Scripture always refers to the power of the Holy Spirit in relationship to witnessing and glorifying God. So she seriously prayed, “Dear Lord, I am not ready to go to a solitary confinement because of my Christian faith. https://vimeo.com/442594825 Series MAKING FRIENDS FOR GOD with Pastor Kurt Piesslinger, M.A. Middle class decency does not take the place of the power of the Holy Spirit. He strengthened them to face the trials and challenges of witnessing in a hostile culture. It would have been a lot like man using a hand trimmer on his lawn when he had a gas powered mower setting in shed. Prayer point: Pray to God to help you draw people closer to Him through witnessing. “The power of the Holy Spirit.”--Romans 15:13. So then the Holy Spirit is the invisible power of the Godhead that separates (sanctifies) us from the world of sin, and moves us to Christ so that we become like him. Through the work we are called to do (Zechariah 4:6). The veracity of the Spirit is comprehensively described in the book of Ezekiel. Until we have more intelligence on this point we are laboring under great disadvantage. In my preaching of the living word there was something of the power of the Holy Spirit. Leave a Reply Cancel reply. The Holy Spirit is a beautiful and powerful part of who God is. If you start on that basis you will by-pass so much grief and unhappiness, so much false effort and failure. 3, Doubleday, New York, 1992, p. 260). #3 The Holy Spirit Brings Power to Faithful Preachers. • Many Christians fear witnessing because they think they have to do it with their own natural abilities, their own persuasive power, etc. It is such a closed and dirty environment. WITNESSING IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Prior to her Christian husband being released from prison in Iran, Maheen, feared that she might be arrested too. Was John's baptism essential for a believer? He led them to honest-hearted truth seekers. I gave them a hymn to sing and told them that anyone who was moved by the Holy Spirit should stand during the singing of the hymn. He would still get the job done - it would simply be more difficult. Before He returned to heaven, Jesus said, “… you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit … But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” Acts 1:5-8. STAY BLESSED . Our main hall was filled with people, so we had opened another room. The Holy Spirit added His testimony to that of Peter and that of the written Word. Categories Devotionals. A daily baptism of the Holy Spirit gives us words to speak in season to the one that is weary (Isaiah 50:4). Power belongs to God. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” The Holy Spirit makes words that would otherwise be meaningless into words of power. The power of the Holy Spirit to influence people and change the course of events is also seen in the early church through the dispensation of the spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues, prophesying, teaching, wisdom, and more (1 Corinthians 12:7–11). This week we turn our attention to the ingredient in our lives that will give us power in our witnessing. Within the months that followed this experience, my passion and purpose for life became clearer than ever. The definiTion of success in personal wiTnessing is: "To share chrisT in The power of The holy spiriT, leaving The resulTs To god." How can I know that I have done my part in communicating the Gospel? I wonder if our ability to share our faith isn’t impacted by the amount of time we actually take in opening ourselves up to our source documents. For on this day, the Holy Spirit gathered together all the believers from every race and nation and bestowed upon them the Spirit of the Lord. One should be prepared to discern as well as be moved by the Spirit. In a few short decades, the gospel impacted the entire world. The Holy Spirit prepares the heart and then speaks through you to say the right thing, which is the gospel, to a prepared person under the timely circumstances. John 16:13-14. Throughout the Bible the Holy Spirit is spoken of in the Bible as being God's divine power. Is Jesus saying that baptism by the Holy Spirit is the equivalent, in importance, of a water baptism? Secret Power — Dwight L. Moody. THE WITNESSING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses…” Acts 1:8a. As I was meditating, the Holy Spirit revealed one of the sinful traits that is within me. This person, possibly all alone, empowered by the Holy Spirit, can kneel and pray beside a sickly child, friend, or … So she seriously prayed, “Dear Lord, I am not ready to go to a solitary confinement because of my Christian faith. God is God: and power belongs to him. Mr. Moody used to say in his terse and graphic way that when Peter said, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ (Acts ii.36), the Holy Spirit said, 'Amen' and the people saw and believed." SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 2:1-11; PS 104; GAL 5:16-25; JN 15:26-27, 16:12-15 ] The feast of the Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. The Holy Spirit gives the church the power to witness. Acts declares that these early believers “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6, NKJV) Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Witnessing By Jim Kilmer Key Thought: The baptism of the Holy Spirit brings assurance that we are sons and daughters of God. The key is Jesus’ amazing life is summed up in Scripture: “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside” (Luke 4:14). In other words, they could have begun witnessing without the Holy