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Witness Power

4/29/2017

EASTER: THE SAME POWER
Terry R. Baughman

“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).

The mission of the early followers was quite simple: Be empowered by the Spirit. Be witnesses everywhere you go. We tend to complicate the simplicity of the commission. Jesus did not leave a 12 step plan for world evangelism or a massive manifesto for an operations manual. Even His teaching for discipleship was simplified. When the young lawyer came up asking for clarification of the Commandments Jesus gave the essence of the Law in two commandments: Love God. Love your neighbor. It is not Christ’s intention to make it difficult to follow Him or impossible to navigate the technical application of the Gospel. Receive and share!

Theology sometimes gets messy and complicated. Scholars of all ages have wrestled with understanding the incarnation, trying to explain the distinctions between the Deity and humanity of Jesus. Complicated terms were adopted to explain the relationship of God and flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. God never intended the Gospel message to become that complicated. Love is something anyone can understand, “God so loved the world … ,” and the cross was a visible demonstration of His love and sacrifice. Death is common and the pain of loss will be felt by every person who lives. When we share these realities everyone can understand.

The only part of the Gospel that stands apart from the human experience is the resurrection of Jesus to everlasting life! This is the part of the story where one might become analytical, skeptical, or unbelieving. Jesus understood that, so He instructed His followers to simply tell their story, be a witness of His resurrection. He said, “You shall be witnesses to Me … to the end of the earth.” Others may argue with theology and debate philosophy, but the earnest report of the eyewitness is not easily contested. The witnesses know what they saw. They share their personal experience.

The personal narrative remains the most effective method of spreading the Gospel. Though some may choose not to believe it, the power of that personal experience is persuasive. Luke said, “With great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 4:33). These early adopters could have drawn from the teaching of Jesus and their personal study of the Law of Moses. They could have preached long sermons (they would do that also) or taught deep studies of Jewish thought, but Jesus simply said, “Be witnesses.”

Mark records the words of Jesus, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:15-16). The message of the Good News is still powerful to save. The same power resident in the early followers of Jesus lives in those who have received Him. We can be effective witnesses of Jesus Christ in this generation. What we have received and experienced is a viable witness of the living message of hope for everyone who believes today!

Be a witness. You have the Same Power!

Scripture:
“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8).

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Holy Spirit Power

4/22/2017

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EASTER: THE SAME POWER
Terry R. Baughman

“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).

The importance of what Jesus did through His death, burial and resurrection was not immediately evident to the disciples. In the days and weeks following the resurrection they began to recall things that Jesus said, and then afterwards His commission to share the good news with others. John recalled that Jesus promised, “Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19). He also recorded that Jesus said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19).

Matthew recalled the change in the focus of the ministry of Jesus, “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day” (Matthew 16:21). It all made sense now. The dire predictions, the warnings, even the tests that Jesus put them through, questioning their commitment to His cause. When others ceased following Jesus, He asked them, “‘Do you also want to go away?’ But Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’” (John 6:67–68).

As the followers of Jesus came to an understanding that His sacrifice and the resurrection was vital to complete the gospel message they also took to heart His parting instructions. Jesus “commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’” (Acts 1:4–5). Before they extended their ministry to fulfill the Great Commission, they were first instructed to “wait for the promise.” The empowerment of the Holy Spirit was essential to their success in world evangelization.

It is one thing to know the story of resurrection. It is quite another to have experienced the resurrection. The disciples had witnessed the awful suffering of death on the cross and felt the hopeless despair of burying the one whom they had trusted and followed; in whom they had believed. The same followers rejoiced in the reunions after He appeared with them, very much alive. This is the story they would share for the rest of their lives. However, Jesus insisted there was more for them to know and to experience.

The power of their witness required that disciples be transformed personally by the resurrection. When they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit they would also experience the power of the resurrection. Paul said, “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

Paul desired the empowerment of the resurrection, both in ministry and in future promise, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10). Every believer can experience the same. The Promise of the Father was not given just for the Twelve, or the 120 of the Upper Room, or the New Testament Church alone. “The promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:39).

Experience the resurrection through the power of the Holy Spirit!

Scripture:
“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8).

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Resurrection Power

4/15/2017

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EASTER: THE SAME POWER
Terry R. Baughman

“If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11).

The resurrection of Jesus is more than a story of history, a wonderful miracle of one who lived long ago; it is a relevant promise in the present and the vibrant hope of the future. The fact of Jesus rising from the dead to never face death again is the greatest achievement of all time. If the resurrection wasn’t miracle enough, consider the fact that He still lives!

Paul spoke much of the resurrection. He declared Jesus to be, “The Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4). This message is what makes our faith valid and our Gospel powerful. To the Corinthians Paul wrote, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty” (1 Corinthians 15:14).

Because of the importance of our faith in the resurrection Paul devotes an entire chapter to the subject to offer assurances and provide a list of the multitude of witnesses who saw Jesus after He had arisen from the dead. He declared, “Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). Not only has Christ triumphed over death, hell, and the grave, He has provided us the opportunity to live again for all eternity. Inasmuch as sin came into the world from Adam’s transgression we now have hope of everlasting life through Christ Jesus, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).

