Introduction
Review Holy Spirit's identity (Jn. 14:16,17a), indwelling at conversion (Eph. 1:13,14), and His 3-fold work in those who have entrusted themselves to Jesus. This morning we learn more about His empowering work – specifically, how He empowers Christians to be His witnesses (read Acts 1:8).
To be Jesus' witnesses means simply to "testify" on His behalf – to share that you have met the Risen Jesus, how meeting Him has changed our lives, and to commend Him to people who don't yet know Him. This activity is unpopular in our culture. Part of it is because Christians often do this the wrong way (e.g., being condemning, pushy, mixing Jesus with political opinions, etc.). But part of it can't be helped (Lk. 19:10 – Jesus claimed to be the Messiah and to save lost people). Even though He said this in love, it has always offended many people (WHY). But suppose the Coronavirus was fatal, and suppose that there is only one medicine that will cure it, and suppose that I have been cured by it. Am I not obligated in love to commend it to others, even if they are offended by the implications? If you are a guest, I hope you will give Jesus and us the benefit of the doubt on our intentions.
When Jesus commanded His disciples to be His witnesses in Acts 1:8, He knew this could intimidate them (cross-cultural; opposition). Knowing this, He could have leaned harder on them ("Don't be a wimp; do your duty!"), or He could have given them a list of persuasive communication techniques. But instead, He focused them on a simple but profound promise: "The Holy Spirit will empower you to be My witnesses." This is a reminder of Jn. 15:26,27 (read). Yes – we have a role to play, but the Holy Spirit is the "senior Partner" who will play the greatest role (TORREY QUOTE?). Let's see how the Holy Spirit fulfilled this promise in the early church. We'll look at some specific examples, but they distill to five forms of empowering that are still available today to all who know Jesus and are willing to share Him with others.
He guides us into opportunities to share
A Christian named Philip was in Samaria when God prompted him to travel to a relatively deserted highway in southern Israel (Acts 8:26-28). Then the Holy Spirit told Philip to initiate a conversation with an Ethiopian eunuch who was sitting in his chariot (Acts 8:29-37). What's going on here? The Holy Spirit guided Philip into this opportunity share with a man who was seeking for God. Philip was effective, not because he was some golden-tongued persuader, but because he simply responded to the Holy Spirit's guidance into a situation that He had prepared.
This is a dramatic example of many times the Holy Spirit guided Christians to people He wanted them to share with: Pentecost (Acts 2:1-11); Peter to Cornelius (10:19); the leaders of Antioch to send out Paul and Barnabas (13:1-3); Paul away from Asia and Bithynia – and then to Macedonia (16:6-9); Paul to Jerusalem (19:21), etc.
Much later, when Paul was imprisoned in Rome and about to go to trial, he asked the Colossian Christians to pray for him (read Col. 4:3). And God answered their prayers (Phil. 1:12-14; trail defense). Paul knew that the Holy Spirit could create opportunities to share about Jesus, and guide him into those opportunities. And surely we can all pray this same prayer for the same reason. What might happen if we simply prayed regularly for open doors and the eyes to recognize them? EXAMPLES: strangers/relatives; answer a question; correct a misconception; share an experience; invite to investigate further; etc. This will add excitement to your life! It may also make you nervous – which is why you need to know about another way the Holy Spirit empowers us . . .
He gives us courage & articulation as we share
Peter and John were brought before the supreme court of his day (who had recently executed Jesus), who demanded to know why they were talking to people about Jesus (Acts 4:5-7). Peter's response was so courageous and penetrating that they were amazed (4:13). What was Peter's secret? Had he just completed an extemporaneous speech class? No, he was freshly filled with the Spirit (4:8) – Who gave him courage and articulation that he did not possess in himself. This is just one of several such "fillings" in the book of Acts – not just of the apostles, but of rank-and-file Christians like you and me.
All believers were filled to speak spoke about the mighty works of God (2:4). The whole church was empowered to witness with boldness in spite of persecution (4:31). Stephen spoke with wisdom (6:10) and courage (7:55) in the face of martyrdom. Paul shared with wisdom and courage as a new convert (9:17,20,23). Paul refuted a devious opponent as he shared with a Roman (13:9-12).
When Paul was about to go on trial for his life, he didn't pump himself up with positive self-talk or cave into his fears. He asked the Ephesian Christians to pray with him that God's Spirit would give him boldness and clarity (Eph. 6:19,20). Certainly, if Paul needed boldness and clarity from God's Spirit, so do we. And if Paul could receive this empowerment, so can we! It may come as an intense experience, or it may come as a subtle calm – but as trust and open our mouths, it will come (EXAMPLES).
He convicts people of their need for Jesus
But not only will the Holy Spirit work through us as we share about Jesus; He will also work on the people with whom we share. Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would "convict" their hearers of sin, righteousness and judgment (Jn. 16:8). That is, He would speak directly to people's consciences, exposing their spiritual lostness and true moral guilt, and summon them to bow to Jesus as Savior and Lord. He will not make people do this, but He will take away their excuses.
