Please open your Bibles to the book of Acts.
Acts chapter one title of this morning's message is A Change
has Come. Let's read from verse one, the
former account I made all Theophilus.
Now people, many Bible commentators don't know who
Theophilus is. There's no cement detail about
who Theophilus is. Some say he's just it's just a
term to all general readers. Others say no, This is a a
fellow who actually was a Gentile who Doctor Luke who
wrote the book of Acts served. He was doctor Luke was his
personal physician as wealthy people in those days had their
own personal positions and we're not sure it simply means friend
of God. Theophilus, The former account I
made of Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach
two things until the day in which He was taken up.
After He, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments
to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom he also
presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible
proofs, being seen by them during 40 days, and Speaking of
the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
The background to the book of Acts I've given out and I pray
that you're getting them go on our website and you'll get one
each day. But I've been giving out in my
devotion. So I went through the the
backgrounds, the timing and the history and everything.
So I'm not going to go over that for the sake of time this
morning. And it's I want you to know
before we go too much further. He says the former account I
made of Theophilus friend of God of all the things that Jesus
began both to do. Now the book of Acts is the only
book in the Bible has no ending doesn't go Amen say say see you
later to so and so and so and so.
There's no ending because we are you and I are still in the book
of Acts. It's the acts of the Holy Spirit
in the church. The church hasn't finished as
yet the church age, then it says down further that Jesus ascended
into heaven. Let's read on and being
assembled together with them. He commanded them not to depart.
Notice that don't leave Jerusalem a command, but to wait
for the capital P promise of the Father, which he said you have
heard from me. In other words, he's told them
about this promise for John truly baptised with water.
This is what the promise is. It's about a baptism.
But you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit.
That's what he's telling them to wait for.
Not many days from now it will happen on the day of Pentecost.
So John baptised with water. We know what baptism of water
is. We we have that.
Besides, if you haven't been baptised, we're going to have a
baptism service this summer. Please see any of the pastors
and we'll get your name down with that too.
The sign up sheet has begun for Israel trip to Israel.
It's out out on the information desk as well with the
approximate costs. Therefore, when they had come
together, I asked him saying, Lord, will you at this time
restore the Kingdom to Israel because there was a rumour that
the apostle John would not die until the Kingdom of Israel had
been restored. Jesus said, and John later on he
he rebukes that room, he squashes that, he says that's
that's not going to happen. And Jesus said to him, that's
not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put
in his own authority. He says it'll come, let it come
on its own time. But back to what I want you to
hear about, back to what I want to know.
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon
you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea and
Samaria. Judea and Samaria, by the way,
Gaza, modern Gaza today, it doesn't belong to the
Palestinians. It's, it's God's land.
God gave it to Israel, to Abraham.
And that land, the Gaza Strip, is Judea and Samaria.
Now, when he had spoken these things while they watched, he
was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight.
So Jesus ascends into the cloud. Some say it's the Shekinah
glory. It doesn't say much there.
It just says clouds because what the Bible says in Matthew 24,
that Jesus will come back. Wow in the clouds.
And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he
went up, behold, 2 men stood by them in white apparel.
These are angels in the appearance of men who also said,
Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?
Why? Why are you still looking up
into the sky? This same Jesus who was taken up
from you into heaven will come in like manner as you saw him go
into heaven. So in other words, the same
Jesus that went up, the same Jesus is coming back in the same
body. He's coming back.
Jesus tells us, or Luke tells us that Jesus was seen over 40 days
more than 10 times after his resurrection by the disciples.
But a change was coming, massive change for the disciples.
Jesus lived out the truth of what he taught.
He says He began both to do and to teach.
Now the word evangelism, when I mentioned that it often
frightens many people, many people say, well, I could never
I try, you know, I, I and we always have this picture of us a
Christian talking to someone who's not a Christian and, and
saying, could I talk to you about Jesus?
And they go, no, you're an idiot.
Get away from me. And we have this, this, this
appearance, this, this feeling of we don't want to be rejected
or made out of fuel, correct? Yes.
That's why most of us don't do it.
We're very careful how we will, and I don't want to offend
somebody. And the devil has done a really
good job on us, hasn't he really set us up?
Because what's the opposite of fear?
Faith. But here's the thing really
quickly. The Bible doesn't tell us to be
concerned about the feelings someone has when we tell them
about Christ, nor does it tell us about the feelings we're to
have when we're sharing with someone about the gospel.
That's all to do with God, and that's all to do with that
person. You and I are not responsible to
react or to respond to how their feelings are.
Whether they reject it, don't like it, I don't care, get away
from me, you're an idiot or tell me more about it.
That's not our task. Our task is to tell them.
And you know when you make it down like that, when you break
it down in that way, if someone calls you an idiot, well, that's
fine. My task is done.
Where we fail and where the devil goes, we don't even tell
them. We don't even mention it.
Someone might say to you on Monday, what'd you do on the
weekend? That's a door by God.
Went to church. You what?
Went to church? Actually, it went twice.
Whoa. Twice.
Because they have no problems in them.
Oh man, I went to the pub. I don't know where I woke up.
They'll tell you. And they don't care about what
you say to them. You're an idiot.
Yeah, I don't care. They're not.
It's not that way. The devil has done a great smoke
job, particularly on the Australian culture of
Christians, where we are fearful to simply tell people about the
Bible, about Christ. That's why less and less and
less we have children who attend schools now who have never heard
of Jesus Christ, never heard his name except in swearing.
Evangelism is giving people the good news of the gospel.
It's telling people that God saves us from our sin.
So why does this scare so many and make us reticent?
As I said before, the fear factor is we're we're concerned
about how they'll respond to us. That's not our job.
That's not our concern. How they respond is their
concern, their situation. Leave it there.
Your task is to share the love of Christ, not to share it like
an idiot. And there's a lot of idiots
sharing the gospel and man, you don't want them going anywhere
near your family, do you? Because they're just going to
drive them away. You don't want some crazy, crazy
person just just slamming them in some way that that that
drives them further from Christ. We're to be wise as serpents,
gentle as doves. How do you share the gospel?
Just read the Gospels. Jesus tells us, and we're going
to learn here today. But when we share the gospel,
the particularly with people who know us, what backs up the truth
about what we share is a life that makes the message
believable. Then we're going to work working
for the public health department, working in the
health industry and turned up first day in this job site had
my Bible read it out lunch and they someone said yeah, and it
was just a lunch room for men. Are you what's the Bible?
And I said I'm a Christian. We had one of those.
He was the worst. He was the biggest bludger.
He took days off, he shirked everything.
He lied about this. So I hope you're not like him.
Great witness, wasn't it? They knew he was a churchgoer
and they then related that to the next one that was going to
come along. You see, what we share is only
good news if it makes the message believable.
How is it made believable by a life that demonstrates God can
save a life from sin that he has changed us and that as I share
this with you, it's I'm sharing it with you because I'm no
longer the person who I used to be and you can see and watch my
life for proof back in Luke 24. Remember the two on the road to
a mass heartbroken Jesus is in the term buried.
They've heard the news. The women went to the tomb, said
Jesus tomb is empty and they reckon he's alive and we don't
know. They're on the road to a Mass
and Jesus turns up, says why are you unhappy?
Why are you sad? They tell them the story and
then Jesus gives them the greatest Bible study ever.
It says. Then he said to them, These are
the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that
all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of
Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me.
All the things that happened to Jesus were God's will and he
opened their understanding that they might comprehend the
scriptures. You can't just be a an
unbeliever and comprehend the scriptures.
You need the Spirit of God for you to be able to comprehend the
scriptures. You don't need the Jehovah
Witnesses, Book of Elders, group of elders to tell you what to
learn. Neither do you need a priest to
be able to go to God, but you do need the Spirit of God to be
able to discern the things of God.
Then Jesus said to them, Thus it is written.
