OPEN: This is the first our series on “Connecting with Jesus” and our text tells of how we can connect with Jesus in our witnessing.
TEXT: Acts 1:8
One night a wife found her husband standing over their infant’s crib. As she watched him looking down at their very first baby, she saw on his face a mixture of emotions: …disbelief, doubt, delight, amazement, enchantment, skepticism.
Touched by this unusual display and the deep emotions it aroused, with eyes glistening she slipped her arm around her husband. "A penny for your thoughts," she said.
"It’s amazing!" he replied. "I just can’t see how anybody can make a crib like that for only $46.50."
APPLICATION: Here lay one of the greatest miracles in God’s creation… and all this father saw was a crib. He didn’t see what lay within.
But he wasn’t unique. Many times people look upon God’s handiwork and only see the outside manifestations… never the miracle that lays within. It works that way with many things, whether it be the miracle of the birth of a new baby or the miracle of the birth of a new Christian. There are many who see only the outside framework and miss the miracle that lays within.
Acts 2:38 tells us that something very exceptional lies within each Christian. When we obey Jesus by repenting of our sins and being buried in Christian Baptism we have the promise that we shall receive the “gift of the Holy Spirit.”
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)
In fact, in Ephesians we’re told that God’s Holy Spirit is a mark of God’s ownership of us:
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13)
I. There are those who believe that the Holy Spirit is some kind of inanimate object – like the crib that held that baby – AND they see only the crib not miracle within.
Theologically these people accept the idea that God’s Holy Spirit can live within us, but they don’t think that Spirit does very much… and thus they miss out on the miracle of what that Holy Spirit can mean for us.
It’s easy to see how this can happen. There are a lot of churches that teach things about the Holy Spirit that are bizarre and unbiblical… however, we shouldn’t allow those bad teachings or any other distraction to cause us to forget uniqueness that God’s Spirit can have in our lives.
John 16:7-8 says: “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor (or Holy Spirit) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment”
Jesus was saying here that when He left, He would send His Spirit in His place. The Spirit was to be Jesus’ CONNECTION to us. His power within us.
The Bible tells us that the Spirit of God does many things within us
· helps us in our prayers
· helps us to understand the deep things of God’s Word
· guides us
· teaches us
· AND empowers us
BUT perhaps the most intriguing thing Holy Spirit was sent to do is implied here in Acts 1:8. Notice the text says 1st that they’d receive the Holy Spirit - and then they would be his witnesses. The Holy Spirit came 1st - then witnessing.
Now that seems rather peculiar. These people had been with Jesus through His entire ministry. They had been trained by Jesus, sat at His feet and absorbed His teachings and had even went out into the surrounding cities to preach that the Kingdom of God was at hand. But Acts 1:8 implies that they would become witnesses AFTER they received the Holy Spirit. Why should they have to wait? Why not just start witnessing right then and there?
WELL, they could have… but they would have lacked the power to effectively witness. In other words, they could have begun witnessing without the Holy Spirit, but it wouldn’t have had the same power. It would have been frustrating. It would have been a lot like man using a hand trimmer on his lawn when he had a gas powered mower setting in shed. He would still get the job done - it would simply be more difficult.
Have you ever felt frustrated in witnessing… inviting them to church… talking to them about Jesus?
People don’t seem to listen to us. They politely put us off. They never come to church. They have other things to do. Just on my way to church this morning, I saw men out working on their roofs, garage sale signs posted on telephone poles, someone out mowing their yard.
It can be FRUSTRATING… really frustrating.
ILLUS: At times we probably feel it would be so much easier if we could be like Lucy in the old Peanuts cartoon: Lucy says to Charlie Brown, "I would have made a great evangelist." Charlie Brown answers, "Is that so?" She says, "Yes, I convinced that boy in front of me in school that my religion is better than his religion." Charlie Brown asked, "Well, how did you do that?" And Lucy answers, "I hit him over the head with my lunch box."
II. It’s my belief that part of our frustration in our witnessing can come from not understanding the pivotal role that the Holy Spirit can play in helping us share our faith.
Jesus said: “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:7-8)
One of THE primary jobs for God’s Spirit in this world is CONVICTING people of their sin, of their need for righteousness and the impending judgment. In other words: you and I don’t have to convict people (change their hearts) with regard to salvation. That’s the Spirit’s job. According to Acts 1:8 we are witnesses.
ILLUS: In a court room, there’s a judge, a prosecutor, a defense attorney, a defendant, & witnesses. Who gives testimony in the court room? The witnesses do. Do the witnesses prosecute the defendant? Do the witnesses convict the defendant? NO!
Witnesses (pause) witness… and they do their best to give honest & true testimony because they realize that the verdict may hinge on how well they witness. But their only job is testifying.
