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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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“EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT TO BE HIS WITNESSES” (2013 GBC THEME REVIEW) (The Church’s
Witness) (Acts 1:8)
(2/10/13) Grace Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. THE CHURCH’S EMPOWERMENT A. It is Divine Empowerment B. It is Salvation Empowerment C. It is Evangelistic Empowerment D. It is Sanctifying Empowerment II. THE CHURCH’S INDWELLING A. The Promise of Indwelling B. The Fulfillment of Indwelling C. The Result of Indwelling 1. Evangelism 2. Filling of the Holy Spirit a) Eph
5:19-21 gives us the results of the filling of the Spirit. (1) Saturated
with Scripture (2) Speaking the Word of God (3) Joy of the Holy Spirit (4) Giving Thanks (5) Attitude of Submission b) We can
derive from Scripture the conditions for continually being Filled with the
Holy Spirit (1) Submit to
the Lordship of Christ, the Spirit, and the Word of God moment by moment in
every area of life (1Pe 3:15a; Luk 6:46; Eph 5:18 - 6:9). (2) Saturate your mind and life with the Word
of God (Jn 15:7; Ro 12:1-2; Col 3:16) (3) Confess your sins immediately (1Jo 1:9; Pro
1:23; Jm 5:16) (4) Do not quench the Spirit (1Th 5:19). (5) Do not grieve the Spirit (Ep 4:30). (6) Walk by the Spirit (Ga 5:16, 25). 3. Regeneration (Ac 10:45; Jn 3:3,6; Ti 3:5) 4. Spiritual Baptism (Ac 1:5; Ro 6:3-4; 1Co
12:13) 5. Sealing (Ac 2:33; Ep 1:13-14; 4:30) 6. Teaching (Ac 2:42; 11:16; Jn 14:26; 1Jn
2:27) 7. Spiritual Gifts (Ac 2:43; 1Co 12:7; Ep
4:11-12) 8. Fruit of the Spirit (Ac 6:3; Ga 5:22-23) III. THE CHURCH’S WITNESS A. The Meaning of Witness 1. The Greek word for witness is ma,rtus which carries the root meaning, “to bear in
mind,” to remember,” especially as “that
which demands much care or deliberation; he who considers or deliberates
much.” 2. It came to apply to
“one who remembers, who has knowledge
of something by recollection, and who can thus tell about it,” i.e., the
witness” (TDNT). We see this usage in such passages as
De 17:6; 19:15 (LXX); Mt 18:16. 3. In the NT, it was
especially applied to those who witnessed Christ’s death and
resurrection announcing the facts of the gospel. 4. Those who announced the gospel became
subject to persecution to the point of death. The term “martyr” took on the meaning of those who suffered death
for confessing Christ (Ac 22:20; Re 17:6). “These verses, however, should not be understood as if their witness
consisted in their suffering death, but rather that their witnessing of Jesus
became the cause of their death)” (Zodhiates, Complete Word Dictionary, NT) B. The Consideration of the Witnesses 1. The Apostles were the Immediate Context a) Though we would all apply Ac 1:8 as an appeal to all
believers as “witnesses,” the immediate and biblical context was that the
initial witnesses were the apostles. b) The resurrected Christ specifically
gathered the apostles together (Ac 1:4a), commanded them not to leave
Jerusalem (Ac 1:4b), commanded them to wait for the Holy Spirit (Ac 1:4c),
and revealed that they would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be His
witnesses (Ac 1:6-8). 2. The Apostles were Appointed by God a) The apostles were not a group of random
followers who were willing to volunteer. Rather, they were
chosen by Christ Himself (Lk 6:12-16; Jn 15:16). b) The apostles were
specifically chosen to be His witnesses (Ac 1:2). “Chosen” is the
Greek word ekle,gō which means a choice selecting out from among others (cp.
1Co 1:27-28; Ep 1:4; Col 3:12; 2Ti 2:10; Tit 1:1; Jm 2:5; 1Pe 1:1; 2:9; 2Jn
1:1). A different Greek word is used in Ac
10:41 to express a similar idea. Procheirotone,ō
is made up of pro, which
means “before,” chei,r which means
“hand,” and te,nō which means to
“stretch.” Combined we get the idea of stretching out the hand beforehand to
choose or appoint. So God’s purpose for the message
of salvation was to be announced by a specific group of men, hand-picked
beforehand, to be representatives of the gospel. This would include the
apostle Paul (Ac 22:14-15; 26:16). c) The apostles were God’s authoritative spokesmen to preach, teach, and write God’s truth and
salvation. 3. The Apostles’ Qualifications a) The premier qualification was that they
had to have witnessed the resurrected Christ (Apostles - Jn 20:26-28; Ac 1:3;
*Ac 1:21-22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:31-32; 10:39-41; Paul - 9:3-6 cp. Ac 22:6-11 cp.
26:12-16; Ac 13:31-32; 23:11; Ga 1:12). b) Though numerous other individuals
witnessed the resurrected Christ (1Co 15:6), an apostle had to have been
commissioned by the resurrected Christ (Apostles - Lk 24:46-49; Jn 20:19-21;
Ac 1:8; 10:40-42; Paul - Ac 22:6-15; Ga 1:1). c) They had to have been empowered with
miraculous power by the resurrected Christ (Apostles - Ac 2:43; 3:6-9; 4:33;
5:12, 15-16; 9:34, 40; cp. He 2:3-4; Paul - Ac 14:3; 19:11; 28:8-10). C. Observations and Applications 1. All believers are witnesses to Christ’s
death and resurrection in a secondary sense. a) We have the testimony of God’s appointed spokesmen in the Scriptures (Ac 2:42). b) More importantly, we have the testimony of
the Holy Spirit from the Scriptures (He 10:15 cp. 2Pe 1:20-21) of the truth
of the gospel (1Jn 5:6 to, marturou,n
- “the One Who is testifying”) in our spirit (Ro 8:16 summarture,ō
- “testifies with”). 2. All believers are also
commissioned to testify to the gospel by the authority of the Lord
Jesus in the Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20). The Scripture indicates that He
includes all believers in the phrase, “and
lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age”
(Mt 18:20). 3. All believers are to be
filled with the Spirit and His empowerment. One of the results of the
filling of the Spirit is to share the gospel boldly and consistently (1Pe
3:15). |
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