And thus it was necessary for the for the Christ to suffer
rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in His name.
Same deal to all nations beginning at Jerusalem and you
are witnesses. He mentions this word of these
things. Behold, I send the promise of my
Father upon you, but wait, tarry in the city of Jerusalem until
you are endured with power from on high.
That's back in Luke 24. Jesus said go to Jerusalem,
wait, don't do anything until you've received the promise of
my Father upon you. A change was coming, and this
change is also here and now for you and I.
Do you ever struggle with knowing exactly what it is that
God is leading and guiding you in?
Yeah, I do. Don't worry, you're not alone.
The disciples were often in the same boat.
They they weren't sure what to do.
Back in John chapter 14 the night of Jesus betrayal, Jesus
told the disciples of the change that was coming and it was going
to be massive to the disciples. John 1412, he said most
assuredly, Jesus said, I say to you, he who believes in me, the
works that I do, He's going to do also, and greater works than
these He will do why? And here's the answer, because I
go to my Father, there's where he's headed for.
And whatever you ask in my name, when you pray that I will do
that, the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask any anything in my name, I will do it.
And then Jesus promised another helper a change was coming.
Verse 15 If you love me, keep my commandments and I will pray the
Father, and He will give you another helper, that he that is
the helper may abide with you forever.
The spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive.
Why? Because it neither sees him nor
knows him, but you know him. Why?
For he dwells with you and will be in you.
He says, I will not leave you in the new King James, orphans in
the old King James. It's comfortless.
I will come to you. So the disciples hearing Jesus
say this, they're starting to freak out a little bit because
Jesus has been talking about dying, but they haven't really
computed that. And then on this night, the
night of his betrayal, the night of the Last Supper, he says to
them because he notices they're getting a bit twitchy.
Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me, in my Father's house and many mansions.
If it were not so, I would have told you, I go, I'm going to
prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that
where I am, there you may be also.
So the disciples had been with Jesus three years.
I mean, this is a bonding. Peter had said you you're the
Christ, you're the son of God. They'd seen miracles, fed
thousands and carried the the the piles of food over.
We'd walked on water, calm the storms, calm the winds.
And now he's talking about leaving.
They're afraid because they thought they would be alone,
that Jesus was going to abandon them.
That was the two on the road to Emmaus.
What will we do without Jesus? They feared.
Yes, Jesus did tell them he was going away, but he would ask the
Father to give them another. I will pray the Father, and He
will give you another helper, Capital H, that he may abide
with you forever. This Helper, this Comforter will
come alongside you. King James, I will not leave you
comfortless. The word helper or comforter,
many of you know this in the Greek is 2 words para and
cletos. Para means alongside parallel
lines, parallel bars alongside cletos means called, He's
called. The Holy Spirit is called to
come alongside you. So you're not on your own.
This is great news, and wherever you are, whatever you're going
through, you are not on your own.
The Holy Spirit is God himself, the third person of the Trinity.
He is not merely a force or a power or an essence, as the
Jehovah Witnesses teach blasphemously, but a person.
The Holy Spirit can speak to you.
The Holy Spirit will allow you to speak to him.
The Holy Spirit can guide you. Paul, come here.
Don't go there. Go over here.
The Holy Spirit can help you. The Holy Spirit can strengthen
you, and the Holy Spirit can teach you the truth of God.
You're reading through the word. You read a passage.
You read a passage and all of a sudden you go, huh.
Yeah, I I know that. I've read that how many times.
That I know what that means. It's speaking to me right now.
That's the Holy Spirit speaking to you.
Jesus said that this massive change that is coming and in
Acts it does come. Jesus said this is a new way.
I want to add a clause to that. It's a new way, but it's not a
foreign way. Another comforter.
It's important I was sent he was sent another comforter.
The word another is the Greek word alos ALLOS and it means of
the same kind or equal quality. When Jesus stepped down out of
heaven, he thought it not what robbery to be equal with God.
