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Power to Tell

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 - 3:12 PM CST

And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 4:33, NASB).¹

“Powerful message, Pastor.” Encouraging words from a deacon and trusted friend are always welcome. Though I have been preaching for more than 40 years, I do not take for granted the effectiveness of my ministry. If human eloquence or persuasive technique were the goals, you could get good at it. But life-changing New Testament witness must always depend on power beyond the preacher’s skills.

Granted, the message itself is powerful. “It is the power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16, NASB). For the Jew or the Greek, Paul understood the preached gospel of grace through Christ as the saving force. For those with the rich heritage of the old covenant and also for those of alien pagan mindset, there is but one gospel: the preaching of the Cross. The wisdom of God and the power of God are expressed in the one message — Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1).

While some may become expert in prophetic speculation, spiritual fads, or pop psychology, the saving word for today remains the preaching of the Cross. The longer I labor trying to help people, whether during those precious moments in the pulpit or in the privacy of pastoral counsel, the more I appreciate the profound impact of what God has done through His Son. The deepest issues of life concern the guilt, shame, and despair of personal failure and the anger and hurt of having been wronged by another. There is no real answer for villain or victim other than redeeming love. I have watched hardened men break down and weep, melted by the power of the gospel. I have shared in the joy of impossible situations set right by so great a salvation. A most powerful message indeed.

Power is also at work in the hearer. Who among us can fully explain Acts 16:14 (NASB): “And the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul”? The message needed to be told, Lydia must herself respond, but her response was divinely assisted.

Confirming power evidenced by supernatural signs followed (accompanied) the preaching of the Word in the Early Church (Mark 16:20). Upon release from their first imprisonment (Acts 4), Peter and John rejoined their ministry companions, and together they prayed for confidence to go on speaking the Word. They asked specifically that signs and wonders would take place in the name of Jesus.

Some circles today are giving extensive attention to signs and wonders. The Acts record clearly links the attesting power of the miraculous to the proclamation of the message.

But what of this power to proclaim? Is there heavenly help truly available to the persons who do the telling? Does something supernatural take place in those who minister? Jesus said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses” (Acts 1:8, NASB).

The promise is not power for power’s sake, but power to witness. As with every other manifestation that results, the power is connected with telling others about Jesus and the empowerment of the witnesses themselves.

Empowerment is a buzz word in today’s business and industry. Push more responsibility down to the grassroots of an organization and eliminate costly and ineffective layers of management. The rank and file can be trusted with the work if they are empowered to do it. The empowering includes adequate training and equipping workers for the task and authorizing responsibility.

From the beginning the empowering was meant for the whole church. Peter in quoting Joel’s prophecy explained that sons and daughters, even slave men and slave women, were to be included. The Day of Pentecost saw not just the Eleven but all 120 gathered filled with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit was given to empower. His coming clothed them and clothes us with His power (Luke 24:48,49). Far more is provided than the empowerment offered by corporations and structures in today’s business and industrial world. They train and entrust their employees with the tools of modem commerce, but our Lord extends a heavenly enabling.

Divine authorization is included. “We must obey God rather than men,” Peter and John answered with conviction when Jerusalem authorities attempted to silence their witness. They not only had the right to tell about Jesus; they were under orders to do so.

Let today’s ministry be so understood — we are under holy orders. The preacher dares not offer less than a word from the Lord, to speak as the oracle of God. Neither should the humblest Christian witness think otherwise; his testimony shared is ordered by God himself and is given as a message from Him. The Holy Spirit has come to seal in our souls the conviction that we are anointed ones under heavenly orders.

The person is empowered with an inner grace. As Jesus was “moved with compassion” in His earthly ministry, so those who minister in His name have such power moving them. “For Christ’s love compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14, NIV). Paul said this of his own ministry, and repeatedly throughout the epistles he connected Christian service with heavenly love (2 Corinthians 12:15; Ephesians 4:16; Philippians 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:3, et al). “God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:5, NIV). While some mistakenly equate the anointing with flushed faces and rapid speech, the deep power of holy compassion is a more biblical sign.

Heightened individual abilities are also true of the enabling from above. The educated elite of Jerusalem stared with wonder at unlearned fishermen who spoke with such power. The work of the Holy Spirit results in onlookers recognizing the profound impact a relationship with Jesus has had on common men and women (Acts 4:13).

While we not in the least suggest that training and diligent study are unimportant (2 Timothy 2:15), our Lord calls us to more than a human preparation. A heavenly empowering is prerequisite to telling others about Him. Our part is to want that, to seek it. A prayer meeting in Acts 4 preceded another outpouring. Only afterward do we read, “And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”

Not only the pastor, but the whole congregation is invited to the place of prayer where the Spirit personally gives us the power to tell others the good news about Jesus. The prayer meeting does not represent our initiative. The initiative is His. The prayer meeting is not our logging enough hours to earn or to develop the power; rather the power is a gift our gracious Lord wants to give us.

Time spent in prayer helps us refine our motives, to focus our desires. Prayer establishes our understanding the truth that the power is not of us but from on high.

Edmund L. Tedeschi

Endnote

1. Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible¨, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission (www.Lockman.org).

from Enrichment Journal, Tools of the Trade