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RECEIVING POWER
Acts 1:1-11
I. Transition
to a new era.
A. Jesus
spends his last days on earth teaching his disciples.
1) He
speaks of the Kingdom and the promised Spirit.
2)
The apostles thought this meant the end of the world.
3) It
actually meant the beginning of a new one.
B. We
live in a period of transition.
1)
Change is coming very quickly and many are concerned.
2)
Not only advances in technology, but upheaval in ethics.
3)
Like the disciples, we usually take the wrong focus.
II.
Expectations of a coming kingdom. Acts 1:6
A. His
disciples expected an imminent, political kingdom.
1) It
would happen soon.
2) It
would fulfill all the Old Testament predictions.
B. Jesus
does not deny reality of kingdom, but moves the focus
to
their soon-to-start mission.
1)
Wrong focus for kingdom:
a) Date setting.
b) Secret coming.
2)
Jesus will come back exactly as he left - physically and
visibly. (stained glass
window)
C. Right
now, Jesus is present with us in the Holy Spirit.
III. Wait for the Spirit of power. Acts 1:4
A. Power came
at Pentecost, the moment they received the Spirit.
1)
God sends it, it cannot be "seized."
2) We
don't have to wait: it is available
at salvation.
B. What
happened when the disciples got the Spirit.
1)
Power of moral change.
a) Peter's re-commitment.
b) Hopi Indian's testimony.
(Emmanuel)
Alcoholic, wife-beater.
Committed to Jesus in jail.
Now a lay-preacher.
2) Power
to confront authorities.
a) They were uneducated, but were bold in their convictions.
b) They were unafraid of persecution.
3)
Power to testify of God's greatness.
a) When they spoke, their words were convincing.
b) Their lives backed up what they said.
IV. Spiritual
power is available, but not automatic.
A. Where
is the Spirit today?
1)
Commentator and embarrassment about Spirit passages in Acts.
2) In
Acts, when Spirit comes it is obvious to everyone.
3)
Today, the Spirit seems invisible.
a) Have things changed, or is problem with us?
b) Do Pentecostals have a corner on it?
B. All
Christians have the Spirit. Romans 8:9
1)
Problem may be lack of genuine salvation.
2)
Often, it is a lack of dedication.
In a
seminary class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary,
he was
assigned a car that would not start without a push.
After
pondering his problem, he devised a plan.
He went
to the school near his home, got permission to take some
children out of class, and had them push his car off.
As he
made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave
the
engine running.
He used
this ingenious procedure for two years.
Ill
health forced the Jackson
family to leave, and a new missionary
came
to that location.
When Jackson proudly began
to explain his arrangement for getting
the car
started, the new man began looking under the hood.
Before
the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted,
"Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose
cable."
He gave
the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch,
and to
Jackson's
astonishment, the engine roared to life.
For two
years needless trouble had come become a routine.
The
power was there all the time.
Only a
loose connection kept Jackson
from putting the power to work.
J.B.
Phillips paraphrases Ephesians 1:19-20, "How tremendous is the
power
available to us who believe in God."
When we
make firm our connection with God, his life and power can
flow through us.
V. Firming up
our connection.
A. Read
Scripture, with personal application.
B. Pray
with discipline.
C. Seek
fellowship with Spirit-filled Christians.
1) If
this church doesn't meet your needs, go elsewhere.
D. Get
involved in service to people.
1)
Spiritual power is unleashed when we give it opportunity.
2)
Ted Engstrom was cleaning out a desk drawer when he found a
flashlight he hadn't used in over a year.
He flipped the switch but wasn't
surprised when it gave no
light.
He
unscrewed it and shook it to get the batteries out, but
they wouldn't budge.
Finally, after some effort, they came loose.
What a mess!
Battery acid had corroded the entire inside of the
flashlight.
The batteries were new when he'd put them in, and he'd stored
them in a safe, warm place.
But there was one problem.
Those batteries weren't made to be warm and comfortable.
It's the same with Christians.
We
were made to be "turned on" - to put our love to work,
to apply our patience in difficult, trying situations -
to let our light shine.
VI. Power to
be witnesses. Acts 1:8
A. Main
duty of Christians.
1)
Not just telling people, but living like Christians.
2)
Not everyone is an evangelist, but everyone is a witness.
a) Simply: what God has done
in your life.
C.S.Lewis:
"How little people know who think that holiness is dull.
When one meets the real thing...it is irrestible.
If even 10% of the world's population had it, the whole
world would be converted and happy before a year's end."
B.
Witness from inner circle out.
1)
Family.
2) Neighborhood.
3)
Different cultures.
a) Convention and "New Life Singers."
b) Indian pageants.
4)
World.
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