CONVICTING PEOPLE of their sins & of the need of righteousness & closeness of judgment is the Spirit’s job – NOT OURS.
That doesn’t mean our testimony isn’t important Romans 10:13-15 “‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”
Notice the implication there. Unless someone preaches (witnesses), people cannot hear the Gospel. If they don’t hear, they can’t believe, if they don’t believe they can’t call and if they don’t call they won’t be saved. The salvation of the people we care about hinges on our faithfulness in witnessing. This is such a valuable service to God that He regards even our feet of those who witness as beautiful.
Still, the Holy Spirit is almost indispensable in our witnessing. Even Paul realized how much he needed God’s Spirit to be successful: “I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Corinthians 2:3-5)
Or, as Zechariah wrote: "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit," says the LORD Almighty. Zec 4:6
ILLUS: I remember in the 1st church I served, a young man would come repeatedly to church. But for the longest time he wouldn’t make a decision for Christ. He told me after his baptism that when invitation time came, he would grip the front of the pew in front of him so powerfully that his knuckles literally turned white. Was it because of my powerful preaching, my good looks or the precision of my delivery??? NO- it was because he was convicted by Holy Spirit.
We need to count on God’s Spirit to aid us in convincing people of their need for salvation.
III. Here’s some other things the Holy Spirit can help us in sharing our faith.
1. He can help guide us to people we should talk to. He can give us the opportunity to witness.
Acts 16:6-9 tells us “Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
What this shows us is that God’s Spirit guided Paul and his companions to the place where their witnessing would be most effective.
ILLUS: The 1st church I served was in a small town of about 600 people. It didn’t take long to know most of the people in the community. But one day, I drove past a Trailer Park that I hadn’t been into and hadn’t met any of the people who lived there. Almost casually, I told God that I’d like to meet someone from that park and witness to them. The next week someone from that park called my office because they needed to talk.
I believe that God’s Spirit can give us the opportunities to talk to others, if we just ask.
2. Another thing the Spirit can do is give us boldness in our witnessing
ILLUS: D.L. Moody walked down a Chicago street one day, he saw a man leaning against a lamppost. The evangelist gently put his hand on the man’s shoulder and asked him if he was a Christian. The fellow raised his fists and angrily exclaimed, "Mind your own business!"
"I’m sorry if I’ve offended you," said Moody, "but to be very frank, that IS my business!
Moody was bold. Why? I suspect it was because he had prayed before he went out on the street.
The problem for many of us is that we’re not usually that bold… particularly when we’re faced with rejection and anger. AND YET the Holy Spirit can give us boldness to witness in just right way in any given situation.
In Acts 4 we’re told of Peter & John having just been arrested, beaten and released – being severely warned to never preach about Jesus publicly again. They returned to meet with the church and they prayed: “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” (Acts 4:29-31)
Likewise, (if we let Him) the Holy Spirit not only can give us boldness, but He can help give us creative ways to witness.
ILLUS: Kind of like what happened with the Salvation Army woman who was informed by a policeman that a local ordinance would not allow her to ring her bells to invite contributions
The next day she was out on the street corner doing an even brisker business than ever before as she waved one sign and then another in the air. The signs said "ding" and "dong."
If we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us… we can overcome any obstacle in our way
IV. Let me review:
The Holy Spirit is the power of God that lies within us. And He can assist in our witnessing:
By guiding us to people we can talk to
By giving us boldness to speak to others
AND by working in the hearts of those we care about to convict them of their personal sin, their need for righteousness, and the real possibility of the coming judgment.
Thus, we need to:
PRAY that God’s Spirit prepares the hearts of people we want to talk to
TRUST the Holy Spirit to do His part
LISTEN for God to guide you to people to speak with
And SPEAK about what God has done and what He means to you.
A skeptic promised British preacher Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910) that he would attend his church for four Sundays on which Maclaren would be presenting the main tenets of Christianity. The skeptic listened intently to Maclaren’s sermons. After the fourth message he presented himself for church membership, saying he had received Christ as his Savior.
Maclaren was delighted and could not resist the impulse to ask which of the four sermons brought him to this decision. The skeptic replied, "Your sermons, sir, were helpful, but they were not what finally persuaded me." He said that after church one Sunday as he was helping an elderly lady on a slippery walk, she looked up into his face and said, "I wonder if you know my Savior, Jesus Christ. He is everything in the world to me. I would like you to know Him too."
It was a simple comment, but with the working of the Holy Spirit, it changed a skeptic’s heart as no power filled sermon could do.
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
Checking Your Spirit Gauge - Galatians 5:16-5:26
Being Filled With The Spirit - 1 Corinthians 2:9-3:4
Witnessing by the Power of the Spirit - Acts 1:8-1:8
