“And you shall receive Power”
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.”
There are a few things that I would like to point out tonight and then I will be done.
1. The disciples were going through a tough time.
Why were they going through a tough time?
Because Jesus the one whom they were able to hang out with, the one whom they got to spend a lot of time with, and the one they even saw Him do many miracles was now crucified.
They had spent the last 3 years of their life with Jesus.
Now all of a sudden He is not with them anymore.
We see in the book of John 19:16 that Jesus was crucified:
John 19:16
Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
John 19:17
Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).
John 19:18
There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
They could have been thinking what are we going to do now?
They were probably thinking is He really going to rise from the dead?
What if we don’t get to see Him anymore?
So they found themselves in a tough situation.
They were able to hang out with Jesus, spend time with Jesus and see Him perform all kinds of miracles, but now He has been crucified and they are feeling it.
2. Jesus told them to stay right where they were at.
Acts 1:3
After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
Acts 1:4
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.
Even though the disciples were going through a tough time, Jesus told them to stay right where they were at.
He told them “Do no leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised”
How many know that when you and I are going through tough times we want to make certain moves?
When things don’t go our way we think about leaving that ministry.
When things don’t pan out the way we thought they were, we want to do something else.
But the disciples had a promise.
Jesus told them to stay still. Stay right where you are at and the promise that my Father gave you will come to pass.
How many know even when the situation may not look good, God is still faithful to His promises.
The disciples could have left Jerusalem, they could have said Jesus has been crucified we don’t know if He is coming back.
He told us to stay here and wait for a promise. Uhhmm I think I am going back to what I used to do before.
But they stayed in Jerusalem and were obedient to Jesus. The next thing you know they are experiencing the power of God at another level.
That leads me to my next point
3. The power of God came upon their life.
Even though the disciples were going through a tough time and didn’t understand why they needed to say in Jerusalem.
They were obedient to the words of Jesus and stayed in Jerusalem and experienced the power of God at another level.
Tonight there may be a person or a young person here who is going through a difficult time and you are not sure what decision to make.
I just wanted to stop by and encourage you even though we might not understand the situation or the circumstance, stay in God’s will and He will come through.
Not only will He come through, but He is going to take you to another level and fill you with a fresh Power.
You might be a little discouraged, or you may even want to stop being involved and do something else, or you may have thoughts of leaving where God has you.
If I can encourage you tonight. Stay put and see how God will move.
God wants to take you to another level. He wants to fill you with His Holy Spirit that will allow you to do things for Him that you haven’t ever done before.
It’s like Peter before he got filled with the Holy Spirit he tried serving God, but just couldn’t do it on his own strength, but he was obedient to Jesus and stayed in Jerusalem with the disciples.
Then in the book of Acts he was filled with the Holy Spirit. As we see in the book of Acts 2:1-4
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues [fn1] as the Spirit enabled them.
Once Peter got filled with the Holy Spirit he began to proclaim the Word of God boldly.
The Bible says that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues.
Peter got filled with the Holy Spirit and his life was drastically changed.
Somebody say Power!!!
I don't know who I am talking to this evening, but God sent me here to tell you don't quit. Get to the upper room.
Yes you may not understand.
Yes you may feel a little discouraged.
Yes you may feel like you don’t fit.
Yes you may not like the situation.
But God is about to show you why He has you where you are.
Even though the disciples went through a tough situation, they had a promise from Jesus and they were obedient to his Word and God came through with some fresh power.
The Bible says you and I will receive Power when the Holy Ghost has come upon us.
Today what we need our Christians who are filled with the Power of the Holy Ghost.
Not filled with hype, not filled with entertainment, not filled with noise, but people who know how to tap into the Power of God.
Is there anybody here who wants to tap into that Power?
Is there anybody in the Church who wants to tap into that Power?
Is there anybody in the youth ministry that wants to tap into that power?
What happened to Peter after he got filled with that power?
He was radical for Jesus.
We see in Acts 2:14-16
14 - Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.
15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!
16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
He began to preach boldly and the Bible says in Acts 2:40-41
40 - With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
The same Peter who was found denying Jesus, was not boldly proclaiming the Gospel message.
- He went from being Flaky to being on Fire
- He went from wishy washy to being Radical and Addicted
- He went from saying who is Jesus to preaching to thousands
- He went from denying Jesus to leading thousands to Jesus
Somebody say Power!!!
You are about to tap into the Power that is available to you and I to do what God has called us to do...