The Gospel has relevance in that we are personally identified with His death through repentance of sins, His burial through our baptism in water calling on the name of Jesus, and His resurrection through the baptism of the Holy Spirit and power. Paul made this connection when he said, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

Not only do we experience the resurrection in the New Life Jesus gives us, but we are also given the hope of a resurrection into life eternal if we have received His Spirit. Paul said, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” Romans 8:11 NIV).

Resurrection power is hear and it is available to everyone who believes. The Same Power that raised Jesus from the dead will also bring life to be united with Him in a glorious new life. He lives!

“Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him” (Romans 6:8-9). His life is evidence that we may also live. Death has no more power over the child of God. Embrace the power. Accept His promise. Receive all that God has for you this Easter!

Scripture:
“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8).

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Ministry Power

4/9/2017

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EASTER: THE SAME POWER
Terry R. Baughman

“Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region” (Luke 4:14).

After forty days of fasting and the temptation in the wilderness Jesus began a ministry empowered by the Spirit. On His arrival in Galilee there was an anointing of the Spirit so evident upon Him that it became the topic of gossip and shared news communicated to everyone in the area around the Galilee.

When Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth He attended the gathering at the synagogue on the Sabbath. He was invited to read the passages for the day from the scroll of Isaiah. He found the place and read a self-fulfilled prophecy, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18–19).

The anointing of the Spirit was the power given for effective ministry. Even Jesus relied on prayer and the empowerment of the Spirit to fulfill the ministry that Isaiah predicted He would fulfill. The Spirit enabled Him to preach, to heal, to deliver all those who were bound, afflicted, and depressed. This was His purpose in ministry.

“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,” Jesus said to the gathered crowd (Luke 4:21). Though they did not presently accept Jesus as the fulfillment of this messianic prophecy, in time they would look back to this event, record the statements of Jesus and realize that indeed the Scripture was being fulfilled in Him with defined accuracy.

The same power that empowered Jesus to fulfill His ministry was transferred to those who followed Him. In one of His final meetings with the disciples Jesus said, “‘As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:21–22). He commissioned them to teach and preach the Gospel throughout the world. He would never ask us to do anything that He has not enabled us to accomplish. His Holy Spirit will endue us with the same power that He possessed.

Though His followers felt ill-prepared to complete His ministry and fulfill their purpose Jesus called them with confidence. What He transferred to the eleven on the hills of Galilee was repeated and written to other believers who became disciples. John said, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Perhaps this text was the source of a slogan of promise that was adopted many years ago at Christian Life College in Stockton, California, The power behind us is greater than the task before us!

The Same Power that raised Jesus from the dead is working to fulfill His ministry in us today. We can be assured of our success because of the empowering of His Spirit within!

Scripture:
“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8).

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A Joyous Service

4/2/2017

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FOLLOW: A CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP
Terry R. Baughman

“When they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:40–42).

The prospects of persecution for your faith is not normally a cause for rejoicing. It is usually reserved as the subject of whispered conversation in respectful tones of sadness. The pallor of suffering and even death is discussed as the dreaded consequence of religious suppression in far-off places. We certainly would not think it to be a topic to celebrate or rejoice, and yet the New Testament speaks of this unexpected reaction by those in the early church who were subjected to the most severe persecution.

In the face of opposition and threats the disciples of Christ prayed, “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word” (Acts 4:29). They were given boldness to witness for Jesus and they shared the story of His death, burial, and resurrection. A powerful confirmation was evidenced. “When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). God’s grace afforded these followers boldness to proclaim God’s Word, dramatic signs and wonders as evidence of God’s approval, and the gift of incredible joy in the face of suffering and persecution.

Steven Curtis Chapman wrote of this paradox of joy and suffering in a song when he queried, “What kind of joy is this that counts it a blessing to suffer? What kind of joy is this that gives the prisoner his song? What kind of joy could stare death in the face and see it as sweet victory? This is the joy of a soul that's forgiven and free.”

The graphic pictures are unforgettable of 21 Egyptian Christian men in orange jumpsuits bowing on bended knees in a single row on the Libyan coast before their black hooded executioners. They were minority Christians from Egypt who had come to Libya seeking work to provide for their poverty-stricken families. These men and other Christians were identified as the people of the Cross, intending it as disparaging label in a region of an overwhelming population of Muslims. Though they were offered a chance to live if they would just deny their faith and convert to Islam, they steadfastly refused to deny Christ. On the beach that day they all died singing songs to Jesus. The Gospel message of salvation will always become more powerful against the cruel backdrop of suffering and persecution.

The ultimate hope for every persecuted Christ-follower is that they may hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant. … Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21). A true disciple rejoices in service, can be joyful in suffering, and has the eternal hope of joy in His presence.

Follow.

Scripture:
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24).

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