The Promise Of Power
Or
The Misconceptions Of Religious Leaders
Sunday Nov. 26, 2023
Scripture To Consider:
“And being assembled together with them, Jesus commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘You have heard from Me; for John [John the Baptist] truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’”
“Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Jesus, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times and seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 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.’” Acts 1.4-8
Something To Consider:
Luke writing in the book of Acts declared that he was continuing the written account of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach. Luke then reported the last recorded human contact with Jesus prior to His ascension in the first chapter of the book of the Acts of the Apostles.
Luke declared that Jesus presented Himself alive to His disciples for forty days after His death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus also made Himself known to His disciples with many infallible or unmistakable and undeniable proofs. Therefore, Luke’s written and preserved record has stood the test of time and many generations of individuals who have doubted, and yet many have been made true believers by reading Luke’s account.
And according to Paul in Romans 10.17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” In other words, it is extremely important that people hear the Word of God. As the writer of Hebrews 4.12 has stated, “For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Though some doubted, hearing the Word of God produces faith.
Something Else To Consider:
Before Jesus returned to the right hand of the Father in heaven He met with His disciples one last time. During this meeting Jesus commanded His disciples not to leave Jerusalem. He instructed them to wait for His promise of the Holy Spirit. Have we waited in our Jerusalem, in our place of familiar surroundings for the promise of the indwelling Holy Spirit? What makes us any different than the early disciples?
John the Baptist in Matthew 3.11, announced to all those who came from near and far to be baptized by John, by saying, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
And indeed on the day of Pentecost Luke recorded in Acts chapter 2, that these same disciples and many more were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. And on that day they were empowered to accomplish the work of God just as Jesus has promised.
And with the coming of the Holy Spirit came the power of the Holy Spirit. And with the power of the Holy Spirit came the spiritual discerning ability of the living and powerful Word of God to true believers! Also, on that day alone, approximate three thousand souls were added to the kingdom of God. PRAISE GOD!
Something More To Consider:
But on this day, just prior to Jesus’ ascension, these disciples were still concerned more about the coming of the kingdom to Israel than the promise of the Holy Spirit. They wanted to receive the kingdom. Jesus wanted them to receive the much needed power of God’s Holy Spirit.
We are often no different than the early disciples. We too so many times are more concerned about the coming of God’s kingdom that we often miss the many opportunities to become power filled witnesses of who God is to a world that is blinded by the darkness of doubt, deception, and unbelief.
Have we waited in our own Jerusalem for God’s power to reside in us? Or are we ever marching off powerless in our own strength towards our own Judea, Samaria, or to the end of the earth? If we wait, we will receive His power. If we wait on the Lord, we will receive all the power we shall ever need in our serving Him and our serving others.
The disciples wrongly perceived that the kingdom of God was to come with Christ’s first coming. That is the age old problem with highly educated religious leaders misled by their human education and then misleading the masses because they themselves have never been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And yet, the same misleading problem exists today in much of organized religion. But the Holy Spirit has been sent into the world to teach us the truth concerning the written and preserved Word of God. Are we hearing that truth or are we listening to the misconceptions of deceived religious leaders?
A Few Final Words:
Jesus instructed all true believers in John 14.15, “If you love Me, keep [obey or observe] My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper [the Holy Spirit], that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world [unbelieving though highly educated religious or non-religious individuals] cannot receive, because it [the non-believing world] neither sees Him [the Holy Spirit] nor knows Him.”
The powerful witness of Christ resides in all true believers, but it is the power of God’s Holy Spirit that enables us to be faithful and profitable witnesses in our own Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Therefore, according to Jesus, “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.”
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, fill us with the power of Your Holy Spirit, as we wait patiently for our own earthly marching orders from Jesus. Let us not be deceived and let not our hearts be troubled, by our being found looking unto Jesus. In Him always, Amen!
According to Jesus 