Theme Song 270

Where's the Power?

	
Given by Richard Gerber


	Have you found in your life a growth towards righteousness? 
Have you been able to see victory over problems that have
plagued you for years?  Have you fallen in love with Jesus in a
way that you have never experienced before?  Is your desire to
see Jesus return in the clouds swelling in your heart.  As you
have become filled with these things have you found a desire
growing within You to tell other people the good news?

	I want to ask a question that I alluded to before. Are you
afraid of the power of God?  

	Mat 10:1  "And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him,
He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and
to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease."

	Luke 10:19  ""Behold, I give you the authority (power) to
trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the
enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

	Luke 9:1  "Then He called His twelve disciples together and
gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure
diseases.

	Brothers and sisters, for too long the people of God have been
convinced by the Devil that there is no power to be had in the
life of the Christian   For too long, we have been trying to
drink out of mudholes when fresh mountain springs are flowing
around us. For too long we have been planting our spiritual
gardens in the rocks, the thorns, the highways, instead of
seeking the fertile ground of God's way.  For too long we have
been satisfied with the flicker of a match, when God has for us
the light of the sun. God has power for us, and he wants to give
it to us like a Niagara falls, but we have to want it, to ask
for it.

	How do we ask?  What can be the results?

	Today lets refresh ourselves by looking at Jesus' promises of
the Holy Spirit.

	Luke 24:49  ""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.""

	As we look at the early Christian church we see that the power
that they had to proclaim Jesus Christ came in the form of the
Holy Spirit, for whom the disciples had been instructed to wait.

	Acts 1:8  repeats to an extent Luke 24:49 ""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.""

	We saw that that power did marvelous things for the church.  

Acts 2.  Day of pentecost.  Peter, the disciple who couldn't
keep his foot out of his mouth.  Preaching.  Through the power
of the Holy Spirit.  Makes a call and 3000 are baptized.  That's
power.

Acts 3.  Lame man healed.  That's power

Acts 4.  Disciples threatened.  Prayed not for deliverance, but
for power to be bolder.  That's power

Acts 5.  Were put in prison and the angels delivered them. 
That's power.  Then went right back to the temple to teach. 
Thats really powerful.

Acts 7.  The sermon that Stephen preached -- Powerful.  

Acts 8.   The Holy Spirit transports Philip to the location of
the Etheopian eunuch to teach him the word.  As a result the
Christian church is started in Ethiopia.

Acts 9.  The Holy Spirit takes over Paul's life, and changes the
Christian's worst enemy into their most ardent missionary.

Acts 10.  Through a vision Peter is instructed that salvation
was for the gentiles as well as the Christian.

Acts 12.  Peter delivered from prison and death by an angel

Acts 13.  The Holy Spirit sends Paul and Barnabas to minister to
the gentiles.

Acts 16.  The Holy Spirit sends Paul to Macedonia.  Paul is
rescued from prison by an earthquake and baptizes the keeper of
the prison and his family.

Acts 19.  Baptism in the name of Jesus and knowledge of the
Spirit brought to the Corinthians

	In summary the power of the Spirit  gave the church the 
power to heal the sick.  It gave them the power to preach the gospel.  
It gave them the power to be joyful in persecution.  It gave the
disciples the power to stand before the rulers of that day and
boldly declare the message of salvation. They knew the power of
the blood. and that filled them with power.

	This power did some interesting things within the church. 
Never before, or since as far as I know, could the following be
said about God's church

	  Acts 4:32  "Now the multitude of those who believed were of
one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the
things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in
common."

33  "And with great power the apostles gave witness to the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them
all."

	That power was from the Holy Spirit.  The disciples received it
by waiting and asking.  This asking was in the form of prayer.

	Acts 1:14  "These all continued with one accord in prayer and
supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and
with His brothers."

	All of the things we just mentioned in the Book of Acts were
the result of prayer.

	The one thing that you cannot, cannot, cannot separate the
receiving of the Holy Spirit from is prayer.  No wonder that
Satan pulls out all the stops to keep us from praying.  I am
convinced that he will even help us to do good things at time to
build up our pride.  He will sit back often while we do the
proper things.  I believe that from time to time he even can
take vices away, and heal the sick.  But what he cannot stand by
and see happen is to have a Christian pray.

	You see, the enemy knows that prayer is a hot line to heaven.  

	He knows that prayer has made the sun stand still.  He
recognizes that prayer has moved the sun back.  He is aware that
because of prayer that armies have been defeated by a choir.  He
recalls that by prayer the dead have been raised to life.  He
has seen that prayer can part the seas and stop rivers from
running.  He watched while prayer has stopped plagues,
pestilence and famine.  He has trembled while prayer had brought
revival, reformation, and renewal.  He shutters when the
Christian kneels, because he knows the power that is there.

	You have probably heard about the red phone in the White House
in the U.S.  That red phone is a direct line to the Kremlin. 
While other phone lines may meander hither and yon, That red
phone takes it's messages direct.  

	God's prayer line is also direct.  It is manned 24 hours a day.
 There are never any power failures, except for the failure to
use the power.  The prayer line has some tremendous advantages. 
Prayer doesn't go to an enemy.  It goes to one who died for us. 
It is better than a picture phone, because God sees the inner
cries of our hearts that we cannot express in human words.
Prayer is better because Jesus told us that anything that we
asked in His name, would be given to us.  Really, what more
could we ask?

	I want to give a prescription that will bring revival --
revival to any church, or community, or any city on earth. 

	First:  Let the Holy Spirit have His way with a few Christians
getting them thoroughly right with God.  If this is not done,
the rest will come to nothing. 

	Second:  Let them bind themselves together to pray for the
outpouring of the Spirit until God opens the windows of heaven
and revival comes down. 

	Third:  Let them put themselves at the disposal of God for His
use as He sees fit in winning others to Christ.  That is all. It
cannot fail. Because it is God's work, and His Spirit is doing
it through us.

Outline by Pastor Laurie DeWitt