Can He Get a Witness?
Acts 1:8
As we have been reflecting upon the overwhelming and undeserving gift of the Holy Spirit, many of us have been compelled to share this love from God with others. This is an appropriate and expected response. As we are filled with the love of God, we cannot help but to want to share it with others, especially those who do not know Jesus Christ.
This leads to the topic of evangelism. Even in our call to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit plays a prominent role. I will preach on the importance of the Holy Spirit based on Acts 1.8. The book of Acts describes how the gospel is eventually advanced in miraculous ways, but it was not because the disciples were incredibly gifted, theologically educated, or had social connections. Instead, they were quite ordinary people just like us. However, the gospel flourished because of the Holy Spirit.
In our situation, this emphasis on the Holy Spirit will be both a rebuke and an encouragement. It is a rebuke because our evangelistic effort and motivation are often rooted in ourselves. We rely on our experience or personality; or we think that we cannot be faithful witnesses of the gospel because we lack training or something else. Either way, we sorely underestimate the role, power, and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
This emphasis will also be an encouragement. Regardless of how ineffective we feel about sharing the gospel, we can take comfort that it is not about us, but about what the Spirit can do. This should liberate us from putting unnecessary pressures on ourselves.
In the end, even our evangelistic effort and motivation need to be rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are utterly powerless to convince others and others are hopelessly lost in their sin. It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we find the boldness to share the gospel and that others can be convicted to submit to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Praise God that he chooses to use ordinary people like us to usher salvation into the hearts who do not know Jesus Christ!
Questions:
1. When you think of someone who is a faithful witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, what qualities or abilities come to mind?
2. This sermon emphasized that the ability to be a faithful witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ is dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit. In what ways does this emphasis lead you to repentance (i.e., you are focusing or relying on the wrong things)?
3. Last week, P.Yuh preached on certain overwhelming and undeserving gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit regenerates us (i.e., he gives life to what is spiritually dead), he converts us (i.e., he leads us into repentance and faith), and he makes us heirs (i.e., we are now recipients of an opulent inheritance)! Now p. Yuh has preached that the Spirit wants to use all of us so that others can experience these amazing gifts of the Holy Spirit. In what ways do these truths provide much comfort and encouragement to you?
How might the Spirit be moving your heart to respond to these truths?
