Acts 1:7-8 “He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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.”
Jesus did not give them a PLAN, He gives them POWER.
• This tells us something. What we need is not to KNOW, we need to be EMPOWERED.
• What we need is not a PLAN of what to do, but to have the POWER to do it.
Man has this natural desire to WANT TO KNOW.
• People seek after fortune-tellers; they study Zodiac signs, read up on horoscopes, in the papers every day.
• BTW don’t read any of these; they are all lies. They will only corrupt your mind and influence your thoughts.
Our future is in God’s hands. We are called to TRUST the Father, Jesus says.
• He did not give them the PLAN for the building of His church.
• This was quite surprising, actually. Jesus was about to be taken up and we expect some sort of a plan – a succession plan, a manual on how to set up the church.
• “Tell us what we should do and how to do it.” But Jesus promised them only POWER – the power of the Holy Spirit.
1:8 “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…”
• His parting words in Luke 24:49, “I am going to send you what my Father has promised, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
• Earlier Jesus calls Him, “the Counsellor” (John 16:7) or Comforter, someone that comes alongside you.
(1) God does not give us a PLAN, He gives us His POWER.
This is what we really need. Not to KNOW a plan but to be EMPOWERED by God.
• This power is the power of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Godhead.
• Through Him the disciples continue to experience Christ’s presence and power.
In a sense, Jesus is not ABSENT. He is going to be PRESENT with them THROUGH the Holy Spirit.
• His presence ensures that the task of bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth can be fulfilled.
The practices, policies and administration of the first church were born out of the Holy Spirit, as they wrestled with day-to-day challenges of the church.
• The Holy Spirit led and guided them. Even the election of deacons was born out of a problem that arose. It wasn’t planned for.
• No church plan was GIVEN on a platter. They struggled through disagreements, conflicts and persecutions, even as they LEARNT to rely upon the help of the Spirit.
God did not give them a PLAN; He gave them POWER, because that’s what they really need.
• We want to know God’s plan for my life and ministry – what shall I do, where should I go, how can I get there. We want God to reveal everything.
• If feels good to know. We want God to explain our predicament and tell us the reasons for the situation we’re in.
Many in the Bible were called to trust God with very little to go by.
• Abraham was asked to move from his home to a Promised Land, not knowing where that is.
• Moses was asked to confront Pharaoh, not knowing what to say. God said, “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." (Exo 4:12)
• Joseph was thrown into a pit and sold into Egypt as a slave, and wrongly imprisoned, not knowing that it was all the plan of God.
• A quick glance of the lives of David, Job, Elijah, Daniel and his friends, and Paul showed how they were put in difficult circumstances not knowing God’s next plan of action.
God has a plan. God always has a plan. And He doesn’t reveal it most of the time.
• Trust Him. He is there with you. And He promises to give you the strength you need.
(2) Essentially His power is what we need!
When the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples, they were given the abilities to speak other languages – how else are they going to reach the world.
• They were filled with courage in place of their fear – how else are they going to face the persecutions coming their way.
• They preached with boldness and prayed with confidence – how else are we going to see signs and wonders, as witnesses to the fact that Jesus is living and real.
Would you rather KNOW God’s plan, or be given His power to SEE YOU THROUGH?
• I would rather have His PRESENCE – and therefore His power and strength for me – than to simply KNOW about His plan.
• I prefer to have Him WALK with me than to have Him TELL me what’s ahead.
Sometimes early March, I got to know that Hansen Employment Pass has been terminated, which mean he has to find a new job or return home to Indonesia. He is appealing the decision and we prayed. March 18 – his appeal was rejected. He texted me, “Pray for me, I don’t know what should I do now.”
He scouted for jobs and went for some interviews. No openings. It was an agonising time for him, especially when you may have to leave the country. I wish I have some answers to pacify him, or tell him, “Well, this is God’s plan” but I don’t.
I said if we really trust God, then we must be OPEN to all options, including going home. Whatever the outcome, believe that it is God’s best for you. The wait is uncomfortable, but God is not just interested in giving you the answer; He wants you to walk with Him in faith. That journey is the thing. So we prayed and waited.
Two months have passed now. It’s an adventure trusting God.
• Hansen is not here today. He has gone back to Indonesia - not because he has lost his job, but to visit his family.
• His Employment Pass has been approved. He just got it last Mon (29 Apr).
It is fun trusting God. He can give us lots of surprises. Whatever the outcome, we know God has His best plan for us.
• What we need is the POWER to stand strong, in the midst of the storms of life.
• We learn MORE from the journey itself, than in getting the answer.
• There are things we learn FROM the journey that we would otherwise not learn.
The disciples heeded Jesus’ call to “wait for the gift my Father promised.”
• That waiting for the disciples took 10 days, ours may be longer. But it’s not about the time. It’s the attitude of trust and dependence on God.
• What did they do while they wait? They prayed.
(3) Prayer is our only means (‘weapon’) to tap onto God’s power
Acts 1:13-14 “When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”
We see this same picture repeated through ACTS. Acts 9 Saul was praying when God wants to restore his sight; Acts 10 Cornelius was praying, seeking God; Acts 11 – Peter was praying, God wants to send him to Cornelius; Acts 12 the church was praying when Peter was imprisoned; Acts 16 Paul and Silas were praying, the prison doors flew open and their chains came loose…
• Each time a significant act of God happens, it happens in response to PRAYER.
Let me share with you this beautiful picture from Isa 40:28-31
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Ministry over the long haul is hard work. You can surely become tired and drained, spiritually, emotionally and physically.
• The good news is God is never tired or weary. Therefore He has an unending supply of power, and He has made available to us this strength.
• In contrast, the best of what we have, at our prime, young man still grows tired and weary. Therefore we have only limited supply of power.
Where can we refill? “Those who HOPE in the Lord will renew their strength.”
• KJV: “Those who WAIT upon the Lord”. Borrowing from the picture from ACTS, those who PRAY and LEAN on God shall get their strength renewed.
Why do you think God choose these weak men to reach the world for Him?
• 1 Cor 1:27, 29 “God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong… 29so that no one may boast before him.”
• It’s all about Him! God wants to show His power THROUGH them!
• It will not be because the men are capable and strong, in and of themselves. They are not. But the One who dwells within them IS.
When we PRAY and YIELD ourselves to God, He is able to WORK through us and accomplishes feats that we by ourselves can never achieve.
• Pray and keep praying, and depend fully on Him.
• If we do that, as the disciples did that, we shall see the transforming power of the Gospel touching lives, not just at home but to the ends of the earth.
PRAYER is the only MEANS we have (the only WEAPON God has placed in our hands), to reach a lost world.
• Paul tells the Corinthians (1 Cor 2:1, 4-5): “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God… 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.”
• We see this pattern repeating itself in ACTS. The disciples do not have special skills or training, no modern technology or equipment.
• All they have is the power of the Holy Spirit, and they lean on Him entirely, through PRAYER.
The mission didn’t stop because the supply of POWER did not stop.
• And the same POWER is with us today. The Holy Spirit is working through you and me, but are we leaning on Him.
• Are we running on empty? Let’s PRAY and unleash the power of God to see lives change.
• PRAY like never before. Pray for me. And pray for yourself and for the church.
• Jesus is offering us more power than we are experiencing today. He desires to do more through us than what we believe today.
