You Shall Receive Power (Acts 1:8)

I. Introduction. A. Orientation. Sometimes we tend to forget That though Jesus is fully God, When He became a man, He became fully man He became like you. He took to Himself The same limitations you have, The only difference Was He didnt have any sin.

If He had our limitations, How was He able To do all that He did?

It wasnt as we might think That because He is God, He did what He did Through His own divine power. I believe Scripture tells us That being fully man, He did what He did Through the Spirit.

Jesus was conceived by the Spirit In the womb of the Virgin Mary,

So He was without sin. And He was anointed With the Spirit at baptism To equip Him to do What He came into the world to do To preach and teach, To do miracles, To live a life wholly devoted to God And to lay down His life for us.

Our passage reminds us That even the orders He gave to His apostles He gave by the Spirit (v. 2). B. Preview. But now that He was going to heaven, Who would carry on the work? His disciples. Where were they going to find The power to do this? From the same source as Jesus.

Before He left, He reminded them Of His Fathers promise: That they would baptized with Spirit Not many days from then It was about ten, to be exact.

And when the Spirit came on them

They would receive power To be His witnesses.

What Id like to consider this morning, Is that the Lord Has not left you on your own To do what Hes called you to do: He has given you His Spirit.

Lets consider two things: 1. That Jesus has given you His Spirit. 2. So that you would have the power to do what He calls you to do. II. Sermon. A. Lets consider first, That Jesus has given you His Spirit.

In Lukes Gospel, Jesus told His disciples To wait in Jerusalem Until they were clothed With power from heaven (Luke 24:49).

They obeyed: They went to the city, They waited, They prayed believing, And they received power.

This power was the Spirit He was about to send upon them.

Without the Spirits help They wouldnt have been able to do What He had called them to do.

Without Him, neither can you You also need His Spirit, And thats exactly What Hes promised to give you.

The Spirits work Was something God promised To His people As a part of the New Covenant blessing, Through Jesus work.

Adams sin forfeited this blessing He drove the Spirit away Not only for himself But also for his children He did this for/against you.

But what the first Adam lost, The second Adam was going to bring back. Thats the message Of the whole Old Testament.

The second Adam Would crush the head of the serpent And bring enmity/hatred Between the seed of the woman

And the seed of the serpent (Gen. 3:15) He would give you His Spirit Which would divide you From the people of this world.

The second Adam Would circumcise their stony heart Give His people the desire To turn away from the world/sin And to turn to God (Deu. 30:6). He would give you His Spirit To take away your desire for the world And give you a desire for Him.

The second Adam Would give all His people Power to do His will This was pictured By the anointing oil Poured on the head of the priests And on the kings, That would run down their head And flow to the rest of their body. The Spirit would flow from the Head To the members of His body Empowering them to do What He calls them to do.

These were all pictures and promises Of what Jesus came into the world to do He obeyed And He went to the cross, That He might bring about The Spirits return A return that went both ways Back to those who looked forward to His coming, And forward to those Who would look back at His coming.

If you are a member of His body If you are connected to this Head Which you can know By the fact that youre trusting Him And turning from your sins Then you can know Hes given you His Spirit: That Hes baptized you into Jesus For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (1 Cor. 12:13). That He dwells/lives in you And that you are His temple Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? (1 Cor. 6:19). B. But now lets move to this second point: Why did Jesus give you His Spirit? So that you would have power. Jesus said to His disciples, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

Power to do what? To be His witnesses! And you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Do you see any difference in the disciples After the Spirit came on them in power?

Before He came, On the night of Jesus betrayal, The disciples abandoned Him (Matt. 26:56), Peter denied Him (v. 74).

When Jesus was crucified, They all stood at a distance and watched No one owned Him or stood up for Him (Luke 23:49).

After He died and was buried They were all hiding (John 20:19).

The work of the kingdom Had come to a standstill.

But lets not judge them too harshly. We would have done the same If we had been in their situation.

But what happened After the Spirit descended?

Peter stood up And preached with such boldness and power

That three thousand men were converted (Acts 2:41).

Peter and John stood before the Council With such confidence That these leaders didnt know What to make of them (4:13).

When the Council told them To stop preaching and teaching in Jesus name, They stood up to them and told them That they could not stop speaking About what they had seen and heard (vv. 19-20).

When they were threatened and released, They went back and told the others what had happened. They prayed for Gods help, He gave them more of His Spirit, And they went out And continued boldly to preach Christ (v. 31).

He gave them power!

What did the Spirit do To inspire this kind of confidence?

He didnt change them physically. He didnt make them indestructible, Or give them herculean strength, So that no one could defeat them And no prison could hold them.

Their boldness didnt come From a physical superiority over their opponents. They were just as vulnerable As they had been before. The Lord doesnt want you To trust in your own strength.

The change He made was spiritual He changed their hearts. He turned up their affections From mediocre to radical. He turned up the heat in their furnace And gave them a stronger desire to serve Him, A heart for Him and His work, A desire to see His name glorified above all.

Once He bent their heart in His direction, They used everything they had To advance His cause To the very best of their ability.

This is what the Spirit Also wants to do in you: To give you this power By turning up your affections. You know what its like When your heart is bent on something Theres no stopping you.

This is how He puts enmity Between you and the world. How He gives you the desire To turn from the world to Him. How He empowers you To do what He calls you to do.

The only thing standing Between you and doing Gods will Is your heart. Its not that you cant do What He calls you to do. More often than not You just dont want to do it.

Jesus gave you His Spirit To overcome your lack of desire, So that you will say, Here I am, send me!

Do you sense this power In your heart this morning? Is your love for Him strong enough, So that when He calls on you You dont look for someone else Whos willing to do it, But you say, Here I am! Use me!

If it isnt, then you need To come back this evening As we consider our Lords command To, Be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18): What it means to be filled, How you can know that you are, And encouragements to do so. The more you have of His Spirit, The more you will be willing, And therefore able, To do His will.

Let me just remind you in closing, That if you dont have this love If you dont have any of this desire To turn from your sin and this world, And to give yourself to His cause Then you dont have the Spirit. If you dont have the Spirit, Then you dont have Jesus Or the life He gives either. You need to be born again! You need to come to Jesus So that you might be. If thats your situation this morning, Then pray and ask Jesus To give you His Spirit,

That you might trust Him and live. Amen. http://www.graceopcmodesto.org