The Holy Spirit is equal with God, and so it's not that Jesus
going away and what we're getting is something inferior,
something foreign. We're getting God, but we're
getting the Holy Spirit of God. The third part of the Trinity.
This is God's promise to his disciples after Jesus ascends,
but the promise and this is what I what I want you to grasp is
also wonderfully at the promise to each of you and I here this
morning, 2026 today because the church today has gone missing
and the Holy Spirit like in the Book of Revelation, the Church
of Laodicea. We don't need God, man.
We got the best band, we got the best auditorium, we got the best
music, we got the best light show.
We got the best programmes Where was God didn't need him.
Jesus said, you think you're pretty good, don't you?
But in actual fact, you're poor, you're blind and you're naked.
And that's often when most of us, we're living in a Church of
Laodicea and God's outside our house, outside our marriage,
outside of our lives knocking. Gee, I'd love to come in and be
part of your life. Verse 4 Being assembled together
with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to
wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you have
heard from me. Jesus would have read to them.
Joel chapter 2, verse 2829. Then in the coming days, visions
would come, the moving of the Holy Spirit would come.
For John truly baptised with water.
What was the baptism of water about?
It's about repentance. But now we're moving on from the
baptism of repentance. But you shall be baptised with
the Holy Spirit not many days from now.
John called it the baptism of fire.
But why wait? Why couldn't they?
Well, he's descended, they've been out before.
Why can't they just go off and do their thing?
Was this a command from Jesus? The command or statement was
don't do anything until the power of the Holy Spirit baptise
you. Why is this so important, you
ask? Why did Jesus say wait, stop?
Because Jesus knew you and I would achieve nothing that our
living would be powerless, Paul says in Romans 7.
He says in me that is in my flesh what dwells no good thing,
man as a becoming a a husband, then becoming a father.
I tried, I tried doing those things in my own strength.
Dead set failure. Dead set failure.
Ask Helen, She'll tell you. It's sad when we try and do and
live the things that God wants us to live without him.
It's a mess and the more we touch it, the messier it gets.
Jesus said, but you shall receive power.
Greek word is dynamis, where we get our word dynamic, Dynamo,
dynamite. It's that sort of power.
When the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be
witnesses to me in Jerusalem days from now.
It's the power to live as a Christian.
It's a power that God places on you, that you and I need to
reflect Christ. Otherwise we're a sham.
We reflect religiosity. We reflect that guy who went
there before me. He, he had the words and the
names, but he was a he was wrong.
It was a bad showing, a bad witness.
The word dynamis in the Greek means and refers to 1's ability
or capacity. He's a dynamic person.
It means being able. It means being capable of
something. If the task is to lift the great
weights, the ability that's needed is strength.
If the task is to defeat an army, the capacity is that of a
seasoned general. The Lord promises that the
dynamic power of the Holy Spirit is indefinite.
It is to help you in every area of your life.
We're asked at Bible college, what's the best gift?
You know what the best gift is. It's the gift you need at the
time. If your car's broken down and a
brick layer turns up and he looks in the bonnet, I know what
I'm looking at. I'm a bricklayer.
That's not the best gift. I can build you out.
I don't need you to build me house.
I need you to get the car going. It's the best gift.
And this is where in our lives, in our everyday lives, in our
relationships and our parenting and our going about our work, we
need God to give us the gifting at that every time and turn in
our in the moments of our lives when we go into a meeting.
God help me to keep my mouth shut, ears going.
Help me be to to be wise. When I used to have to knock on
doors as a chaplain with the police and my job was when
someone died was to go to the door of the house, knock on the
door and tell them the person they're trying to ring the
person they know is not around is they're dead.
There's no, there's no, there's no I'm here to just talk about,
you know, just sort of drop by you.
You have to get the words out. And each time we prayed, we came
up upon different people from different backgrounds, different
cultures. We didn't know what they were
going to do. Some people ran and screamed
down the street. Some people tried to assault us.
Some people just fainted. Some people just said no, no, I
can't. I'm not.
I'm not believing. I ran away and ran away and did.
