EMPOWER – 2024 | Acts 1:8

August 21, 2013

Book: John

INTRODUCTION

Praise the Lord City Harvest, we greet you in the name of Jesus. Welcome to the New Year Service. In a few minutes, we are going to say goodbye to this year and a great year is awaiting us. Let’s thank God for this year. Through it all God has been faithful. Seasons have come and gone but God has been good to us. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He will empower and lead us successfully in 2024.

Can we all lift up our hands and thank God for 2023? Thank God for the mountains and the valleys, thank God for the good and bad experiences, and thank God for the loss and gain of 2023.

As we get ready to receive the New Year, the theme the Lord laid in my heart is the theme – Empower.

God is going to empower us by his Spirit.

Acts 1:8

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Empowerment In The OT

In the OT, God’s Spirit gave special empowerment to people for specific tasks.

God’s Spirit enables Joseph to understand and interpret Pharoah’s dreams. Gen. 41:38

God’s Spirit enables Bezalel (Ex. 31:1-2) who is an artist. God’s Spirit empowers him with wisdom and skills. He is given creative genius to make beautiful things in the Tabernacle.

Prophets. Then we also see God’s Ruach empower the prophets. They can see what is happening in history from God’s point of view.

Here is the problem as the prophets saw it: Well, God’s Ruach had created a really good world. Humans have given in to evil, they unleashed chaos into it through their evil and injustice. Even after having the nation Israel, they have disobeyed the Lord and are living in rebellion and exile. The prophets said that the Spirit would come, just like in Genesis 1, but now to transform the human heart, to empower people to truly love God and others. Ezekiel 36:26-27; Joel 2:28.

Ezekiel 36:26-27

²⁶I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Joel 2:28

“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

How will this new act of God’s Spirit happen?

Spirit’s Empowerment in Jesus

Centuries pass and we are introduced to Jesus. At the beginning of His mission, Jesus is baptized in the waters of the Jordan River. The sky opens up and God’s Spirit comes and rests on him like a dove. This is God’s Spirit empowering Jesus to begin the new creation.

Acts 10:38

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

We see this happening when he heals people and forgives their sins. He is creating life where there once was death. He heals the blind, casts out demons, raises the dead, and forgives sins.

Israel’s religious leaders opposed Jesus and they eventually have him killed. But even here, God’s Spirit is at work. The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead.

Romans 8:11

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

The earliest disciples of Jesus who saw him alive from the dead say that it was God’s energizing Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.

When Jesus appeared to his closest followers, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Jn. 20:22.

Soon after that on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit powerfully comes on all of his disciples, so that they can become a part of this new creation and share the good news and learn how to live by the energy and influence of God’s Spirit.

Coming back to Acts 1:

Acts 1:1-2

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach, until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

The Book of Acts is a second volume of a larger form. The first volume is the Gospel of Luke. The gospel of Luke is a careful record of Jesus’: Incarnation, ministry, life, death and post-resurrection appearances; all of that is just the beginning. The gospel is just a warmup for what we are now about to delve into in the book of Acts. the book of Acts is the continuing work of Christ as Jesus continues to minister through His Holy Spirit amid his people.

Acts 1:11 tells us that Jesus ascended to God the Father, sitting on the right hand of God the Father; however, Jesus is still sovereignly active. He is alive and well and living in his church and His people in which he inhabits by His Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts can be divided into these three parts:

Acts 1-7: Witness in Jerusalem.
Acts 8-12: Witness all Judea and Samaria.
Acts 13: Witness to the ends of the world. Launching of the Gospel into all the earth. Asia Minor, Macedonia, Europe, Rome.

Ends of the Earth:

In 2024, the gospel is going to be preached to the ends of the earth. In 2024, there is going to be a big spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ends of the earth for the Jews:

Punishment will come for Israel (Jerusalem) from the ends of the earth:

Deuteronomy 28:49-52

⁴⁹The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, ⁵⁰a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. ⁵¹They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or olive oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. ⁵²They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.

God’s salvation will also go from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth:

Psalm 67:1-2

¹May God be gracious to us and bless us

and make his face shine on us— (God’s blessing is on us so that..)

²so that your ways may be known on earth,

your salvation among all nations.

