0708. Power
Power
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon yon" (Act_1:8).
We discuss power last because we want to leave it with you as a final consideration. Would that believers would learn that "power belongeth unto God." Following the message of the disciples on Pentecost, about three thousand were added to the Lord. Certainly the promise, "Ye shall receive power" was realized in that revival hour.
The disciples, baptized with the Holy Ghost, preached in "the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and of power." In Act_4:33, we read, "And with great power, gave the Apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all."
Stephen is described as, "a man full of grace and power, who did great wonders and miracles among the people."
When the believers were scattered abroad, upon the persecution that arose about Stephen, these believers went preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus in such a way that "A great number believed and turned to the Lord" (Act_11:21). Power was with them.
When Paul was preaching in Antioch we read that, "Almost the whole city came together to hear the Word of God" (Act_13:44). Paul had received power.
In Act_17:6 the Jews of Thessalonica cried out before the rulers of the city concerning Paul, saying: "These men that have turned the world upside down, have come unto us." What a testimony to the mighty working of God, the Holy Ghost!
A Methodist minister was known by his membership as "old man dry sticks." The masses of his congregation had asked the stewards, to request the presiding elder, to urge the bishop to remove him from their midst. Some one told the preacher the nickname placed upon him by the people, and how they were seeking to be rid of a minister who did little more than put his congregation to sleep. The man wept it out before God; he prayed, and he plead; finally God spoke to his soul; he realized a new power, the unction of the Holy One was upon him. He went into his pulpit the next Lord’s Day, clothed with the Holy Ghost and power; hearts were touched, souls were saved, the fire broke out, a revival was born. As a result, the people requested the stewards, to urge the presiding elder, to insist that the bishop return their minister for another year.
What is the use of a factory, with perfect equipment, unless there is a dynamo; of what value is the street car, prepared for the journey, unless the trolley touches the wire? Can the engine run before the steam is generated in its boilers? A church that has everything in the world that it needs, everything that money can furnish, everything, even, that good doctrine can afford, unless it is a church filled with the power of God, had almost as well write "Ichabod" across its door, and stop its services.
The minister or the worker who labors in the energy of the flesh, or in the wisdom of the mind, apart from the Holy Ghost must prove useless to the cause of Christ.
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR