God's power to go on - Pt. 1

Have you ever felt so tired, physically, emotionally or even spiritually you wondered how you could press on? tonight we are looking at what is needed, what is promised and what is given for us to be able to have the power to go on.

Let’s say for 3 1/2 years you left everything behind, you were busy busy busy feeding, healing, talking, walking, studying doing things that make no sense, and you were told this is only the beginning, would you be tired, wondering how you would carry on? The Apostles did!

How about you, the end of the day you want to come in, relax, but there is cooking, cleaning to do, maybe garden work if during spring or summer.

Can we get tired, exhausted in our work for the Lord?

If you were told there was power from out of this world that help you to accomplish everything that needed to be done and it was of no cost to you except obedience would you be interested? - I know it is a rhetorical question.

Tonight we are going to look at the promised power to go on (Act1:4-5) but first let’s stop just for a few minutes for a side trip to (Act1:3)

Acts 1:3 NASB95

3 To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

With this being a bible study and you being good bible students in wanting to dig into the word may we consider this verse. So let’s get into this verse.

Who are the “these” noted, that Jesus presented Himself to?

Is it the Apostles? Think we better prove out our thinking.

First, whoever “these” are we can know they are witnesses (Lk24:48; Lk24:33)

Luke 24:48 NASB95

48 “You are witnesses of these things.

And if you look back a little further you would see

Luke 24:33 NASB95

33 And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them,

So, we know it is “these” and “These” were witnesses, and what did we learn from (v.33)? - they were gathered with the eleven (apostles) and others. So it is more than just the Apostles, but wait, there is more.

“These” some are identified (Act1:13-14)

Acts 1:13–14 NASB95

13 When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. 14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

So who is named now, the 11 (v.13) and what more do we learn in (v.14) they were in one accord in prayer, then we also see others named in (v.14) so the “these” seems to be growing

“These” were then numbered (Act1:15)

Acts 1:15 NASB95

15 At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together), and said,

So what is the number of “these?”

There are some who will say it was only the 11 in the room and that is who the “these” are; you can read the scripture in context and draw you own conclusion.

Now, go back and look at (v.3) there is still more to learn.

The “these”

Were people who saw the resurrected Christ

Heard the resurrected Christ teaching

Specifically teaching to things pertaining to what?

Things pertaining to the kingdom of God

The book of acts is like the 2nd act of a play, it is the continued story, Act 1 was about what Jesus did and taught, the 2nd act, which is endless, goes on to tell the story of the Christian Church. The book of Acts goes on to tell how the work of Christ is carried on by the Church today. This passage will speak to the church that will be empowered by the work of the Holy Spirit that was promised before.

Heck I have to go back, I only gave you (Lk24:48) that showed that “these” were witnesses but in context there is more to know before we go on.

Luke 24:48–49 NASB95

48 “You are witnesses of these things. 49 “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

They were told they were going to have to wait, and that is where we are tonight in this passage they are gathered together in one accord in prayer as they are waiting on the promise

Acts 1:4–5 NASB95

4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?

This is a the passage that many will refer to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit is different that baptism for remission of sins. may we keep in mind who He is speaking to here? Who was the promise made to?

Again, if you were to look back to Luke you would see “these” again

Luke 24:44 NASB95

44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Jesus spoke to the Apostles and said the promise

Luke 24:49 NASB95

49 “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

From the Father was for them, the baptism of Holy Spirit with power was for for the Apostles, and we will get to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit next week, but this baptism is not a common baptism, it is with power that was for them and we will even get to the reason why as we study Acts. Do you know why?

This power that is needed, this power that is provided to carry on is nothing new, it is found in the O.T. as well as the N.T.

Promised Power in the Old Testament

God is the truing God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Spirit in the Old Testament was given to fulfill specific tasks. There is sufficient evidence, proof of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament just as much as in the New.

In the prophesy of Joel (Joel2:28-29; Joel2:27)

Joel 2:28–29 NASB95

28 “It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. 29 “Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

As you may know, but if not, you will see when we get to Act2 that this passage is quoted by Peter on Pentecost, now in keeping it in context I should back up another verse.

Joel 2:27 NASB95

27 “Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, And that I am the Lord your God, And there is no other; And My people will never be put to shame.

The Holy Spirit was going to be in the midst, was going to be among them, regardless of station or position, there were extraodinary things that were going to happen.

Prophesy of Isaiah (Isa44:3; Isa32:15-17; also brought in Mt9:37)

Isaiah 44:3 NASB95

3 ‘For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants;

God was going to pour out His Spirit. And add to that one this

Isaiah 32:15–17 NASB95

15 Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, And the wilderness becomes a fertile field, And the fertile field is considered as a forest. 16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness And righteousness will abide in the fertile field. 17 And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.

When the Spirit was going to be poured out on the dry and weary land it was going to be a fertile land where the work and service of righteousness was going to happen. And that goes to what Jesus said.