Psalm 67:7

May God bless us still,

so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

This is an Abrahamic blessing. This is now our blessing, the blessing of the church. God blesses us so that we will be a blessing. We will be a showpiece blessing. God will bless us so that we will be a blessing to the world. That blessing is to take the gospel to the ends of the world.

In Acts 13, when Paul goes to Pisidian Antioch, Turkey now; and is challenged by the Jews in the synagogue. Paul argues:

Acts 13:47

For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

“‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,

that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’

So the ends of the earth is where Israel’s enemy came from and the ends of the earth is where the salvation message is to go.

Where is the ends of the earth? It is wherever they haven’t heard the good news of Jesus Christ.

Where is the ends of the earth? In Bangalore, in Karnataka, in India, in Asia, in the world.

Empowered Witness is a Promise.

This will happen, you cannot help it. They will be his witness.

You don’t do something? You be a witness. This is a command. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be a witness. Our God is a missionary God.

In the book of Acts, you have people who go and witness, they speak and pray and preach the gospel.

In Acts 8, the Holy Spirit is like a bulldozer:

The Holy Spirit fulfilled the promise by persecution.

Acts 8:1

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

You can see the echo of Acts 1:8; Judea and Samaria. The Holy Spirit fulfilled the promise by persecution, by moving Christians from their comfort zone. God sovereignly will accomplish his will whether we like it or not, you will be his witness, when the Holy Spirit is upon us.

It is a Promise. This will happen, you cannot help it. They will be his witness.

Empowered Witness is a Prerequisite.

Matthew 28:19-20

¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

What is a Witness?

It is a legal language. Giving testimony in a legal proceeding, in a case. In Acts the greatest of the evangelistic messages are court transcripts, 7 of them.

Acts 4 Peter and John witness before the Sanhedrin.
Acts 5 Peter witness before the Sanhedrin.
Acts 7 Stephen witness before the Sanhedrin.
Acts 23: Paul witness before the Sanhedrin.
Acts 24: Paul witness before Felix, Governor of Judea.
Acts 26: Paul witness before Festus.
Acts 26: Paul witness before King Agrippa.

What is required of the witness?

Tell the truth, just the truth, noting more or nothing else. Just tell the truth wherever you are. In the school, in the home, in the neighbourhood, in the work place. Be a child of God. If the HS is upon you, you will be a witness.

What is our calling in persecution? Be a peacemaker, overcome evil with good, not hate back, forgive your enemies, pray for them. Be yourself as a child of God.

Result of Witness

The Church turned the world upside down in 250 years.

Acts 2:27. The Lord added to their number daily.
Acts 6:7. The word of God spread.
Acts 9:31. The church grew in numbers.
Acts 12:24. The word continued to increase.
Acts 16:5. The churches grew daily in numbers.
Acts 19:20 The word spread and grew.
Acts 28:31. Without hinderance he preached.
Day of Pentecost 120 members.
The HS transformed 120 into witnesses.
In 20 years Paul comes to Thessalonica, 1600 km from Jerusalem. His enemies are saying, “Here they have come those who have turned the world upside down with their message;” Acts 17:6.
In 30 years after the Pentecost, Paul writes to Romans that there is no place for him to work. The gospel has already reached that part of the world; Rom. 15:23.
In 250 years 1/4th of the population in Rome were Christians.

How is Empowered Witness Possible?

Acts 1:8: It is the work of the Holy Spirit.

God is with Us Through His Spirit.

John 14:23

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

The Spirit leads us to the Triune God.

John 16:13

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

John 14:25-26

²⁵“All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name (It is the Spirit but what is the Spirit here to do? There Spirit is here to draw attention to the word that God has spoken through the Son), will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

The Spirit is a very personal life-giving and sustaining presence of the Father and of the Son.

The Spirit of God is God’s presence. Matthew 28:20 Surely, I am with you always to the very end of the age.

Empowered for Signs & Wonders.

See the meaning of power in the gospel of Luke and Acts. Power is not exclusively but most often associated with healing and casting out demons.

There were miracles. The early church performed miracles in the name of Jesus.