Some people screamed as we, we as we're walking up to the door.
And so each time as we're driving now, I'd say God give us
the wisdom to share with these people the worst news of their
life. Then to stay with them.
You need the power of the Holy Spirit to live in this world.
You need the power of the Holy Spirit to be a mother, a father,
a husband, a wife, a son, a daughter.
The command was to stay, but the statement was for this, and you
shall be witnesses. It's a statement of fact, not so
much a command. You shall be witnesses of me.
Jesus was not recommending that they become witnesses.
No, He said they would be witnesses.
Notice Jesus did not say you were witness.
Now he said you'll be witnesses, but if you want to be witnesses,
we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Far greater important than the best seminary course on
evangelism is the filling of the Holy Spirit.
The word baptised, by the way, in the Greek is the word
baptizo. It means to dip repeatedly.
It means to immerse, it means to submerge, it means when a ship
has sunken. For a good demonstration of what
baptism really is, when you get a garment and you diet, you get
the dye in a bowl and you dip the garment completely in the
dye. So the disciples understood the
word baptism, and so they understood how the Holy Spirit
was to envelope every air of their life, immerse every area
of their life, Jesus referring back to John the Baptist fully
immersing people in the waters of the Jordan.
So the disciples were to be immersed in the Holy Spirit
completely, all of them, every part of them but six.
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked saying,
Lord, will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?
And he said to them, it's not for you to know times or seasons
which the Father has put in his own authority, but you shall
receive power. You see, God's timing is with
the Father on the end times. Now you and I, we've studied
through the end times recently, and we know by the book of
Daniel, the book of Zechariah, the Book of Revelation, the
timing. We're living in the last days.
I'm waiting to see what's going to happen in world events.
There are warships everywhere. Iran.
What are they going to do? You watch.
They're not going to take people protesting.
Trump has said. You go too, too crazy.
We're on Europe, meanwhile, are gone.
What do we do? What do we do?
Russia's there, America's there. China's over there.
Thailand, what do we do? What do we do?
They do nothing because they're scared of starting World War
Three in Europe. It's already bubbling away in
between Ukraine and Russia 2023. The birth pangs are happening,
wars and rumours of war, they're getting closer and more
repeated. Jesus said you shall be
witnesses to me. This is God's will for your
life. This is God's will for you.
In 2026 we had to take this witness where?
To the world. The book of Acts is the account
of the work of the Holy Spirit in and through the church.
It was to witness to the world of Jesus Christ.
It was to reveal and display a new way of righteous living in
the power of the Holy Spirit, never seen before, not being
pulled by the ways and the gods and the appetites of the world
under Satan's influence. And so they were to continue on
all that Jesus began to do and teach.
The power of the Church of believers in the Body of Christ
comes from the Holy Spirit and not from mankind, not from
humanity, not from the great preachers and people who have
these great ministries and things that they want to, you
know, elevate themselves. No, the power of the church is
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible tells us that Zechariah, chapter 4, verse 6,
this is the word of the Lord God says, not by might nor by power,
but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
That's how it works. The Holy Spirit working
throughout our lives gives each of us repeated feelings.
Oh, I was filled with the Spirit back in the 1936 revival.
Yeah. And you're still back in the
1936 revival and you're still a grumpy old man.
No, you need to be filled during the day, every day, every
moment, every new turn, every new twist, when something comes,
when someone cuts you off on the freeway and you're about to
erupt and drive after them. You know, God help me.
Please refresh me. Bring me.
Oh, you need that. The Holy Spirit in the body of
Christ enables, empowers ordinary people to be able to do
extraordinary things because the Holy Spirit is at work in their
lives. We will face new opportunities
and new obstacles. The Holy Spirit is not a luxury.
Well, that's just for the Pentecostal churches.
Charismatics. Nah, it's for the disciples.
It's for every believer. The Holy Spirit is an absolute
necessity for every man, woman. And here's the other thing, your
kids, it's not like I'll wait till they get a hold.