Matthew 9:37 NASB95

37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

The dry and weary land, Israel, that was going to become fertile ground for the gospel when the Holy Spirit was going to be poured out, made to be among them.

Well we can’t leave out some others

Prophesy of Ezekiel (Eze36:26-27)

Ezekiel 36:26–27 NASB95

26 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

what do you see here, what is prophesied? - Spirit within, power to walk in following His commands!

But wait, there is more

Prophesy of Zechariah (Zec12:10; also brought in Act2:37)

Zechariah 12:10 NASB95

10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.

What do you learn from this one? - This is the Spirit of grace and supplication that will pierce your heart when you look to the cross and you see Christ. When people understand he fulfilling of the O.T. prophesies in Jesus, just as Jesus said in Lk24:44, then when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit happens they will be pierced and ask

Acts 2:37 NASB95

37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”

Promised power in the New Testament

You have seen the promised power in the Old Testament and the New Testament is not short of the promise nor the power displayed.

John the Baptist preached on it (Mt3:11; Mk1:7-8; Lk3:16; Jn1:33)

Matthew 3:11 NASB95

11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John in Mk1:7-8 says will baptize with Holy Spirit

I think I want us to look at what more we can learn from John

John 1:33 NASB95

33 “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’

John 1:34 NASB95

34 “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

So this Holy Spirit was going to be seen; this is the one that will baptize with the Holy Spirit, this is the Son of God and we know he was speaking of Jesus.

This fullfillment we see in Act2:1-4 when the Holy Spirit comes and is poured out, but as for now, they hung on the words of Jesus, again may we be reminded

Acts 1:4–5 NASB95

Jesus asked for it (Jn14:16-17)

John 14:16–17 NASB95

16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

what do we learn in this verse, I think it is important. - It was asked for, it was promised to be given, He would be a helper forever, the Spirit is the Spirit of truth and that this Spirit abides with and in you!

Jesus said to thirst for it (Jn7:37-39)

John 7:37–38 NASB95

37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

John 7:39 NASB95

39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Jesus did not stop there, Jesus spoke in great length and in prayer for the apostles about the Spirit that would be the Helper, the Spirit of truth to them.

Jesus told apostles Spirit would be a reminder to them (Jn14:26)

He will teach them all things and remind them of all things He had said to them.

Jesus told them the Spirit would bear witness (Jn15:26-27)

The Spirit will testify of Jesus so that they too will testify since they had been with Him from the beginning and were witnesses of all things.

Jesus said the Spirit would convict the world of sin (Jn16:7-11)

Not only will the Spirit convict the world of sin, but of righteousness and judgment concerning sin.

Jesus said the Spirit would guide the apostles (Jn16:12-13)

He will guide them into all truth who will only Speak what the Father says

Jesus said the Spirit will glorify Him (Jn16:14)

The Spirit will take from Jesus and disclose to them!

So they were told to wait, who would not want to wait for all that? Power to accomplish the task that was at hand, to fulfill the great commission (Mk16:15) and told there were to start (Act1:8) but that is for next week.

So, we have John the baptist speaking of Spirit, we have Jesus speaking of the Spirit, but wait there is more.

Peter speaks of the outpouring of Spirit (Act2:33)

Acts 2:33 NASB95

33 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.

What do we see, learn here from this verse? - Spirit received from the father to Christ and Christ poured it forth, and they could both see and hear.

Peter offers the gift of the Spirit (Act2:38-39)

Acts 2:38–39 NASB95

38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

remission of sins, gift of Holy Spirit, so the power to go on, not just for them but for all (be careful to qualify this)

The promise, eloquently said by J.W. McGarvey

“That we are right in referring the word promise, in this sentence, to the promise of the Holy Spirit just made by Peter, is evident from the fact that this is the only promise made in the immediate context.”

David Lipscomb says

“Act2:39 shows that the gift of the Holy Spirit is to all, Jews and Gentiles, who accept the call of God.”

Paul speaks of the Spirit and His work (Tit3:4-7)

Poured out to wash, regenerate and renew us!

To those who have been baptized (1Cor12:13) and believe (Gal3:14)

Those baptized into one body; those who believe as a prerequisite to baptism.

The promise of the Spirit to those those who have faith!

This is the ones in whom the Spirit dwells (Rom8:10-13)

The Spirit dwells in the believer, the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead raised the believer from the dead!

Raised when you believe, have faith and acted on your faith

Ephesians 1:13–14 NASB95

13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

(Encouragement slide- Holy Spirit)

The Spirit of God received by faith

The Spirit of assurance that we have been sealed with

The Spirit of earnestness, God’s earnest deposit in us

The Spirit of power that enables us to walk in the Spirit not the flesh

The Spirit of produce, that produces fruit in the believer!

(Encouragement slide 2 - witness to the world) prayer (exit slides)

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