Don't Pray for the Holy Spirit... if You Just Want to Warm the Bench

There’s nothing worse than mismatched timing.  It makes us uncomfortable.   It makes us nervous. 
Perhaps, it even makes us feel foolish.  Whatever it makes us feel, we know that something’s not right.

It's like a zoom call where the audio doesn't match the video.  It’s like a choir where the sopranos are three words ahead of the altos who are two notes ahead of the basses and the tenors are “ten or” twelve notes behind everyone.  What a noise!

A car doesn’t run well when the timing is off.  Baking bread either burns or is still raw when the timing is off.  It seems every time we try to use timed bake, the timing is off.  (Actually, I don’t think it ever comes on!)  Relay racers rely on good timing as they pass the baton.  Rock climbers have to have split second accuracy as they leap across a chasm to a miniscule ledge.  And preachers have to have good timing.  (Let ‘em out by 12 and you got it made!)  

But most of us don’t realize that  Christians have to have good timing too.  We need to be “in-synch” with God.  The problem is that many of us are so busy that we fail to recognize what God’s timing is.  And because we are “out-of-synch” with Him, we don’t get done what He’s asking and providing power for us to do.  So, what does it take to be “right on time” with God?

The book of Acts gives us a good clue. Let’s get some background.  Jesus was just about to return to heaven.  But before He left, He described again, to the disciples,  how the Messiah was to suffer and die, and then be resurrected.  He then promised to be with them as they shared these things with the world.

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." 

Luke 24:49   I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." 

Jesus is saying that once you are a believer in Him, the first step to getting in touch with His timing is waiting.  Waiting to be clothed with power from the Holy Spirit.  And that’s what the disciples did.  But they did not wait in idleness.

Luke 24:52   Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.  53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. 

Acts 1:14   They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. 

Neither Acts 1,2 or Luke 24 provide much more detail, and I wanted to find out more.  What was going on there.  The book entitled “The Acts of the Apostles” (AA) helps fill in the details.   In chapter 4, it’s as though the author, Ellen White, were adding color to a picture that was just a sketch.  Let’s fill out the picture.

First, she says (AA)P. 35  “In obedience to Christ’s command, they waited in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father-the outpouring of the Spirit.”    First, they waited.  

Second, (AA) p. 36 says, “As the disciples waited for the fulfillment of the promise, they humbled their hearts in true repentance and confessed their unbelief.” Wow... They humbled their hearts and confessed unbelief as a sin.

Third, (AA) p. 37 tells us, “The disciples prayed with intense earnestness for a fitness to meet men and in their daily intercourse to speak words that would lead sinners to Christ.  Putting away all differences, all desires for supremacy, they came close together in Christian fellowship.”  They prayed for a desire to lead others to Christ, and they put away all their differences and selfishness.

Continuing on-  (AA) p. 37  These days of preparation were days of deep heart searching.  The disciples felt their spiritual need and cried to the Lord for the holy unction that was to fit them for the work of soul saving. . . . They were weighted with the burden of the salvation of souls.  They realized that the gospel was to be carried to the world, and they claimed the power that Christ had promised.”  They felt their spiritual need, and as a result, they felt a real passion for saving others. 

Then the Holy Spirit came.  Scripture gives us this scene in Acts 2 beginning with verse 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 as the Spirit enabled them.   5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.   6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.”

(AA) page 38  “The Spirit came upon the waiting, praying disciples with a fullness that reached every heart. . . .Lost in wonder, the apostles exclaimed, ‘Herein is love.’   They grasped the imparted gift.  And what followed?  The sword of the Spirit, newly edged with power and bathed in the lightnings of heaven, cut its way through unbelief.  Thousands were converted in a day.”

There it is in a nutshell.  Wait in obedience for the Holy Spirit.  Humble your heart and confess your unbelief.  Pray with intense earnestness, claiming the promise that the Holy Spirit will be yours.  Accept the gift.  And then . . .warm the pew.    That’s right!  Ask for the Holy Spirit so that you can get that bench just a little warmer.  Yeah- It’s like a teacher of mine once said. . . “grab all you can-can all you grab, and sit on the lid while saying quietly to yourself, ‘I got the Holy Spirit!’ ”

If you think that’s it, think again.  Same author, different book.  A little book called “Christian Service.”    On page 253 it says, “The Holy Spirit won’t be poured out  while a majority sit still.”  Friend, if all you’re wanting to do is keep the pew warm,  they sell battery-operated stadium seat warmers.  You don’t need the Holy Spirit for that.  And my guess is, as long as the seat warmers are available, the Holy Spirit won’t come for that purpose anyway.  Don’t pray for the Holy Spirit if you just want to warm the bench.

(Paraphrase of AA p45) When the disciple were training under Jesus, they were led to feel their need of the Spirit.  He had promised it, told them they needed it, and told them what it was for.  Under the Spirit’s teaching they received the final qualification, and went forth to their lifework.  They were no longer ignorant and uncultured.  No longer were they a collection of independent units or men in conflict with each other.  They  weren’t looking for worldly greatness anymore.  

Instead, they were in harmony with each other.  ch 4:32 says they were “one in heart and mind.”  Christ filled their thoughts; the advancement of His kingdom was their aim.  No bench-warming here.  When the Holy Spirit is granted to  a person, there is no sitting still.  They have to do something.  They have to move.  That’s because the Holy Spirit is a moving agent.  

When Peter got done preaching that day, 3,000 people  came forward for the call.  The Holy Spirit moved through that crowd.   And verse 41 says they were all baptized that day.   I wonder what would happen to the Pastor that had that happen today.   No studies.  No commitment cards.   They felt the Holy Spirit working on them, and they responded.   And the disciples didn’t know any better, so they baptized them.

When the Holy Spirit moves on hearts, there can be no bench-warming.  Things will happen, and the work of God will not sit still, but will go forward with power and conviction.  Those who grasp the gift of the Holy Spirit cannot stay the same.  They will become like Jesus both in thought and in character. 

 Notice Acts 4:13 “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”  What better statement can be made about a person?  

 The disciples were filled with an intense longing to carry forward the work that Jesus had started.  Not out of a sense of dreary, “I-know-I-ought-to-do-this-because-I’m-a-Christian” attitude.  Rather, they had hearts that were supercharged with a benevolence so full, so deep, so far-reaching, that it compelled them to go to the ends of the earth testifying to the power of Christ.

They had been brought, through the Holy Spirit, into such close communion with God, that their very words seemed to burn  into the hearts of those listening.  There was an excitement, an aliveness, about them.   The Spirit animated them and spoke through them.  The peace of Christ shone from their faces.  They had consecrated their lives to Him for service, and even their physical features were changed to give evidence that they belonged to Him.

Have you ever wished that could happen again today?  I have to agree with the author of  Acts of the Apostles  when she writes, pg 49 “The promise of the Holy Spirit is not  limited to any age or to any race.  Christ declared that the divine influence of His Spirit was to be with His followers unto the end.  To all who have accepted Christ as a personal saviour, the Holy Spirit has come as a counselor, sanctifier, guide, and witness.  The more closely believers have walked with God, the more clearly and powerfully have they testified of their Redeemer’s love and of His saving grace.”

Do you know why we don’t see these things happening today?  I believe its because we don’t pursue holiness.  As far as God is concerned,  the time period we live in is not the issue.  Christ‘s promise to send the Holy Spirit hasn’t changed.  We have.  We have grown tired of hearing the “same old thing," and so we content ourselves with warming the bench, putting in our time at church, and then going home to watch TV on Saturday night  “where the real action is."   We don’t really appreciate the promise of the Holy Spirit.   We don’t think about Him; don’t ask for Him; don’t expect Him;  and as a result, we don’t get Him! 

And what happens?  The church dies for lack of fire.  No living water.  Spiritual drought and spiritual coldness.  And the tragedy  is,  we like it that way!   We don’t want it to change.    It’s no wonder,  in Rev. 3:16,  that God wants to spew us out.   We wouldn’t know what to do if the Holy Spirit really started a movement  here.  It’s possible that we would  rise up against and squelch it, considering it’s not prone to look like what we expect or have grown use to.  Really, what would you do if 3,000 people suddenly ran in to your church begging to be baptized right now?  

The Lord is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who serve Him than parents are to give good gifts to their children.   We should be asking God daily for His Spirit, because His presence will give our words of truth a power that not all the honor or glory of the world could give.  Do you realize, that if we were a people empowered by the Holy Spirit, Seventh-day Adventists would be known for far more than just the church that  "worships on Saturdays."

