Unlocked
Pt. 1 - A Power Grab
I. Introduction
It may be truth. It may simply be legend, but either way it is a story worth retelling. I have told it to you before but stay with me.
Harry Houdini, the famed escape artist, issued a challenge wherever he went. He could be locked in any jail cell in the country, he claimed, and set himself free in short order. He always kept his promise, but one time something went wrong. Houdini entered the jail in his street clothes; the heavy, metal doors clanged shut behind him. From his belt he took a piece of metal, strong and flexible that had always worked. He set to work immediately, but something seemed to be unusual about this lock. For thirty minutes he worked and got nowhere. An hour passed, and still he had not opened the door. By now, he was bathed in sweat, exhausted and frustrated, but he still could not pick the lock. Finally, after laboring for two hours, Harry Houdini collapsed in frustration and failure against the door he could not unlock. But when he fell against the door, it swung open! It had never been locked at all!
I tell you this story to drive home this point . . . an unlocked door is just as strong and restrictive as a locked door if you don’t know that the door is unlocked. That is why it is essential over the next few weeks to examine closely an aspect of our spiritual life that has been unlocked. If we don't know that this door has been opened for us, then we will continue to live with lack that we were never supposed to experience. We, too, could wind up exhausted and frustrated trapped in a less than life when the door to more than is already unlocked.
Jesus, Himself, addresses this lack in the lives of the disciples and then declares that a door has been swung wide open for access. I think it is important for us to walk through the unlocked door Jesus provides.
Text: Acts 1:3-8 (GNT)
For forty days after his death he appeared to them many times in ways that proved beyond doubt that he was alive. They saw him, and he talked with them about the Kingdom of God. And when they came together, he gave them this order: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift I told you about, the gift my Father promised. John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” When the apostles met together with Jesus, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time give the Kingdom back to Israel?” Jesus said to them, “The times and occasions are set by my Father's own authority, and it is not for you to know when they will be. But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Just a reminder that many of you, like me, who learned this passage learned it out of the KJV and verse 8 said "you will receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you."
I know you have heard it because I too have preached that the Holy Spirit comes so that we will have power for witnessing. This is true. I would conclude that we are under utilizing the power for this task because most of us still operate in timidity or ignore our responsibility in this area. The power that has been unlocked for us certainly sends us! However, I wonder if the fact that we don't access the power in this area, is also an indication that there are other areas of this promise and gift that are equally untapped and underutilized?
I don't want to ignore the sending power available to us, but I want to more closely examine these other areas. But I want to first stop and look at the essential unlocked resource that the Holy Spirit brings to bear for us.
I want to draw your attention to the Holy Spirit because I am convinced that the bottom-line, brass-tacks truth that we have missed is that the Holy Spirit has been given to us to unlock power!
I remind you that the disciples had spent large quantities of time with Jesus. They had witnessed firsthand the many miracles. They tasted the authority that He had given them when they were sent out on evangelistic forays. And yet, Jesus instructs them to wait on the Holy Spirit. These hiding, afraid, timid, doubting disciples are transformed from not only unlikely and unwilling candidates but become men who turn the world upside down after waiting on and receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. We rightly elevate the need to have Jesus in our life. This truth will never change. Without Christ you cannot be saved! But if Jesus emphasized the power of the Holy Spirit, then shouldn't we also elevate the need to have the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Jesus makes it clear that the power of the Holy Spirit was worth waiting on. He makes it clear that the Holy Spirit was worth working in. He makes it clear that the Holy Spirit was necessary in order to fulfill the call of God on their lives. We sing that Jesus is enough, but what if Jesus is telling us that He is enough for our eternal soul, but when you connect the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit with the indwelling of Jesus you then have unstoppable and undeniable power not just to be saved, but also to live!
After that you will receive power. Should we then conclude that if you don’t have an "after that", then the "before that" is marked by less power?
Go back to the text. You will receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you. The reality of this "after that" power becomes glaringly obvious when you go back and read Acts. Every page is filled with examples of common, unlearned, normal, just like us people operating in, walking in, and wielding jaw dropping power!
Here are some examples of how the Holy Spirit does more than send us. The power that has been unlocked for us sets us apart!
Chapter 2 - The same Peter that ran and hid when Jesus was being crucified now stands up and preaches and 3,000 get saved.
Chapter 3 - Peter and John are asked for money by a lame man and instead they give him healing.
Chapter 5 - Peter's shadow heals the sick in the streets. Apostles were set free from prison by an angel.
Chapter 6 - Stephen was doing great wonders and signs among the people.
Chapter 8 - Phillip is transported by the Spirit from one location to another after leading a man to Christ.
Chapter 9 - Tabitha is raised from dead by Peter.
Chapter 14 - Paul heals a crippled man.
Chapter 16 - Paul and Silas are set free from prison by an earthquake while they are praising God.
Chapter 27&28 - Paul survives a shipwreck. He is bitten by a snake and shakes it off.
Let's be honest, our stories tend to be a far cry less power full than what we see happen in Acts. We are no less talented than the folks in Acts. We are no less gifted than those in Acts. We are no less saved than those in Acts. So then, the only conclusion that can be made is we are settling for being less power full than the people in Acts. We need the Holy Spirit because without Him, we lack power. The Holy Spirit has been given and the result is unlocked power!
I want to challenge you today . . . regardless of whether you were raised Pentecostal, Baptist, Lutheran or any other lane of teaching. I want you to recognize that we need the unlocked power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I believe that too many of us are so scared or possibly confused by the evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence that we have in the process failed to gain access to the unlocked power that is supplied by His presence. If we don't want the Holy Spirit because we think He that is spooky, weird, confusing, then shouldn't you at least want the Holy Spirit because Jesus told us we need Him? Shouldn't we at least want the Holy Spirit so that we will have the power necessary to live a victorious life in Christ?
Unlocked power is wasted if it is untapped power.
Acts 1:8 is clear . . . the Holy Spirit results in power. Some of us are living powerless because we haven't allowed the Holy Spirit to unlock the power in us.
I encourage you to make a power grab!
A. W. Tozer said, "Everything else being equal, we shall have as much success in Christian work as we have power, no more and no less."
Everywhere you turn people are talking about white power, black power, brown power, local power, national power, government power - everyone is talking about, wanting, trying to find power while those of us who live under the name of Jesus are privileged too and invited to operate in the unlocked power of the Holy Spirit! We need power!
The amount of unlocked power does not matter unless it is accessed.
Scripture declares that signs and wonders will follow us. What is following you? It is time to grab this power.
If you don't know or you are afraid of the other parts of the Holy Spirt, then I think we can all agree that we need to seek the unlocked power of the Holy Spirit today!
