Great Promises of the Bible - Acts 1:8
Is it now, Lord?
It seemed that if there were ever a time to establish Israel as the supreme world power, this was it. The disciples asked, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore Your kingdom?” (1:6). It seemed like a reasonable question. Jesus had toured Palestine proving His power by His healing touch, feeding thousands with scraps, calming
angry seas and silencing demons. Even the dead stood up when He spoke. He had suffered a horrible death, only to rise again from the dead. The only thing He had not done was to assert His right to rule the world. From the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem spread out before them. Entering the gates as conquerors seemed like the right thing to do. So once again Jesus found that He had to correct their view of power, of the nature of the Kingdom and their place in it.
Power
After telling them that what they wanted was not going to happen, Jesus revealed something far more important. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” The power has a twofold meaning. First, the power is the driving or animating force like that which transforms machinery from being a collection of metal to a useful manufacturing tool or that changes a lump of flesh into something living. Secondly, it refers to authority as when someone has the “power of attorney” to act on behalf of another or to make decisions.
When the Holy Spirit comes in His fullness that person is both animated with the living force of God and is empowered to act in His name. Without the Holy Spirit, there is no life. Any claim of authority is mere pretension. It is vital to acknowledge our utter and complete dependency on the Holy Spirit. His power cannot be imitated, pumped up, gained from mental exercise or force of will, nor can it be added by education or imitated by method. It is not only a mistake but blasphemy to think that the power of the Holy Spirit can be conjured up by lighting, computer gimmicks, or the stage theatrics of a rock concert. The sad insipid nature in much of the Church today is found in its thinking that the Holy Spirit’s presence and power are to be gained by special effects.
Witnesses
The power that the Holy Spirit brings is for a purpose, as stated by Jesus: “You shall be my witnesses.” Power is not to be stored like ammunition in some heavenly arsenal, but used to immediately engage the world. The evidence of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling that person witnesses. If the planets were to stand still in their orbits they would go hurtling into the sun. For their own survival, they remain in motion. In the same way, a Christian must be up and about the Master’s business or find that he does not conserve what he has but in fact, endangers his own spiritual life. A fire more often flickers out from neglect than from being stirred too much.
Who is a witness? The Wesleyan Bible Commentary offers, “one who gives testimony to that which he has seen or experienced, and of which he consequently has personal
firsthand knowledge; and the witness is an attestation of a known fact or event.” The witness speaks because he knows. This is not rehashed from research or passing on a bit of gossip but statements made with the authenticity of one who has seen God at work by being close at hand.
The disciples imagined the kingdom for Israel. But Jesus gave them the mandate of world conquest: “in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The best they could muster at that time was 120 people (Acts 1:15), an insignificant number in Jerusalem, let alone against the world’s population, generation after generation, in countries and places totally unknown to them. The task was – is – monumental, God’s forces seemingly dwarfed by the powers and people marshaled against them. But God’s math is not restricted to numbers. Believers have the Holy Spirit. He is enough.
Jesus outlined the invasion plan. First, Jerusalem – right outside their door. But this was where fear gripped them as they walked the street. Here their Savior was murdered, here evil hailed its victory. In the place where you have most reason to be afraid, dear Christian, take your stand there. Where people know you by sight, what you have been or failed to be, wade through the memories and tell of a new day. If the reality of Jesus is not convincing among the most familiar, it is a phantom dream.
Samaria was next. The Jews considered that country a mongrel nation, the kind of people good people avoided. Go there, Jesus said. The Holy Spirit does not reinforce wicked pride but rather brings humility. When they reflect back the bitterness of stored hatred, greet them with the soft voice of one whose attitudes of before have been replaced with a present love.
The ends of the earth are those distances beyond calculation. Here the language is unknown, the customs and dress totally foreign. But here is where love is to be lived so convincingly that people will want to know why. H. M. Stanley, the nineteenth century explorer, went into the wilds of Africa to find Dr. David Livingstone, a missionary who fell away from contact to his home country of England. Having spent time with him as he humbly worked among the tribal people of Africa, Stanley remarked, “If I had been with him any longer I would have been compelled to be a Christian, and he never spoke a word to me about it at all.”
All of this represented the opposite of what the disciples viewed as God’s conquest. They remembered verses like Isaiah 2:3, “People from many nations will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob's God. There He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths.’ For the Lord's teaching will go out from Zion; His word will go out from Jerusalem.” The nations were supposed to stream into Jerusalem. But the marching orders from Jesus said that they, the Spirit filled disciples, were to fan out from Jerusalem to the world. Those marching orders still stand.
How is this to happen in you? Before God confess your lack of power, your impurity. Ask Him to come, remove the roadblocks and banish the excuses. Let Him cleanse your heart from all that stands against Him and in that voided place, ask that the Holy Spirit fill you. Then you will have the promised power. Then you will be ready to be His witnesses. And the world better watch out.
Our Corporate Prayer
Gracious God, We ask that you realign our priorities as you did the disciples if we are pointed in the wrong direction or if we have aimed too low. Please let our sites be set on what Your Holy Spirit would have us see. We ask for His cleansing of anything in us that would keep us from being pure in Your sight; that You would fill us so that we are empowered by You and not our own willfulness. We seek You so that we can seek the ones You came to save. Empower us because we are useless without Your help. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Our Worldwide Prayer Meeting
USA Eastern Territory
Reaching Out to Others
In the words of the old chorus:
Lord, lay some soul upon my heart,
And love that soul through me
And may I humbly do my part
To win that soul for Thee.
Notable Quotables
With an eye quick to see that souls are tottering on the brink of ruin, a brain alert to devise plans for their rescue, it is for you to estimate without a moment's hesitation that the Holy Ghost's power is stronger than all the devil's forces. - Florence Booth
Now, take a moment to listen to the International Staff Songsters listen to General John Gowans song, "His Provision".