We need to be a people known for our passionate pursuit of life lived by the power of the  Holy Spirit.  A people consumed with petitioning God daily for His grace and Spirit to continue working in our lives to make us holy.

Holiness is not just some euphoric experience:  “it is an entire surrender of the will to God; it is living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God; it is doing the will of our heavenly Father;  it is trusting God in trial, in darkness as well as in the light; it is walking by faith and not by sight; it is relying on God with unquestioning confidence, and resting  in His love.” AA p51

Amid the confusion, the striving, the wrestling with life’s questions, the Holy Spirit wants to sustain and give you strength.  When you stand facing your failures and your mistakes, He offers forgiveness and comfort.  When you’re not sure if you want to accept Christ into your life, He pleads in tones of mercy and love.  And if  you’ve just sat warming the pew, He wants you to see that He is ready for action.  

Don’t pray for the Holy Spirit if you just want to warm the bench.  But if you’re tired of the same old dreary cycle of religious meanderings, then start praying.   If you want to be of service and become action-oriented, pray.  If you want power to proclaim and advance the Kingdom of God, pray for the Holy Spirit.  Pray and wait with a humbled heart, as you confess your unbelief.  Claim the promise of Jesus, and grasp the greatest gift since Salvation.  And once you have grasped it, you won’t be able to just sit and warm the pew.   You will be compelled, out of your fullness,  to advance God’s Kingdom.  To seek and bring  salvation to the lost.   To call others out of their boredom with a religious system, and into an aliveness that is true spirituality.

I challenge you to go  today, seeking that experience.  We desperately need those who crave that type of experience.  Those who will pray that God will send His Spirit to empower their work.  That’s when we’ll see a harvest.  That’s when we’ll see the work finished.  That’s when we’ll go home.    And when you talk about God’s timing,  it’s impossible to be more finely-tuned!   For the sake of the Kingdom, seek Him today.

Called to be Faithful...not Successful!

I know it's been a minute since I've posted on this blog, but lately the stirrings to write have started welling up once again.  Mostly because in the spring I start to ponder life all over again.

Every few years, I buy a new version of the Bible and take 2 or 3 years to read through it carefully.  This last time, I chose, instead of an actual translation, Jack Blanco’s paraphrase, The Clear Word Bible.  I’ve gathered some great devotional insight into some passages by considering his take on things.  As I read, I will often compare the current version I’m reading to the KJV, the NIV, the NASB and the NLT, just to get a fuller understanding of the passage...and sometimes, if a passage seems to hinge on a word, I’ll go back to the Hebrew or Greek Dictionaries.

Image source: Biblical Authorship

So I’ve been studying in the book of Zechariah lately.  I know...not one that we usually read, but since I’m going straight through it, that’s where I find myself, and in Zechariah 4, we find a passage that many of us have quoted as a memory verse for years.  It is in the context of God asking Zerubbabel, who was governor of Judah right after the first of the Babylonian exiles had been freed to go home, to rebuild the Temple.  There were all sorts of challenges.  The task was enormous, since all of the old Temple rubble had to be cleared first.  The giant stones that Solomon had placed centuries before were still lying about, as well as all the stuff the Babylonians didn’t take when they conquered.  

And no one had money to pay for the rebuilding.  They were freshly returned slaves trying to start life over again.  They were busy rebuilding their lives as they contracted their own houses.  They hadn’t even planted or harvested any crops yet and the Lord is now asking them to rebuild the Temple.  How was this going to happen?   And the Lord sends Zechariah a series of visions to encourage them.  In the 5th vision, recorded in the 4th chapter of Zechariah, we come to our famous passage that answers the questions.  First, from the New Living Translation. Note especially verses 6 and 7.

And I see two olive trees, one on each side of the bowl.” 4 Then I asked the angel, “What are these, my lord? What do they mean?”

Zech. 4:5    “Don’t you know?” the angel asked. 

“No, my lord,” I replied.

Zech. 4:6    Then he said to me, “This is what the LORD says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. 7 Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will become a level plain before him! And when Zerubbabel sets the final stone of the Temple in place, the people will shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!’”  NLT

Now from The Clear Word.

