rebellion. After he had completed his mission of providing a way for the inhabitants to be holy again, he returned to the heavenly kingdom. The ascension of Yahusha was evidence of his finished work on earth, indicating that all was in readiness for the Governor’s full return. The gospel of Mark records, “After the Most High Yahusha had spoken to [his disciples], he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of Yah.” I believe he reported to the Father at this time that everything was in place for the Governor to be poured out on the inhabitants of earth. Yahusha had instructed his disciples about how they would receive this power from the Governor. On various occasions, he made these statements to his disciples:


And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Ruach of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.


The Counselor, the Ruach HaQadesh, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.


I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.


On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Ruach HaQadesh....But you will receive power when the Ruach HaQadesh comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”


Yahusha had already breathed the Ruach on his disciples. They had received the Governor into their lives and were connected to the kingdom. But they still needed to be connected to the kingdom’s power, which the King would soon send them. This is what John meant when he said Yahusha would baptize them with the Ruach HaQadesh and with fire.


After Yahusha returned to the heavenly kingdom, the “fire” would come, and his mission of both power would be fully realized.


In other words, Yahusha was saying, “For the last three-and- a-half years, I have been telling you that the influence of the heavenly government is coming. Every time I talked about the kingdom, I was referring to the Governor’s influence in your lives and on the world. Now, stay here in Jerusalem because you’re about to receive the fullness of the promise my Father made to you.”


Yahusha told them they would be clothed with power from “on high.” This point is vital: we are to receive our power from the heavenly country, from a place outside this world, because this world is controlled by the kingdom of darkness. Again, the King-Son sent the Governor to earth from the throne of the Father, just as a royal governor was sent to a colony from the throne of the king to carry on the work of the sovereign there.


The Ruach HaQadesh Poured Out at Pentecost


After Yahusha ascended to heaven, his disciples, along with over one hundred other followers, met together and awaited the coming of the Governor. His arrival occurred on the day of Pentecost, which means “fiftieth” in Greek. Pentecost was a harvest feast held on the fiftieth day after the Passover feast. Yahusha appeared to his followers over a period of forty days after his resurrection, and they waited ten days from his ascension for the coming of the Ruach. These fifty days bring us exactly to the day of Pentecost. Luke the physician recorded,


When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Ruach HaQadesh and began to speak in other tongues [languages] as the Ruach enabled them.


When Yahusha’ followers were filled with the Ruach HaQadesh, they were given power to speak in the variety of languages spoken by the Hebrew people who had come to Jerusalem, from a number of countries, to celebrate the feast of Pentecost. The heavenly government gave them the ability to communicate the message that the kingdom of Yah had fully come so that people of many nations could hear this momentous news. Their speaking in these languages was an evidence that they were connected to the King and their assignment to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth. As recorded in the book of Mark, Yahusha had previously told his disciples, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will...speak in new tongues....”


Luke reported that the people who heard them said, in essence, “Why are you speaking like this; what is going on with you?” The disciple Peter responded,


Fellow Hebrews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “In the last days, Yah says, I will pour out my Ruach on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Ruach in those days, and they will prophesy.”...Yah has raised this Yahusha [King-Son] to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of Yah, he has received from the Father [King-Father] the promised Ruach HaQadesh [Governor] and has poured out what you now see and hear.


Once again, we see the promise of the Father announced; but this time, the news was that the promise was now fulfilled in the return of the Governor. Peter was telling them they were witnessing the influence of the government of heaven through the arrival of the Ruach HaQadesh.


When Yahusha’ disciples received the Ruach HaQadesh, and then were filled by the Ruach when he was poured out at Pentecost, this signaled a seismic change on earth. The way was now open, for all people who received the cleansing Yahusha provided, to receive the presence and power of the Governor. What separates the kingdom of heaven from all other philosophies, belief systems, and religions is that its citizens have within them the Ruach HaQadesh. Religions have doctrines, tenets, and lists of dos and don’ts, but they don’t have the indwelling Ruach.


The Power of Absence


As we saw in the previous teaching, while the Ruach HaQadesh once dwelled only in Yahusha, now He is able to dwell in millions of people throughout the world. He’s back home in the colony so that the whole planet can be filled with the glory of the King. Now that he has been poured out, he can be all over the world at the same time. He lives in people of all races and skin colors. He lives in both men and women. The physical Yahusha had only two hands with which to bless children and break bread for the hungry and relieve the sick. Now, through the Ruach dwelling in the lives of his followers, there are millions of hands doing the work of the kingdom. While Yahusha’ ministry was once limited to the area of Palestine, it can now be in Australia, China, the United States, the Bahamas, and all over the world at the same time. His purpose is to spread the kingdom of Yah on earth through a multitude of people, in a multitude of ways, in all spheres of life.


For example, if the Ruach lives within you, then, when you are at your job, the heavenly government is also present there. He wants you to bring about his influence in your workplace by your kingdom value system, attitude, forgiveness, love, and patience. If anyone asks you, “Why are you so different?” your answer can be the same as Yahusha’: “My kingdom is not of this world.” The King wants you to represent his kingdom in the midst of the kingdom of darkness, so others can be reconciled to the heavenly government, also.


Greater Works on Earth


John recorded this statement by Yahusha, which he made shortly before his death and resurrection: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” How could we do greater works than Yahusha did on earth?


The word greater here has to do with magnitude, not quality. We could never improve on the quality of the works of Yahusha. But when we are aligned with the mind and will of the Father, and his purposes are foremost in our lives, Yahusha promised, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.” The nature of the heavenly government will be spread throughout the colony, and this will bring due honor to the King of both heaven and earth. All who have received his Ruach will collectively multiply his works in the world.


The power of the Governor is that he makes the reality of heaven on earth possible. This is why everybody needs the Ruach HaQadesh. He is the only one who can connect us to the King and, through us, dispel the kingdom of darkness with his kingdom of light. He is the most important person on earth.