Luke 1:35And the angel
answeblack and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power
of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which
shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Micah 3:8 & But truly I am full of power by the
spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his
transgression, and to Israel his sin.
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is
come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all
Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth
But ye shall receive power, the Holy Ghost having come upon you.
1.THE
ODDITY OF THIS POWER(Dunamis) "But ye shall receive power"
1.It is not a
power of this world.Men misunderstand
it.
1.It is not given
for political use
2.It is not
intended for accumulating vast fortunes
3.It was not a
tool for enslaving men
1.An opiate of
the masses as Karl Marx asserted - ritual
2.A power to
subjugate nations as in the evangelistic work of the catholic church on the
Spanish Mane.
2.It is a power
to witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.
1.It is a
promised Power
1.ye
shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you
2.This power came
to the Lord's church by the coming of the comforter, the Holy Spirit.
3.John
15:26 & But
when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even]
the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
2.It is a
miraculous power
1.In that day the
Lord used miracles which came by the filling of the Holy Spirit.
2.It caused the
disciples to speak in languages they did not know, and the people heard in
their own language.
3.It is a
spiritual power
1.It brings
transformation to the soul
2.It brings
regeneration to the human spirit
4.It is a
practical Power
1.It will
overcome confusion of mind
2.It will
overcome cowardice
3.It will
overcome opposition
5.It is a
persuasive power
1.2
Timothy 1:12For ... I know whom I have
believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day.
2.Every Christian
has a witness within himself, a faith, a trust, that what he believes is true.
3.Acts
5:32And we are his witnesses of these
things; and [so is] also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey
him.
6.It is the power
of an army of witnesses.
1.The church did
not grow in numbers until after the Holy Spirit came upon them on the Day of
Pentecost.
2.3,000 were
added in Acts 2:41
3.5,000 were
added to the church in Acts 4:4, so that there was a multitude (Acts 4:32)
4.Then multitudes
were added in Acts 5:14.
5.The advancement
of the church is resting upon everyone who is a part of it
6.That means that
every believer who is in a local church should be a witness of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
2.THE
ORIGIN OF THIS POWER "... after that the holy Spirit is come upon you"
1.The verb form
in this phrase ‑‑ "is come," not "has come."
1.In other words,
the Spirit came upon the church to stay.
2.The phrase
"is come," means that the action is completed, not continual.
3.The Holy Ghost
came upon the church on the Day of Pentecost, and his power rests upon every
believer of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout all the years of history; and he
will continue to be with his church until the end of the world (age) [Matt.
28:20].
2.The adverb in
this phrase ‑‑ The adverb is "after," meaning that there
is a power which came upon the church after this event that was not there
before it.
1.So now the
churches of the Lord Jesus Christ have no excuse for being ineffective with
their witness.
2.The witness of
the gospel should go forth by way of every believer who is a member of a local
church.
3.That is God's
plan.
3.The
prepositional phrase ‑‑ "upon you"
1.which indicates
that the Holy Spirit was directed to come upon the apostles and followers that
were assembled with Him.
2.He did not come
upon the members of the Pharisees or the Sadducees or the Sanhedrin or upon the
citizens of the nation of Israel.
3.He came upon
the believers who would form the church that the Lord was building.
4.The Holy Spirit
did not come upon those outside of the church.
5.The church was
a local, visible assembly of believers; and that is the only group that God
recognizes as a church.
6.That church has
continued until our day and will continue until Jesus returns.
7.We must
remember that we are not in the church by spiritual birth.
8.We are in the
family of God and the kingdom of God, but we are not in the church of God until
we are baptized in water and come into the fellowship of a local assembly of
believers.
4.Now, what came
upon these believers?
1.The Holy Ghost
came upon them.
2.There are many
spirits in the world
1.1 John 4:1 & Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try
the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out
into the world.
2.But there is
only one Holy Spirit, who is God.
3.All other
spirits are created spirits.
4.If any other
spirit had come upon the church, then it would not have the power to be
witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ.
3.Today we have
many spirits who mimic the Holy Spirit.
1.There are great
religious organizations built around these spirits.
(1)they have the
spirit of unity, the spirit of caring, the spirit of excitement, the spirit of
entertainment, the spirit of emotion, the spirit of human achievements, they
may as well be demonic spirits;
(2)but we do not
need those spirits apart from the power of the Holy Ghost.
2.We need HIM.
3.He is the one
who came to bring His power upon the church on the Day of Pentecost to continue
until the Lord comes again.
3.THE OBJECT OF THIS POWER
1."And ye
shall be witnesses unto me ..."
1.First, then, we
are witnesses of the Lord Jesus. We are not witnesses of the Holy Spirit nor of
God the Father, but of Jesus Christ.
1.The Father sent
His Son
2.The Holy Ghost
brings power to believe in Him.
3.But Jesus, the
Son of God, saves
2.Secondly,
notice that "ye shall be witnesses."
1.This is looking
forward to the day of the church.
2.We are in that
day.
3.2
Cor. 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech
[you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
4.We are in the
days when we are to preach Christ throughout the world.
(1)the world must
hear about the Saviour
(2)it must hear
about the Cross
(3)it must hear
about turning to the One who will save them.
2.In ...
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth"
1.Missions and
witnessing begin in Jerusalem.
1.That means that
we begin our mission work in our own homes and our own town, our own city.
2.Then we can
extend our witness to the farthest points of the earth.
2.We can do this
by way of personal visitation.
1.Don't forget to
take the time to be a personal witness of the saving grace of the Lord.
2.Make it your
purpose to speak with each one in your family, each one at work.
3.As a church, we
can take many opportunities, such as printing, radio, TV, tracts, personal visitation,
Sunday School, etc.
1.Gospel tracts
make the way of Salvation plain.
2.This summer we
plan to have our first Atent meeting@
3.The work of
reaching the community falls upon the shoulders of the church.
4.So, whatever we
do as a church, let us be faithfulB
1.that we tell
others about the Lord, his death, burial and resurrection,
2.his grace, his
love, his wrath,
3.his
sovereignty, his longsuffering,
4.his saving
power, his keeping power,
5.his word, and
his eternal inheritance to everyone who believes in him.
5.Here are some
verses that we can use in witnessing to others:
1.John10:11 I am
the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
2.Rom. 8:7
Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot
please God.
3.Rom. 6:23 For
the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
4.Rom. 10:9 That
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation.
5.Eph. 2:8 For by
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift
of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
6.Take the time
now to mark them in your Bible.
7.Point others to
them and discuss these verses with them.