I'll tell them no. Your kids, your kids need the
work of the Holy Spirit in their lives now, whether they're 6 or
16. What does that actually mean?
Witness. The word is found 29 times as a
verb or a noun in the book of Acts.
But what is a witness? It is someone who tells the
truth of what he or she has seen and heard and knows.
Peter and John were brought before the religious leaders
after Jesus has ascended. Later in Acts chapter 4, they're
threatened with physical punishment.
You got to shut up about talking about Jesus.
No, no, no, more of this. And their response is whether
it's right on the side of God to listen to you more than God you
judge. For we cannot but speak the
things which we have seen and heard.
They just tell them what they've seen and heard.
We're witnesses. We witness these things.
If you ever find yourself in a court of war as a witness, the
judge or magistrate is not interested in your ideas, not
interested in your opinion. The judge only wants to hear,
Tell me what you saw, tell me what you heard.
Don't tell me about anything else.
Tell me what you saw or what you heard.
Our English word martyr comes from the Greek word translated
witness. Actually, if you were called out
to be a witness in the old days, you are a martyr.
You're a martyr. Yeah, I've been called up.
Got to go to court. It means witness now.
So many Christians, however, have sealed their witness to
Christ with their blood, their death, that they their blood has
become the seed of the church as many were drawn to faith in
Christ by observing how calmly and joyously Christians,
particularly under the Roman rule, met their death refusing
to obey the Lord. Just got to sprinkle that little
bit of incense to say Caesar's Lord, I can't do that.
Just got to you just got to sprinkle that just that's all
and go about your business. What if we just do it in in the
quiet? If I just you just sprinkle out.
I can't do that. It's all that you'll die and all
your kids will die. How would you go with that?
Today the police turned up you Christian.
Well, it's against the law. If you just sprinkle the thing
and say you know, you'll honour the new country of Australia and
sprinkle the incense, you're good, We'll we'll walk away.
But you got to deny Christ. What would you do?
You see in the book Revelation, during the Tribulation period,
the Antichrist will demand worship, demand you receive the
mark on your hand or up on your forehead.
And many millions of people will come to Christ during the
Tribulation period. Revelation 12/11 And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their
testimony, witness. And they did not love their
lives to the death. They died.
They're going to die for their faith.
As we read Acts 1/8, it is here. Many churchgoers then switch off
about witnessing, listen carefully about soul winning.
We hear much about it, and it is a good thing to have a solid
emphasis on winning souls to Christ by witnessing.
Yes, but while some gods of God's people, he has called to
the very ministry of evangelism, in particular Visions 411 and he
himself gave Son to the apostles, some prophets, some
evangelists, some pastors and teachers, all of God's people.
So we're not out of it. Each one of us are expected to
be witnesses by how we live each day and tell the lost about our
Saviour Jesus, who desires to be their Saviour too.
Proverbs 1425. A true witness delivers souls.
We are all witnesses, a matter we did not choose, but we are
all men. That's all we all are.
And the only question is how effective is my witness?
How many have you been at work? It's happened to me and someone
says you know something, Oh, I'm a Christian too.
And I went really been working with them for like 10 years.
No iota. Oh, I am a Christian.
Oh, it's news to me because they have no witness.
John 316 For God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whoever believes him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. Now not every Christian can
bring a Sinner to the place of faith.
We desire to see them make a decision for Christ.
But we could all do more, couldn't we?
But every Christian Christian can be a faithful witness to our
Saviour Jesus Christ. Acts 18 gives us the geography
laid out for the spreading of the gospel, Jerusalem, Judea,
Samaria, uttermost parts of the world.
No matter who we are or where we live as Christians, and this is
important because I've seen this so skewed at many places, we are
to begin our witness where home. Too often, and particularly in
the Australian culture, we've kept our mess at home and we've
gone off to church. We've served in church, we've
done this, we've done that. Meanwhile, back at home, we have
a mission field that is in disarray, unattended, not being
cared for by us. It happens often.
So the church in a family and a marriage becomes, oh, she's off
the church again. He's off the church again.