Zach 4:6. Then he explained, “These are the symbols of the work and power of the Holy Spirit.  So this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit will the work be done.’

4:7 What is this great mountain standing in Zerubbabel’s way?  It’s nothing!  It will melt at the presence of the Lord and flatten out and become a plain.  All the things that Zerubbabel and his people are worried about will disappear as they push ahead with the work.  They will rebuild the temple and at the laying of the last stone they will shout, ‘Praise the Lord! Blessings on His temple!’  

“Ok nice, Pastor, but what does that have to do with me?”  Thanks for asking.

First - when the Lord asks something of us, He isn’t asking that we accomplish it.  He’s only asking that we be faithful and obedient to the task He's calling us to.  It isn’t by my strength that it will be accomplished.  It isn’t by gathering a large amount of people and more “lifting power” that things happen.  It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that anything gets accomplished.  

So recognize that God isn’t asking you to be successful...only faithful to the task He has assigned.  

And secondly,  that mountain standing in your way?  “It’s nothing!  It will melt at the presence of the Lord and flatten out and become a plain.”  But it won’t flatten at the presence of you or me.  It will stay a mountain.  It isn’t by might, or power...but by His Spirit that it flattens.

And if we are working with His Spirit, all the things we worry about will disappear as we push ahead with what God has asked us to do.  And when all is said and done...we can’t/won't be able to take the credit.  We can only be thankful that we had a small part to play as we participated with the Lord and with that realization we can shout “Praise the Lord! He has done great things!"

Now...about that mountain you are facing...

Time Alone With God

Strengthened by the food the angel gave him, the Bible says that Elijah traveled 40 days to the mountain of God, Mt. Sinai. There he came to a cave and spent the night. In the morning God came and asked what Elijah was doing there. And Elijah starts a pity-party. "I'm the only one left that is faithful and now they are trying to kill me too."

God told him to go stand in the mouth of the cave, and suddenly a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. Rocks were flying everywhere. But Elijah didn't sense the presence of God in the windstorm. Then there was an earthquake. No God there either. Then a huge fire. Not here either.

Then a gentle, quiet whisper and when Elijah heard it he covered his face with his cloak. What was God's point? Sometimes we look for a massive display of power to convince us that God is God, or to prove to others that He exists. We pray for that massive miracle that will allow our loved one to live or a great miracle that will allow our circumstances to change. And sometimes God answers that way. He did with the fire on Mt. Carmel.

But that's not usually His M.O. Typically, God is more about the gentle, quiet relationship with you that will allow you to trust Him and know that He is there for you even in the midst of your storm. Perhaps we should stop looking for the supernatural deliverance and go more for the supernatural friendship.

Elijah heard that gentle whisper and instantly covered his face. He KNEW he was in the presence of God. Ever have one of those experiences? You can't really explain how you know, but you just KNOW that God is present. Elijah covered his face with his cloak and then God asked him the same question he had asked before: What are you doing here Elijah?

In other words: I sent you to Ahab, I sent you to Zaraphath, I sent you to Mt. Carmel...but I didn't send you here. What are you doing here?

Elijah, probably not even fully aware of his motive, gave God the exact same answer that he had given before...but instead of in self-pity, his voice was probably more of the tone: "Would you believe?" Would you believe that I have been very zealous for the Lord?

We often start out angry and in self-pity, but when we encounter God, we end up trying to preserve our own dignity and we find out that our answers sound pretty hollow.

I think Elijah ran to Mt. Sinai because he was so exhausted that he inwardly knew he needed to encounter God once again. He knew the Sinai was called the mountain of God. He knew it was from this very mountain that God had spoken to the people of Israel centuries before. He knew that Moses had spoken intimately with God on top of this mountain. But when asked why, all he could resort to was: "I've been very zealous for the Lord and all the other prophets are dead and they are seeking to kill me too."

Some things never change. Too many times, in my exhaustion, I try to deflect any attention to the condition of my heart by presenting my works. What I really need in those times, is time alone with God. 

And if I'm not missing my guess, that's what you need too. May He grant you that time today. And may you take that time today.