Peter and John heal a man physically disabled from birth in Jesus’ name; Acts 3:1-11.
Many signs and wonders performed; Acts 2:43; 5:12
Peter’s shadow fell on the sick, healing them; Acts 5:15-16.
Stephen performed amazing miracles and signs; Acts 6:8.
Philip cast out demons and healed the physically disabled man; Acts 8:7, 13.
Peter raises Tabitha from the dead; Acts 9:36-43
Paul & Barnabas performed signs and wonders in Iconium; Acts 14:3
Paul & Barnabas healed the physically disabled man who had faith; Acts 14:8-10
Paul & Silas cast a demon out of a fortune-telling slave girl; Acts 16:16-18
Paul was given extreme power for many unusual miracles; Acts 19:11-12
Paul raised Eutychus from the dead after a terrible accident; Acts 20:9-12
Paul unharmed by poisonous snake bite in Malta; Acts 28:3-6
Paul healed Publius’ father of fever and dysentery; Acts 28:7-8
Paul healed all sick people on the island of Malta; Acts 28:9-10

Empowered Speech & Word.

Example: Stephen

Through the Holy Spirit’s empowerment, our words become vessels of divine strength. In weakness, fear, and simplicity, His power manifests. As we proclaim God’s testimony, our speech transcends human wisdom, ensuring faith rests not on eloquence but on the unmistakable demonstration of God’s mighty power.

1 Timothy 4:17-18

¹⁷But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. ¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Luke 12:11-12

¹¹“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, ¹²for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

God will use your words and instil his power in our word.

1 Corinthians 2:1

When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.

1 Corinthians 2:3-5

³I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. ⁴My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

Empowered for a Transformed Life.

The power that backs up our speech with our lives.

2 Corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

It is the power of a transformed life. Backing up the witness, we are to be the witness, not just speak. We cannot fake it. It is a life that is readable and it is holy. Part of that witness if love – by this will they know you are my children, when you love one another.

Empowered in Adversity.

Talking about the Spirit in:

Colossians 1:12

….being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience…

1 Thessalonians 1:6

…..for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit Empowers us with Strength For Each Day. Whatever trials in life, the Holy Spirit provides us fresh strength for every day.

2 Corinthians 4:7-12

⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Empowered for Holy Living.

“God’s temple is sacred and you [plural, meaning the church] are that temple!” And for that very reason there must be no immorality among us: That distinguishes the church “from all the other people on the face of the earth.”

The Holy Spirit enables us to live in such a way that they “will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (Gal. 5).

Paul’s most common language for believers is his use of the term “the saints” (or “holy ones”). “They live differently and are empowered to do so because they are Spirit people, whatever else.”

CONCLUSION

God is always in the work of empowering His people for His work. I believe that the Spirit of the Lord will empower each one of you. God will give you the supernatural power to accomplish His work through your lives in 2024. Someone shout, “Empower.”

It is the plan of Jesus Christ for his Church today. God is going to empower us to be His witnesses.

That empowerment is in the church, the assembly of saints.

1 Corinthians 3:17

If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

Today, God’s presence is here as we have gathered over here. His Spirit is here.

When God’s presence filled the temple, “the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud” (1 Kings 8:10).

When Moses came into God’s presence, he “hid his face” (Exod. 3:6.

Elijah “pulled a cloak over his face” in God’s presence (1 Kings 19:13).

Worshipers should come into God’s presence in preparation to meet with the living God.

In other words, the Spirit is not merely some abstract “force” or “influence” for Paul. The Spirit is the dynamically engaged presence of God revealing himself in wondrously ordinary and extraordinary ways through the believing members of the empowered church. The Spirit of God is right here to empower us for 2024.

Jesus tells us to ask for the Holy Spirit. Let us ask for the Holy Spirit.

Luke 11:11-13

¹¹“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹²Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

We are witnesses of the miraculous saving power of the resurrected Christ. Let’s go out and be a witness empowered by the Holy Spirit. Our lives, the lives of our children, youth and families are transformed by the power of the gospel. The KOG is not in talk but in power, 1 Cor. 4. May it be said of each one of us in our witness in 2024 and years to come like that was once said of Saint Basil, “His words are like thunder because our lives are like lightening.”

We begin the Christian life by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith. That is the only way the Christian life can continue to be lived, by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith. We cannot begin our Christian life in the power of the Spirit and then be perfected in the power of the flesh. Let’s ask for a fresh touch by God’s Spirit today.

EMPOWER – 2024 | Acts 1:8