And it becomes a divisive thing. You go, well, say, well, how do
we fix that? Well, if your husband or your
wife isn't going to church and you are, when you come home from
church, love him more, love her more, be more gracious so that
every time she or he comes home from church, I love it.
You know what? Because she cooks favourite
meal, man, when she I love it when she comes home from church.
She's amazing. He's so kind.
He, he, he, he goes out of his way out, go to church more.
But what happens is it's it's usually the opposite.
We check out when we walk out. Here we go again.
Yeah, yeah. What do you want?
And, and we, our witnesses shot the pieces and we wonder why we
aren't winning people to Christ. Your witness begins at home.
Don't look off in the far off land.
Don't look to the outermost parts of the earth.
Yet Doctor J Oswald Smith says the light that shines the
furthest will shine the brightest at home.
The power Jesus spoke of is the power to live in such a way that
your life becomes a reflection of him.
I am the light, you're the light.
This is what it means to be a witness in Antioch.
The first believers to be called Christians by others was there
because they were like Jesus. They did not place this term
upon themselves as we do today, but they earn this label of
identification because people said they're like that Rabbi
Christ, They're little Christs, they're Christians.
It was a term of derision. God's desires that our lives,
yours and mine, will reflect his Son, Jesus Christ.
But we can't do this in our own ability or power, try as you
may. And we all have, and we have all
failed in our flesh. Apart from the power of the Holy
Spirit, we cannot forgive. I mean, dads and mums, how often
we've heard terrible Father stories and terrible abuse at
home. You go, well, I can never
forgive. No, you can't.
I understand that. But the Holy Spirit can give you
the power to do something that you can't do.
When Jesus was being crucified on the cross, he said, Father
forgive them. That's Christ like we cannot
love you say Oh well, I know I do.
I love my husband, I love my kid.
Love as one Corinthians 13 where it says you expect nothing in
return. Well, I'll love you when you and
I'll be when you No, no, no. Christ died for us while we were
what, sinners, while we didn't care about him.
I remember we were driving along Rockingham Rd.
This motorcyclist came past hell and I flipped out.
Revision mirror took off his tunnel 8090 miles an hour.
He's drunk, coming out of the pub, screaming down the road,
going faster and faster. And then he got to the corner of
the lights of Rockingham Rd and I think it's Carrington St and
he's not slowing down and the lights have changed and he's
going, he's doing 100. And while now, next minute speed
wobble comes up, over and over and over and over he goes.
We're the first there. He's on the ground, he's
unconscious, he's bleeding profusely from his head.
What does Helen do? Gets out, goes to him, a drunk
bikey done this to himself. Picks up his head, cradles his
head, stays there with him until the ambulance comes.
I couldn't do that. But God in Helen did that.
Covered in blood this guy deserved did he?
It's his own fault. Drunk driving fast.
Come on, you see, Christ comes to those who don't deserve it.
And that's where the power of the church is.
Five outlets of Christ's power. One, your life when you're
walking in the Spirit, walking with the Lord as John, as John
the Apostle said, he says 1 John 17.
If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses
us from all sin. You may not even be conscious of
it, but people recognise that there's a difference between you
and the worldly person. You haven't opened your mouth,
haven't said a word. You've been in a restaurant.
So I says you're, you're a Christian.
Are you a believer? It's your very presence.
Secondly, your words. The Holy Spirit can use your
words to minister comfort, hope and encouragement, healing and
strength like nobody else. When your words are anointed by
the Holy Spirit, you can speak powerful, tenderly, you can
touch the hearts of around you. You can say to someone, would
you like me to pray for you? And they hear the genuineness of
God. Your service.
We're saved to serve, led by the Holy Spirit.
What you do for the Lord can have such an impact on the lives
of others. Jesus said you'll receive a
reward for anything from your hospitality to a prophet to
giving a cup of water in the name of the Lord.
As you serve the Lord, it becomes an outlet of spiritual
power to minister to others your money.