Spirit, but it wouldn’t have had the same power. It would have been frustrating. The witnessing power of the Holy Spirit. Through witnessing. The Power for Witnessing - The Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) Illustration - Peter The Apostles (Acts 4:31,33) A. The Holy Spirit is given to the Church to empower it to witness to Christ. The Anchor Bible Dictionary, in its article on the Holy Spirit, describes it as "The manifestation of divine presence and power perceptible especially in prophetic inspiration" (Vol. The Holy Spirit, the Word, and Witnessing. This provides the power for our witness. The Power of the Holy Spirit Is Still at Work on the Mission of God. How does the Holy Spirit embolden us a witnessing disciples? Unfortunately we are deluged with false principles of witnessing. The power of the Holy Spirit and his word in our witnessing. Witnessing in the power of the Holy Spirit is allowing the Spirit to open the scriptures up to us so we can share with people what we know of Jesus both from experience and from the word and challenges us to respond to that truth. The Holy Spirit still works in the world today, accomplishing God's will through believers. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Let's take the power plunge into our study! Prior to her Christian husband being released from prison in Iran, Maheen, feared that she might be arrested too. Action Planning/Reporting Everything that Jesus accomplished while He was on earth was made possible by the Holy Spirit. John 6:63 Jesus said, “It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.” The Bible is the Word of God and when you read it, you are reading the life-giving power of the Spirit. Read Matthew 3:1-2, 11. I then understood Acts 3:19, "Therefore repent and be converted, that your sins may … Holy Spirit is at work in diverse ways. The Holy Spirit: the power of God. •• One purpose of the anointing of the Holy Spirit — which comes in the baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5,8; 2:1-4) — is to give us power to “be [Christ’s] witnesses”. Jesus said, “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also because you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27 NASB ). The Holy Spirit today works through Christians to sanctify the people of God and accomplish His will of saving the lost and building up Christians in local churches. The role of the Holy Spirit: to give us strength and help in our fight against sin. Why? This Week’s Excursion What is required to be a faithful, effective, and successful witness? It is His power through us that emboldens us and carries out the work. Combat the fear of insecurity. The Holy Spirit made their witness effective. We become bold not passive, stable not fanatical and committed not wavering. This is a spiritual ministry (Ephesians 6:12) 1. The power of the Spirit is unfathomable, incomprehensible, infinite, and unpredictable. Witnessing in Power. In the one Spirit of Christ, we become the Church. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit …” Ephesians 4:30. THE GIFT; Read Acts 1:3-5. 1 Thessalonians 1:5 says, “Because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. Here are just 10 supernatural things the Holy Spirit does in your life. Success in witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God. The Spirit actually testifies about Christ through us to the unsaved world. Power is the special and distinctive prerogative of God, and God alone. | 5.SPIRIT-EMPOWERED WITNESSING | How could it be, that such a tiny g We also need to lose our reticence about witnessing for Jesus publicly, even if we are labeled as extremists or nuts. He ministered to and through the believers as they witnessed for their Lord in a variety of ways. The empowering of the Holy Spirit would enable the believers to share the message of the Cross with life-changing, world-changing power. Part of that new life of Spirit-filled obedience is witnessing to the world of the saving power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Person outside of Christ is blinded by Satan (II Corinthians 4:3,4) The power of the Holy Spirit that works through an Evangelist with a ministry that reaches millions can also work through a single individual in the most remote place on earth. Person outside of Christ is spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1) 2. The power of the Holy Spirit is like dynamite that ignites a hunger for God so intense that every aspect of life is changed. THE subject of witness-bearing in the power of the Holy Ghost is not sufficiently understood by the Church. All those who have placed their faith in Christ are immediately and permanently indwelled by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11). Do you think it is more important? Throughout the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit was powerfully present. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. It manifests in different forms. The Holy Spirit and Witnessing. This morning before my reading of the lesson I began to meditate on how sinful I am and how I need to be cleansed. That is basically what witnessing will always be. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. If he delegates a portion of it to his creatures, yet it still is his power. Once when we preached the gospel, I gave a call to the audience, asking them to respond by standing up. I never knew I had that sinful trait. VII. God will not place you into a position or ask you to accomplish a task for which He will not fully equip and enable you. 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