This is exactly what Luke narrates in Acts. When Peter speaks about Jesus to the crowd gathered at Pentecost, they were "pierced to the heart" so that they asked what they should do (2:37). When Stephen indicted the Sanhedrin for their rejection of Jesus, they (including Paul) were "cut to the quick" (7:54). When Jesus confronted Paul, He said: It is hard for you to kick against the goads (26:14). When business-woman Lydia heard Paul speak about Jesus as the promised Messiah, the Lord "opened her heart to receive the things" Paul said (16:14). This is the Holy Spirit probing people's consciences and summoning them to entrust themselves to Jesus.
Paul reminded the Thessalonians that his message about Jesus came to them "in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction" (1 Thess. 1:5). The Holy Spirit was the "Hound of Heaven" in my life when I first heard the message as an 11-year-old (and I ignored Him), and then again as a 15-year-old (and I again ignored Him), and then again as a 17-year-old (and I again ignored Him). And this is Who showed me some months later, alone in my bedroom, that I was lost – and Who, when I acknowledged this, reminded me powerfully of Rev. 3:20 (I had no idea where this was in the Bible) and summoned me to open my heart to Christ.
Maybe you have experienced this convicting work of God's Spirit – you keep running into this message in various ways, and you keep wrestling with the sense that you should surrender yourself to Christ. This is the Spirit pursuing you, convicting you – because He loves you and He wants you to experience a new life with Jesus.
We should all regularly ponder this aspect of our own conversions. This will help us to grow in the confidence that Holy Spirit will always do this work before, as, and after we share Christ with others. As Robert Coleman says: "What a load this takes off (of us)! We do not have responsibility to convince anyone (about Jesus). That is the Spirit's work. Our responsibility is simply to bear witness to the truth. And in spite of (people's) blindness and indifference, the Spirit of God will penetrate the darkness . . . and prod (them) to seek (Jesus)."[1]
He enables us to do confirming deeds of love
Acts records dozens of examples of God's Spirit enabling Christian to perform deeds of love that confirm their message about Jesus. Many of these deeds were miraculous healings and exorcisms (Acts 2:43; 3:7,8; 5:15,16; 6:8; 8:6,13; 9:40; 14:10; 19:11-13; 20:9-12). These were deeds of mercy and kindness that pointed to Jesus so that "the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing" (19:20).
There were other non-miraculous deeds of love and mercy done by very normal Christians who coupled their verbal sharing with practical care for needy people (2:44,45; 4:32-35; 6:1). Dorcas was one such Spirit-empowered servant whose humble service influenced many toward the Lord (read and explain 9:36-42).
When we read the New Testament's letters to local churches, we discover an intriguing contrast to the book of Acts. They do not command their recipients to perform miraculous healings, but they do command them to "do good to all people" (Gal. 6:10), which will "adorn the gospel" (Titus 2:10) – or make the message about Jesus attractive because it couples words about God's love with practical expressions of God's love.
Most of us are not gifted speakers, but many of us are gifted by the Spirit for this kind of service – and all of us can all of us be empowered to contribute in this way (NAME MINISTRY TEAMS & OTHER CURRENT COMMUNITY SERVICE). [2]
He encourages us when we experience hostility
Jesus promised His disciples that if they shared about Him, they could expect opposition and hostility (Jn. 15:18-20). But He also promised to encourage them through His Spirit in ways that would will more than outweigh the pain inflicted (Jn. 14:26,27).
Luke narrates several fulfillments of this promise. When Peter and John went on their way rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for Jesus' sake (5:41), this is because of the Spirit who had been given to them (5:32). When Paul and Barnabas were run out of Pisidian Antioch, they were "continually filled with joy and the Holy Spirit" (13:50,52). When Paul had been persecuted and/or rejected in several consecutive cities, the Lord through a vision ministered to his chronic terror and encouraged him to go on speaking (18:9-11).
Paul says that all of us may receive this encouragement as we serve Jesus in the midst of affliction (2 Cor. 1:3-5). We do not have to live in fear because the Spirit testifies to our spirits that we are God's beloved children (Rom. 8:15,16). This encouragement takes many forms: a supportive word from another Christian (2 Cor. 7:5-7), a biblical passage personally applied, a dream or vision, an answered prayer, a divinely-timed provision, etc. Ajith Fernando explains: "Through such means God speaks to us and tells us the He is with us, that we are His, and that He is committed to us. The result is a deep peace and joy and an assurance that God will look after us. (As) we experience this affirmation . . . the messages we get from the world that we are useless, inferior, (or) insignificant lose their power."[3] Strangely, I find that few workers in our church ever ask God for this kind of encouragement. True, we should not demand that He do this for us in a certain way by a certain time. But to ask for this and see how He answers in ways we would never expect is super-helpful!
[1] Robert Coleman, The Heart of the Gospel, p. 136.
[2] "Are we the kind of church of which (our city) says: 'We don't share a lot of their beliefs, but . . . They are such an important part of the community. They give so much! If they left we'd have to raise taxes because others won't give of themselves like they do.'" Tim Keller in John Piper & Justin Taylor (editors), The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World (Crossway Books, 2007), p. 122.
[3] Ajith Fernando, Jesus-Drive Ministry (Crossway, 2002), p. 54.