Money is the closest thing to omnipotence, having power that
you can possess, but it is also the most impotent thing you can
spend on yourself. The money you release for the
purpose of God can become an outlet of spiritual power.
When Paul wrote to the Church of Philippi, which had personally
supported Paul's ministry, he said, Not that I seek the gift,
but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.
Lastly, your prayer, by far the greatest outlet of spiritual
power is prayer. Why?
Because it is done in the spiritual realm.
We can't all go into any intensive care room, can we?
We can't all go in and hold that person's hand during the
surgery. But you see, we're not limited
when you pray. By the power of the Holy Spirit,
we can do more than pray after we've prayed, but we cannot do
any more than pray until we have prayed.
So Jesus ascended into heaven. As we close this off and as the
disciples were looking up, the Angel said, hey, come on.
The word looking or gazing in the Greek is a long gaze, as if
losing someone you know, they look till the last moment.
The disciples are mildly rebuked here.
They weren't losing Jesus as they feared in Zechariah 14 for
the place where Jesus ascended. We go there in Israel is the
place where his feet are going to come back because in
Zechariah 14 four and in that day his feet will stand on the
Mount of Olives which faces Jerusalem on the east and the
Mount of Olives shall split in two.
So why did Jesus ascend this very public manner?
You know what, why did, what was it?
Did they have the music going on and all that was an effect.
Why didn't he just vanish into the Father's presence, just in a
private secret manner. Just I'm not here anymore going
to show them. One, he was going away for good,
but two, he's coming back the same way.
And one, to tell them change has come.
I'm leaving, but he's coming. It is to your advantage, John
16, that I go away, for if I do not go away, the helper will not
come to you. But if I depart, I will send him
to you. Change has come.
I want to ask some questions as we close.
Has that change come to your life or are you still struggling
yourself? This is where grace comes into
it. Grace and peace.
See, if you're struggling, you don't have the grace and peace
because you're doing it yourself.
You're working hard and grace is getting what you don't deserve.
And peace comes with the grace you go.
I know well, the Lord will sort it out.
I've surrendered God. Does your daily life reflect
Jesus Christ? Does the power of the Holy
Spirit control you? There are too many powerless
believers coming and going to church, their life dull, robotic
and impacting no one and nothing.
Their marriage is a struggle. Their kids are confused and have
no purpose or direction for their lives.
Today. God says change can come.
How today, right now, how? Ask God to fill you, Ask God to
fill you with his power. Ask God, God, I surrender.
Flood my soul with your love and your grace.
When Jesus was driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness
to face Satan, I pray this morning that the Holy Spirit
will drive you to him, that you'll be driven from today to
spend time with God. You want to spend time with God.
That you'll be driven by a hunger and a passion, not have
to read the word. You want to read the Bible.
You know you want God to speak to you.
God, I need help. Give me a give me a scripture.
Guide me. Speak to me, help me, give me,
help me in this situation, give me a word that I can live and I
can I can share with this in this dramatic situation.
I need a word from you and to drive you to live righteously,
powerfully, to be his witness. It's not biotherapy, it's simply
asking. Let's pray, Father, right now
where we're seated, fill each person here today.
Fill them with your Holy Spirit as they ask for it in those
areas, in those relationships, in those situations, for the
problem that they're facing, the things that they're going
through, ask them. Fill them now, Lord, drive them
to your word. Drive them.
Oh, to you, Lord. Lord, fill their lives today so
that their marriage can be blessed.
Fill them with your Holy Spirit afresh right now so that they
can be a better father, a better mother.
Oh Lord, and fill each and every one of us that we may be the
witness that reflects the true Jesus Christ, the Son of God who
came to save the world. Lord, we ask and pray these
things now believing your word that you'll answer them and this
we pray in Jesus name and everyone said Amen.
Here's the tricky bit. Tricky for here.
Ask Believe. This isn't a school.
This isn't an education process. This isn't a system.
It's God ministering to you personally that which you need.
Believe he does. It's miraculous.
It's miraculous power.