Sermon Tone Analysis

*Acts 1:8 *

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Introduction

*     I suspect it takes a new grandmother less than five minutes to pull out her “Grandma’s Brag book of pictures” to show anyone who will give her the slightest opening.

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*     I suspect it takes most men less than five minutes to turn the subject to their new car.

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*     I suspect it takes a teenaged boy very little time to tell everyone who will listen that they just bought a motorcycle.*

*     When we have exciting news, we are very quick to tell everyone about it.

Why then does it take us so long and why do we find it so difficult to talk about the most exciting news of all and that is the news of the gospel?

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*     Part of the reason is surely that our enemy puts fear into us.

Part of the reason is that we are handling something so precious that we are afraid to handle it carelessly.

Part of the reason could be that we have our own doubts about the gospel.

Part of the reason is that we try to do so in our own power and fail to understand the power of the Holy Spirit which God has given us to proclaim the gospel.*

*     Today is Pentecost Sunday.

It is the day we remember that ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, God sent His Holy Spirit to indwell believers.

As Jesus stood on the mountain talking with his disciples, just before He ascended into Heaven, he said in 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.”

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*     What is this power that Jesus was speaking about?

How do we have power to witness?

Today as we examine Scripture to think about the power of the Holy Spirit which is available for witnessing, I hope that we will be encouraged and will be able to see more of what it means to witness with power as Jesus promised.

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I.                  The Power Of The Spirit

*     Neither Jesus nor the early church proclaimed the gospel in their own strength.

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!! A.                Working Through Jesus

*     When Jesus began his ministry, he was anointed by the Spirit.

On the day of his baptism, the Spirit came upon him like a dove.

This was a symbol that God was present with Jesus.

This happened just before he began his work.

Luke 3:21-23.

It tells us that the power with which Jesus did his work was the power of the Spirit of God present with Him.*

*     Jesus was aware of this when he said just a short time later while ministering in his home town of Nazareth.

To his own family he said, in Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed...” Jesus preached and ministered in the power of the Spirit.*

*     Later, the church understood that Jesus had ministered in the power of the Spirit.

Acts 10:38, God “...anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and ...he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”

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*     Even though He was God, the Bible tells us that when he did his work, He did not do it alone, but did it in the power of the Spirit.

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*     What is so amazing is that Jesus Himself tells us in John 14:12, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.

He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

In other words, when Jesus left, the power of the Spirit to preach and do the work of God did not leave.

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!! B.                Working Through The Early Church

*     And so we see that in the early church the spread of the gospel was also a work of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8, gives us an outline of the Spirit empowered ministry which began in Jerusalem and continued out to the uttermost parts of the earth.

This verse is in fact an outline of the book of Acts.

Ch. 1-7 speak about the powerful work of the Spirit carried out through the apostles in Jerusalem.

Chapters 8:1-11:18 speak about the powerful ministry that spread to Judea & Samaria and from 11:19 to the end of the book we read about the way in which God’s Spirit led his servants to proclaim the name of Jesus to the “uttermost parts of the earth.

What Jesus predicted and promised, happened as the gospel spread out from Jerusalem with power.*

*     The power of the Spirit in witness was evident when the Spirit moved Philip to go to witness to the Ethiopian Eunuch.

It was the Spirit of God who empowered Stephen to proclaim God’s word with boldness even in the face of death.

It was the Spirit of God who opened the way for Peter to proclaim the gospel to the Gentile group under the leadership of the Roman soldier, Cornelius.

It was the Spirit of God who prevented Paul from going into Asia and going to Macedonia instead.

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II.

How God’s Spirit Works

*     Is the power of the Spirit which was so active in the early church still working today?

How is the power of the Spirit of God at work in the proclamation of the gospel?*

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!! A.                Preparing Hearts

*     Most of us have probably attended auction sales.

I have noticed that sometimes people will buy an item just to move the auction along, but they really don’t want what they bought.

Sometimes they will leave it there or they will take it straight to the dump.

On the other hand, I have also noticed what it is like when someone really wants something.

The way they look the item over, the way they bid and the joy and care with which they take their precious item with them is evidence that they really want it.

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*     Sometimes we have trouble witnessing because we are trying to convince a person that they want something that they really don’t want.

They may accept the gospel just to get us off their back, but they will not live by it afterwards because it was not something they wanted.

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*     On the other hand, I have sometimes led people to the Lord when they were ready and really wanted the gospel.

It almost seemed too easy and they accepted it and began to grow.

What is the difference?*

*     The difference is that in one case the Holy Spirit has prepared the heart of the person for the gospel by his convicting work and in the other, that has not yet happened.

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*     The power of the Spirit is at work in preparing hearts to receive the gospel.

We cannot make a heart ready to receive the gospel.

When people are ready, that is a work that the Holy Spirit has done.

John 16:8-11 says, “When he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

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*     Witnessing in the power of the Spirit means that we recognize that it is the Spirit who prepares hearts to receive the gospel.

All we need to do is wait to see where the convicting work of the Spirit is happening and then move in with a word of witness as we have been commanded to do.

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*     It is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict people and so to prepare their hearts to receive the gospel.

When we rely on that convicting work and don’t do the Holy Spirit’s work ourselves, we will see the effective power of the Holy Spirit at work.*

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!! B.                Sending Workers

*     Another task of the Holy Spirit is that of sending out workers into the harvest field.

Those who are involved in mission boards know that people sometimes apply for missionary service who have not been called by God for that task.

What is true in the broader missionary endeavor, is also true in the task of witness anywhere.

Now although it is true that all of us are to be witnesses, that does not mean that all of us are to do the same kind of work in witnessing.

We must seek God’s call for us specifically.*

*     The power of the Spirit is active in calling out workers.

Romans 10:14,15 says, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?

And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?

And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent?

As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” *

*     Notice that the text says, “how can they preach unless they are sent.”

Although the church must be involved in the discerning process, it must discern where the Spirit is leading because it is the work of God to send workers into the harvest field.

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*     Our part in this process is to pray that God would call workers into the harvest field.

In Matthew 9:37,38 Jesus invited his disciples to do just this, “Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

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*     As we have noticed the ripe harvest field in Manitou, we have struggled with enough workers to do the work particularly in VBS and clubs.

I want to encourage you as you continue to struggle with this great opportunity not to twist each others arms, but to bend your knees and pray that God will send out workers.

Then we will work with the effective power of the Spirit.

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!! C.                 Empowering Workers

*     The reason we will then work with power and effectiveness is because those whom God sends, He also empowers by His Spirit.

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*1.Spiritual Gifts*

*     The first way in which the Spirit empowers for witness is through giving gifts for ministry.

1 Corinthians 12:7 tells us that it is the Spirit who has gifted each one.

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”

In the rest of that passage as well as in Ephesians 4 and I Peter 4 we have a considerable body of Scripture that talks about the way in which the Spirit of God gifts people for ministry.*

*     When someone works in their area of giftedness, they have power to accomplish what they could clearly not accomplish on their own.

When Billy Graham preaches, there is more that happens than just good words.

Many preachers could put words together just as well and perhaps better than Billy Graham.

But God’s Spirit has gifted him to be an evangelist and when he preaches people hear God speaking and by the power of the Spirit, they respond.