ONLINE Sunday Service (M917) | Mount Zion Church | 31 May 2020 | THE POWER FROM ON HIGH | Luke 24:49
Pentecost is about promise for believers, and it is also about power for us!
Experiencing Pentecost is not only about speaking with different tongue. There is something more important and more powerful after receiving that sign of baptism with the Holy Spirit.
The presence of Holy Spirit in our life will definitely power-up our Christianity so that we could experience God better, deeper, and stronger.
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. Luke 24:49 NKJV
1: POWER TO DO THE WORD OF GOD
Jesus concluded all of His teaching by giving His disciples the power from on high.
1. Power to love God and love people: to love your enemy, husband, wife
2. Power to forgive: forgive and forget, not forget without forgiving
3. Power to live in freedom from any bondage: anything that bring destruction to our life, both physically or spiritually
4. Power to overcome bad habit
POWER THAT CHANGE YOUR LIFE!
POWER THAT WILL MAKE CHRISTIANITY ABSOLUTELY WORK FOR YOU!
Illustration: Maybe you say that you don’t need that power, think about this!
1. life without power (electricity, connectivity) will full of struggle
2. rowing boat, sailing boat, or motor boat / speed boat / power boat. A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is powered by an engine
2: POWER TO SHARE THE WORD OF GOD
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8 NKJV
What is witness? Witness is a person who see something, who feel something, who taste something, who hear something. Holy Spirit will bring us to taste and see that the Lord is good Ps.34:8, so that we will be able to be a true witness.
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 2Timothy 1:7-8 NKJV
Holy Spirit will make us to be brave for Jesus.
HOW TO RECEIVE THAT POWER AND SUSTAIN IT?
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Acts 1:4-5 NKJV
Jesus was speaking about what would happen at the Pentecost Day when the disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance Ac.2:4. And that event was called baptism with the Holy Spirit!
The water baptism happens physically, it requires water and commitment.
But the baptism with the Holy Spirit happens spiritually, it requires nothing but our submission.
Submission: learn to wait, obedience.
The disciples had no idea how long they must wait in the upper room at Jerusalem. They just waited and waited until they experienced something amazing: the baptism with the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus!
Wait doesn’t means doing nothing! Just like what we do in waiting room.
1. We set our mind that we are waiting for something.
2. We open our eyes and be watchful for any sign that relate to us.
3. We open our ears to listen whenever our name is called.
4. We get ourselves focus and not doing other thing that may distract our attention.
Jesus said: “But tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
Tarry = stay longer than intended; delay leaving a place (Oxford Dictionaries)
kathizō = to make to sit down
The disciples were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God Luk.24:53, they all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication Ac.1:14, they were all with one accord in one place Ac.2:1.
This attitude is very important for all believers to have, not only for those who have not received the baptism with the Holy Spirit, but for all people of God, so that we will always have a good level of power! We must sustain the power of Holy Spirit.