Go

What are you passionate about?  What is it that you just can’t live without?  What is it that you love doing so much that you would let everything else go because of it?  Pretty strong question, isn’t it?  As a Christian, we think we know what our answer is supposed to be.  We’re like the little boy in Sabbath School who, when the teacher asked, “Boys and girls, what is gray and has a bushy tail and scampers everywhere?”  said, “Well, I know the answer is Jesus, but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me.”

We’ve done the same thing in the church.  When we ask the question, “what does it mean to Go?” we often find ourselves giving the answer we think we should give, rather than what we really think.  We give the answer we’ve been given for years because it fits into our personal Theological framework and many of us have already written this posting off, because we think we’ve heard this one before.  Don’t write me off too quickly.  You might want to read all the way to the end and see if your concept doesn’t change at least a little bit.

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I have heard and believed that text all of my life.  But somewhere in my growing up years, I got a bit warped…(what? Let me finish) I got a bit warped in my thinking about what it meant to Go and preach the gospel or to go and witness.  When I look back at those years, there were a lot of people who tried to tell me or show me…but I’m not sure they had it all right.

In my earliest years, I remember being handed a can that said “Ingathering” on it.  Those of you who are older Seventh-day Adventist will remember this.  And to really help me out, someone would put a dollar in the can that would just stick out of the top so that it was like a subliminal suggestion to give dollars rather than just your change.  So they would put this can in my hands with the “bait” money sticking up and they would walk with me to the door and ring the doorbell and when someone answered, I was supposed to say, “Hi, I’m a little missionary out working for Jesus. We are collecting money to help those who are less fortunate. Would you be kind enough to help us?”  Of course, implying that if they were indeed a kind person, they would help…and likewise, if they didn’t help, they must not be kind.  Then we would go back to the church to drink hot chocolate and count the evenings haul.  And we could say that we had obeyed Jesus command to Go.

When I was a bit older, I joined that wonderful organization that just about anyone growing up Adventist has been a part of at one time or another: Pathfinders.  I loved Pathfinders.   What do you do with a group of 9-12 year olds on a Sabbath afternoon that will keep them out of trouble, and perhaps even advance the gospel?  I don’t know who thought of this, but at the time I thought it was sheer genius.  Literature bombing.  You read that right.  Literature bombing.  I think it came out of World War II, but I can’t be sure.  We would spend the first hour or so in the Pathfinder room taking all the stacks of leftover Little Friends, Primary Treasures, Junior Guides, and back then—here’s my age showing—The Youth Instructor, which predated Insight Magazine—we would take all of those stacks and start rolling them into well designed missiles, suitable for throwing.  We would have a younger kids box—Little Friends, Primary Treasures and maybe a Jr. Guide rolled together.  And an older kids box.  Jr. Guide and Youth Instructors rolled together.  Then we also would take some old people’s literature, like the Signs of the Times or Liberty Magazines that had been laying around the church for awhile and roll those together for any adults we might happen upon.

This first step was very important, so we took it seriously, knowing that the fun was about to begin, if we prepared carefully.  Once all of our missives were rolled into missiles, we would pile into staff members cars—always wearing our Class A uniform, of course—to give the proper impression and show that we were an official organization—and, I think, to let our parents know that the money spent on uniforms was well worth it.  So we would pile into cars with a staff member who had worked with the other staff members to divide up the territory—and then we would drive through the neighborhoods, hanging out the windows of the car, spotting hapless victims…er potential church members, size up their age, ask the munitions officer for the proper payload, and then prepare to unleash a missile, trying, of course not to hit them…but to get it close enough to them that their natural curiosity would cause them to go over and pick it up.  Ok…we tried to hit them…though we were told not to.  That was part of the fun for a 10 year-old boy.

So the idea was that they would get this literature, read it, be converted, find the nearest  Adventist church, which would be ours, of course, and come begging to join.  I can’t remember that ever happening, but I remember going home being praised for going out and “spreading the gospel like the leaves of autumn.”  Boy did we ever.  No bombing crew in a B-51 could have taken more pride and joy in unloading their bombs than we.  And back at the Pathfinder room, we would share our stories with joy of how we had “accidentally hit that one guy mowing his grass while shouting God loves you.”  We had truly witnessed.

As I grew older, it was Park Evangelism, where we stood by a booth covered with psychedelic posters and sang, “They will know we are Christians by our love”—All the while hating being out there…but doing our duty.  No one ever came to ask us why we were so happy.  Imagine.

In Sabbath School, they always took a few moments at the beginning of class to see how your personal witnessing was going as they went through a checklist of good things you might have done.  And of course you didn’t brag about it…you just held up the appropriate number of fingers so that the recording secretary could write it down and  hope the totals from your class beat the totals from the other classes.

Person’s Helped.  Number of items of food given away.  Articles of clothing distributed.  Literature distributed. That’s where I would rack up on the Sabbath after literature bombing…I didn’t have enough fingers so would have to politely say 57 or some such number, as the adults would nod approvingly.  Hours spent laboring for others.  And the biggie: Number of Bible Studies given.   And we could go home feeling like we were spiritual because of all of the things we had done.

No where in my growing up years was I introduced to the idea that Jesus called us to BE a witness, not just DO witnessing activities.  No where did the church really tell me that it was more about who I was than what I did.  As long as I looked good, I must be good.  Never mind that my heart was rotten to the core.  Never mind that my thoughts were impure or filled with anger and hate.  If I presented well, I was labeled a good Christian.  And believe me, I learned to wear the mask well.

I could go out and witness with the best of them.  I could help when the evangelist came to town by passing out Bibles and then collecting them again at the end of the meeting until someone came so many nights and then they would be given that Bible.  Never mind the fact that the whole time the evangelist was preaching, I was trying out my moves on Linda or Holly or Rhonda or whoever happened to be forced to come by their parents.  My thinking was warped.  I thought you could do whatever you wanted to do, as long as you told people about Jesus when it was on the schedule.

I never got the connection between the head and the heart.  I just learned to play the game and I did whatever it was we were supposed to do—most of the time hating every minute of it.  I had no passion for witnessing.  I had no passion for Jesus.  I didn’t even have a passion for the church.  I just had a fear of it and of a God who could send me to hell if I didn’t have my act together.

And then I met Jesus.  I had heard all about Him, but never really met Him.  And I fell in love with a Savior who could take the worst in me, wrap it in love and dissolve it, leaving me forgiven and free.  I began to understand that He already knew me to my core and He loved me anyway.  He really wanted to save me.  And when I began to understand that, I began to get a passion for sharing.

When Sandy and I began dating, I was real wary, because I had been dumped 6 times in a row by 6 different young ladies that I thought loved me.  That’s another blog for another time.  But I was wary.  I wanted to take it really slow.  Those of you who know Sandy know that she has an infectious smile and you can get lost in the warmth of her eyes.  You know that she is compassionate to a fault.  She really cares about people.  She genuinely loves from the depth of her being.  That’s who she is.  And I fell in love.  I couldn’t help it.  And let me tell you—it was easy to talk about her to just about anyone who would listen.  It’s still easy to talk about her.  

I love Sandy for who she is so I don’t mind sharing.  It’s not a hardship.  It grows out of our relationship.  I love Jesus for who He is—and it gives me joy to share Him with people.  Especially struggling people.  Because I have a love relationship with Jesus, it has changed who I am as a person.  Witnessing comes AFTER I know Him and love Him.  It comes from who I am…it’s not just something I do.  I do those things because He loves me and I love Him…not in order to gain points in hopes that something might click and suddenly I’ll feel like witnessing.

The disciples had spent 3 and a half years with Jesus.  Jesus wanted them to know what He was like.  To learn to trust Him.  To learn to love Him as well as His ways.  Jesus knew that if they were ever to share the story about the love the Father has for this world, they would have to experience it first-hand.  But He also knew they needed more than that.  And so do we, if we are going to go out successfully.

 Acts 1:4-8 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.  5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”  6   So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”  7   He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.  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.”

Jesus said, “Go back to Jerusalem and wait.”  Why?  So they could receive the Holy Spirit.  Was it time spent in idle waiting?  No.  It was a time of repentance,  confession, finding forgiveness and continuing to seek what the Lord would have each of them do.  Then the Holy Spirit came.

Notice vs 8 again. 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.” 

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you AND you will BE my witnesses.  Did you catch that?  Holy Spirit first—brings you power AND you will BE.  Holy Spirit—you will BE.  Nice Pastor Don, but what does that mean?  It means that if you haven’t waited for the Holy Spirit to empower your life and your work, you are just DOING rather than being!  It means that you are not really being His witness, but instead are just doing witnessing events.  Doing without Being will burn you out faster than anything else in the spiritual life.  If you haven’t become a witness through the power of the Holy Spirit, and you are just doing things for the sake of witnessing—stop.

