APRIL NEWSLETTER 2015

Happy Easter - Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness!

 

 I would like to start this letter by thanking everyone who has expressed their condolences to me and my family for the loss of my 62 year old brother, Wayne Antonelli from Milton, Florida.  We are grateful for you and appreciate every kind act and word spoken or written to my family.  The LORD has touched us through you.  THANK YOU!

 

April is here and Passion Week is upon us.  So I pray you, as a Christian, are ready for the greatest celebration on earth.    

 

The Easter Season, also known as the Great Fifty Days, begins at sunset Easter Eve and continues through the Day of Pentecost.  It is the most joyous and celebrative season of the Christian year.  It focuses on Christ's resurrection and ascension and on the givings of the Holy Spirit on the first Easter (John 20:22-23) and the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2).

 

Easter (Paschal) Vigil has both historic and symbolic roots in the Jewish Passover.  That is why so many images are from the Old Testament and why so many analogies are experienced in Christ.  In this service we experience the passage from slavery to freedom, from sin to salvation, from death to life. (United Methodist Book of Worship p.368-69).   

 

Something we, as a Christian, look forward to each year is the "Passion Week"  beginning with Palm Sunday-Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem followed by His arrest, trial, judgment, flogging, crucifixion and burial.  One of the greatest joys we can know is the Resurrection power of Christ from the physical death.  Jesus conquers death and rises from the tomb, appears to mankind and fulfills The Word of God.  Then, on the third day He would be raised from the dead.   He Has Risen!  Hallelujah!    

 

I would like to share a thought from my devotional book, "Holiness and High Country" by A.F. Harper, page 109.  The scripture is Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:  for they shall be filled.  "With a background of teaching that the Holy Spirit was merely a divine emanation or influence from the Father and Son, light on His gracious work of cleansing dawned upon me slowly...As I walked with Him the best I knew how, He gradually deepened the hunger of my soul. To lead me into entire sanctification, He did not bless me more, but rather 'unblessed' me or in a measure withheld the blessing,  and to that very degree the hunger deepened.  Gradually my soul was filled with an insatiable thirst.  With the ebb and flow of His blessings, the thirst deepened and the hunger increased.  

 

"In response to this hungering and thirsting I was again found at the altar; this time I was not seeking pardon, but purity.  My soul was not in the dark, and neither was there any condemnation upon it.  I knew I was saved and walking in all the light while fellowshiping Him and His people, and yet I knew I needed something more.  There was no guilt upon my soul, or stain upon my record, but there was inbred sin within my life that needed to be eradicated.

 

"It is very doubtful if I sought at that altar over twenty minutes until every condition was met; and, as faith took hold, the sweet, cleansing Holy Spirit purified my heart.  As the quiet, assuring evidence came, a sweet restfulness came over my soul, and at once I knew He (The Holy Spirit) had sanctified me? (Flames of living Fire, Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City).   

 

A.M. Hill accurately summarizes the Wesleyan historical position of the holiness movement which identifies Spirit baptism and entire sanctification: "Entire sanctification is a second definite work of grace wrought by the baptism with the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer subsequent to regeneration (being born again), received instantaneously by faith, by which the heart is cleansed from all corruption and filled with the perfect love of God." (Wesley Bible copyright 1990, p. 1944).

 

As we ponder Hill's words from above, my desire is for you to meditate on your own experience of how God has ministered to you and how you have matured over the years. Have you experienced this "Second Work of Grace" or "Entire Sanctification"?  Let's turn to a scripture for direction.  Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."  This is critical to be an effective Christian!  As we surrender everything to God, He by the power of His Holy Spirit will empower you to be overcomers and reflect His perfect LOVE by living out being His Servant in the world in which you live. 

 

Therefore, we must seek the infilling of the Holy Spirit to live in the resurrection power God has given to us.  This is a basis to have the power of God to be overcomers of sin and temptation in our lives as we walk in the Spirit understanding the first two commandments that God gave to us.  Putting God first in our lives. (VERY IMPORTANT!) Making Him a priority and asking ourselves the question, "What is in between me and God?"  As we answer the question, we will develop our relationship with JESUS.  Then the second commandment is to LOVE our neighbor as ourselves.  As you do your part, God will do His part.  Most important, we are willing to do what the LORD ask of us to be filled with HIS LOVE by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT to LOVE HIS creation (Humankind - which was made in HIS image).  As we grow in this understanding, we will be willing to go out and make disciples of Jesus Christ! Christians make Christians. I pray during this most magnificent time of year you will take a good hard look at your life and measure it up to the Cross of Jesus Christ!  May God inspire you to inspire others for the Kingdom!   

                                                                                 In Christ Jesus,  

                                                                                 Bro. Tony Antonelli