“Then He said to them, 'Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high”(vs46-49)
Power is promised to us, and we must have it, before we go. We can't run the race in human strength, using the fleshly tactics of charm and compromise. We can't force men into the kingdom our way, by rough or smooth tactics. One thing works, and that's the Holy Spirit - the real power from God, enabling us to preach Christ (truth) in love.
The gospel stands upon two legs: truth and love. John writes, “To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth, because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever”, and again, “I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father. And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it” (2 John 1:1-2, 4-6).
If there is no truth, then there is no Spirit, for God doesn't lie. Someone suggested that God didn't really tell the truth about the creation because primitive man couldn't handle the science. But, God's wisdom demands He be honest, and when He says that He made the world in six days and rested on the seventh, He is talking about 24hour days, and what He did by the power of His might. Likewise, all of the gospel is truth. We worship by faith in Christ (the Truth) and everything is done decently and in order (Col 2:5).
But, it is more than rules; it is love also, so that the spirit and not merely the external must be right. Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). The Spirit alone produces faith in the truth and gives the love that is necessary, and He only works as the Lord Jesus is revealed in the gospel. When the early Church preached at Pentecost, the power of the Spirit was unfolding Jesus in the Scriptures, for He is the message, and He gave them the power of LOVE and boldness, so that they stood up uncompromisingly but gently declaring all the counsel of God (Acts 2). Likewise, you and I are able to minister the truth in love by the Spirit revealing Christ to us, so that we serve in “word and deed” (Acts 1:1). No one can do this except power be given, and we're to wait, seek, knock, and ask, until it comes.
Every day, leave your house in power. Every day, work in power, come home in power, hug the kids in power, and deal with the bills and sickness in power. Do all that you do in the might of the Spirit. He will bless you with FRUIT as evidence, even love, joy, and peace.
Don't be scared to seek the Lord for what you need, and don't go without Him simply because He makes you wait. Remember King Saul went without Samuel the priest and offered a sacrifice, only to have Samuel show up and curse him (1 Sam 13). Thus, don't tell God, “I don't need you”, by going alone. Don't attempt to fake the smiles and the love, but believe the gospel to GIVE it to you as an undeserving and dirty sinner. Believe the promises are true for you, that you have all in Christ, and you are forgiven of your sins. Remember, just 50 days before Pentecost, the apostles ran away from the soldiers in fear of their own lives, and now, being accepted in the Beloved and graced in their mind, they had courage to put away the past and speak powerfully and boldly! Earlier, they were self-serving and conceited, bickering among themselves to determine the greatest. Now, they stand as one body, one man, the church, testifying of the works of God in boldness, humility, and peace. The change you need MUST take place as God's gift, and He will give it to all who ask.
You will be able to rejoice in the Lord, enjoy pardon, and do God's will by WAITING on the Spirit, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ to have earned His power, and looking into the resurrection as proof the promises are real. Grab hold of the gospel by faith... all of it... and you'll have power to do God's will, and others will know. We read, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they ad been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).
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