The Power of the Church
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Acts 1:4 And, being assembled together with [them], commanded them that they should not depart from
Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, [saith he], ye have heard of me.
How many of you are still waiting with me?
I can assure you that I can set plans and teach concepts and lead you into any number of programs. I
have learned through many years of experience that the plans of man will not accomplish the will of
God. Only the power of God can. And I can wait for the rest of my life without shame. I do not have
anything to prove except that God is on the throne.
A famous Christian leader said:
Great leadership ability to mobilize people for projects seem pale and insignificant in the presence of the
anointing.
Until God moves, all of our movement will be in vain.
When the power of God came upon the church in Acts 2, the church became effective. Until the power
of God comes back into the church we will labor in vain trying to accomplish something for God.
Only through His power can we change the world around us. Only through His power can we effectively
proclaim His message.
The task before us is absolutely necessary for the salvation of the souls of men, but is absolutely
impossible without His power.
Our task is serious. So must be our resolve to obtain His power.
In order to be effective we need:
The presence of God –
- in the Garden God fellowship with man
- Jesus said, “Without me you can do nothing.”
- They had been with Jesus
The Purpose of God –
- Jesus came to save sinners
- He came to forgive sin
- To restore fellowship with God
- To destroy the works of the devil
The Purity of God –
- Annanias and Sapphira
- They will know us by our love (1 Cor 13)
- The fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5)
The Power of God –
- Zech 4.6 not by might…
- The day of Pentecost the power came
- Charles Finney’s power
Acts 2. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole
house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one
of them.
The power of God came and things
began to happen.
2.11 "...we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God."
The church began to proclaim the things of God. And people were affected. This past week we have
been teaching a course called “Evangelism Explosion”. But that day in Jerusalem there WAS an
Evangelism Explosion.
When God truly breaks out in this place you will not need evangelism classes to get you going. You will
not need guilt inducing sermons to make you do the work of God. You will simply overflow with the Spirit
of God and miraculous things will begin to happen.
Multitudes were saved -
Ac 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added
unto them about three thousand souls.
Now, let's go to chapter 19-
19:1 It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to
Ephesus, and found some disciples.
2 He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we
have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."
3 And he said, "Into what then were
you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism."
4 Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was
coming after him, that is, in Jesus."
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking
with tongues and prophesying.
7 There were in all about twelve men.
8 And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and
persuading them about the kingdom of God.
9 But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking he withdrew from them and took
away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.
10 This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and
Greeks.
11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left
them and the evil spirits went out.
It would appear from these verses that gifts and miracles were so common as to be regarded as
ordinary. The supernatural seems to have been the natural in the church of Jesus.
Miracles appear to have been a daily occurrence. If that happened in the early church, why is it not be
happening in our church today?
Please bear this in mind. The disciples were just ordinary people. In spite of God’s great power coming
on them, they remained as human as we are.
They still experienced the same frustrations and limitations that you and I face as human beings. But
they moved in the power of God anyway.
The great men and women of God throughout history have been ordinary people – just like you and
me.
Ac 19:2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?
Clearly, the challenge was to experience, not to doctrine. Doctrine is vital, but without experience it is
nothing but dead religion.
We must rid ourselves of the notion that we deserve any blessing of gift that we receive from God. We
don’t and we never will. The miracle of salvation is that those who don’t deserve it receive it. The gifts of
God are the same.
They are graced upon us.
Too many saints are content to sit back and watch or wait for someone else to do it. What are we afraid
of? Why do we not jump in and experience God’s greatness for ourselves? The operation of the Holy
Spirit is not a spectator event – it is a hands-on kind of thing.
You’ll never know the joys of the moving of the Holy Spirit until you taste of it for yourself.
Jesus said:
Mr 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe . . .
If you are a believer, then these signs should be following you.
Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, [saith he], ye have heard of me.
How many of you are still waiting with me?
I can assure you that I can set plans and teach concepts and lead you into any number of programs. I
have learned through many years of experience that the plans of man will not accomplish the will of
God. Only the power of God can. And I can wait for the rest of my life without shame. I do not have
anything to prove except that God is on the throne.
A famous Christian leader said:
Great leadership ability to mobilize people for projects seem pale and insignificant in the presence of the
anointing.
Until God moves, all of our movement will be in vain.
When the power of God came upon the church in Acts 2, the church became effective. Until the power
of God comes back into the church we will labor in vain trying to accomplish something for God.
Only through His power can we change the world around us. Only through His power can we effectively
proclaim His message.
The task before us is absolutely necessary for the salvation of the souls of men, but is absolutely
impossible without His power.
Our task is serious. So must be our resolve to obtain His power.
In order to be effective we need:
The presence of God –
- in the Garden God fellowship with man
- Jesus said, “Without me you can do nothing.”
- They had been with Jesus
The Purpose of God –
- Jesus came to save sinners
- He came to forgive sin
- To restore fellowship with God
- To destroy the works of the devil
The Purity of God –
- Annanias and Sapphira
- They will know us by our love (1 Cor 13)
- The fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5)
The Power of God –
- Zech 4.6 not by might…
- The day of Pentecost the power came
- Charles Finney’s power
Acts 2. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole
house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one
of them.
The power of God came and things
began to happen.
2.11 "...we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God."
The church began to proclaim the things of God. And people were affected. This past week we have
been teaching a course called “Evangelism Explosion”. But that day in Jerusalem there WAS an
Evangelism Explosion.
When God truly breaks out in this place you will not need evangelism classes to get you going. You will
not need guilt inducing sermons to make you do the work of God. You will simply overflow with the Spirit
of God and miraculous things will begin to happen.
Multitudes were saved -
Ac 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added
unto them about three thousand souls.
Now, let's go to chapter 19-
19:1 It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to
Ephesus, and found some disciples.
2 He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we
have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."
3 And he said, "Into what then were
you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism."
4 Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was
coming after him, that is, in Jesus."
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking
with tongues and prophesying.
7 There were in all about twelve men.
8 And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and
persuading them about the kingdom of God.
9 But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking he withdrew from them and took
away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.
10 This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and
Greeks.
11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left
them and the evil spirits went out.
It would appear from these verses that gifts and miracles were so common as to be regarded as
ordinary. The supernatural seems to have been the natural in the church of Jesus.
Miracles appear to have been a daily occurrence. If that happened in the early church, why is it not be
happening in our church today?
Please bear this in mind. The disciples were just ordinary people. In spite of God’s great power coming
on them, they remained as human as we are.
They still experienced the same frustrations and limitations that you and I face as human beings. But
they moved in the power of God anyway.
The great men and women of God throughout history have been ordinary people – just like you and
me.
Ac 19:2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?
Clearly, the challenge was to experience, not to doctrine. Doctrine is vital, but without experience it is
nothing but dead religion.
We must rid ourselves of the notion that we deserve any blessing of gift that we receive from God. We
don’t and we never will. The miracle of salvation is that those who don’t deserve it receive it. The gifts of
God are the same.
They are graced upon us.
Too many saints are content to sit back and watch or wait for someone else to do it. What are we afraid
of? Why do we not jump in and experience God’s greatness for ourselves? The operation of the Holy
Spirit is not a spectator event – it is a hands-on kind of thing.
You’ll never know the joys of the moving of the Holy Spirit until you taste of it for yourself.
Jesus said:
Mr 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe . . .
If you are a believer, then these signs should be following you.