You heard me right.  Stop.  Because you and I can do more damage to the cause of God than help it if we are trying to do God’s work in our own strength.  These two—waiting on the power of the Holy Spirit and then being a witness…or a channel of hope for God to work through, are interlinked.  They must go hand in hand.  It is a cycle that is the pattern for holiness.  Be filled with the Holy Spirit—BE a witness.  Witnessing is not something you DO—it’s who you are!  And either you are taking the time to wait on the Lord for His Holy Spirit or you aren’t.  Either you are becoming a witness through His strength or you’re not.  They go hand in hand.

Wait-Go.  Wait-Go.  Wait on the Holy Spirit, Go out in His power.  It has to be a daily cycle.  If you go out before you wait, you risk misrepresenting God to the world around you.  Have you ever heard someone say, “Well, if that’s what a Christian is, then I want no part of it!”?  That’s because they are looking at a Christian who has gone out before he/she has waited.  They are looking at a Christian trying to make it on their own power instead of God’s.  That should be our weekly cycle as well. Come and fellowship, find renewal and new strength in the power of the Spirit—and then go.  Go out to the world and live as one who can bring hope and light to your workplace, to your home and to your neighbors. 

When you go out in the power of the Holy Spirit, you won’t have to work at witnessing.  It will come naturally.  The Holy Spirit will give you the right words to speak at the right time.  Luke 12:11-12 11   “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say,  12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” 

If He’ll do it at those times, why wouldn’t He do it when you are seeking to share Him with someone else?  If you have taken the time to wait on the Holy Spirit, then of course He will.  But you have to wait before you go out.  You have to be filled before you try to work.  Think about it: You can’t give something you don’t have. 

The disciples understood this.  Though they were still tempted by their old sins and habits, they daily waited for the Holy Spirit and then moved out.  Author Ellen White,  in her book, Acts of the Apostles, pg 49, 50 says this:  Those who at Pentecost were endued with power from on high, were not thereby freed from further temptation and trial. As they witnessed for truth and righteousness they were repeatedly assailed by the enemy of all truth, who sought to rob them of their Christian experience. They were compelled to strive with all their God-given powers to reach the measure of the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus.

Daily they prayed for fresh supplies of grace, that they might reach higher and still higher toward perfection. Under the Holy Spirit's working even the weakest, by exercising faith in God, learned to improve their entrusted powers and to become sanctified, refined, and ennobled. As in humility they submitted to the molding influence of the Holy Spirit, they received of the fullness of the Godhead and were fashioned in the likeness of the divine.

Yeah, but Pastor Don, that was then…this is now.  Take a look at the next paragraph.

The lapse of time has wrought no change in Christ's parting promise to send the Holy Spirit as His representative. It is not because of any restriction on the part of God that the riches of His grace do not flow earthward to men. If the fulfillment of the promise is not seen as it might be, it is because the promise is not appreciated as it should be. If all were willing, all would be filled with the Spirit. Wherever the need of the Holy Spirit is a matter little thought of, there is seen spiritual drought, spiritual darkness, spiritual declension and death. Whenever minor matters occupy the attention, the divine power which is necessary for the growth and prosperity of the church, and which would bring all other blessings in its train, is lacking, though offered in infinite plenitude.

So there it is.  If you want to go forth to be a witness with power, you must ask for the Holy Spirit.  If you find your spiritual walk dry or dying…you need to go back to waiting.  Once you’ve been renewed by the Spirit, then move from that position of power out into a dying world.  Then they will listen.  Then they will drawn to Jesus.  Then they will accept.  Then they will be saved.  Go…but go in the power of the Spirit.  If you try to go out any other way…you are not moving forward.  You are simply asking for defeat.  It's like a car revving its engine while in neutral.  A whole lot of noise, but no forward momentum.

Are you putting God’s power to work…or just sitting in neutral? Go.  Not from a guilty conscience, but from an overflowing heart.  Go.  Not because you have to, but because you want to. Go. But only after you Wait.  Go…but make sure you are going in the power of the Lord. Go, Jesus said, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”