“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto [M]e…”  (Acts 1)

 

We wrote in the previous article that logic and reason will not help the Christ-ian witness bring anyone to Christ.  We put forth the argument that the Holy Spirit’s Witnessing to and giving power to the Christ-ian’s witness is essential and absolutely necessary. We put forth the argument that stated, without the Spirit’s Witness and power, no man will be or can be saved.

What was not written in the last article was how one can have confidence in the Witness and power of the Holy Ghost in one’s witness to Christ.  This will be the point of this article, God willing.

In the Old Testament, we see the prophet acted in the Name of God only after “The [W]ord of God came upon [him].” In the New Testament’s, Book of Acts, we find this dynamic continuing. We read the Disciples and the Apostles were filled with the Spirit (and this filling occured more than once upon the same servant), and then they spoke. This filling with the Spirit is an experience that some receive after salvation. However not every Christ-ian receives this filling that enables them to witness with power and that is fine and no one should feel inferior if they have not experienced this. Also if a denomination demands this experience if a person’s salvation is to be validated is unsound and very unScriptural.

If the above is not meant for all witnesses or if not all Christ-ian witnesses never experience this additional and repeated filling, does this mean their witness is dead and useless?  NOT AT ALL!!! There are two (2) ways to obtain the Spirit’s Witness and power in one’s Christ-ian and human witness.  One has already been mentioned above. The other Scriptural and therefore sound means of obtaining the Spirit’s Witness and power in one’s life and in one’s Christ-ian witness is to, walk with God as Enoch did, as Noah did, as Abraham did.  If one wants the Spirit’s Witness in one’s life and in one’s Christ-ian witness, “walk in the Spirit,”  “live in the Spirit,”  and “[pray] in the Spirit.”

If one wants to have “power with God and man” one must tap into the power of God that is latent in all Christ-ians.  Reader, I am not going off the tracks or off the reservation.  I am not spouting pentacostalism’s false teachings.  It is written in Ephesians, “[God has] blessed us with all spiritual blessings…”  In Galatians, Paul speaks of the “fruit of the Spirit.”  Peter tells us, we are partakers of the “divine nature.”  We are taught in Scripture that God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient or is Sovereign, is everywhere, and knows all things, right?  Think about this, God, in all His God-ness, lives in your mind, instincts and will.

The Christ-ian has all spiritual blessings waiting to be used and appropriated One must only ask God to release these blessings and use them to His glory and to benefit His people.  The Christ-ian is a garden or tree that has the Spirit’s fruit growing and ripening in it and upon it. The Christ-ian is a partaker of God’s very Nature in the Presence of the Holy Spirit. The All-Powerful, the All Present, the All knowing God abides in all of His children.

Therefore, if the Christ-ian does not have the Spirit’s Witness or power in his or her witness or if the Christ-ian does not have this power with God and man, it can only be because the Christ-ian is not walking with God, or tapping into or appropriating God’s “all spiritual blessing,” or the Spirit’s fruit is being hindered by something of human origin, or the Christ-ian does not know that the nature of God lives within, or does not understand the Greatness, the Bigness, and the Awe of God.

In summary:  The Christ-ian can obtain the Witness of the Spirit and the Spirit’s power in his or her Christ-ian witness in two (2) ways.
*The repeated baptism of, or the repeated filling with the Holy Spirit.
*Walking with God on a continuous and continual, persistent and persevering basis.
*Without either of the two (2) principles above, one’s Christ-ian witness has no power and without the two (2) principles above, one will not have power with God and man.

To some all of the above may sound deep and profound. To some it may sound heretical or charismatic. To some it may sound to lofty.  However, what I have writtten is        Christ-ianity 101.  What we have written is supported by Scripture, and Christ-ian history and should be supported by Christ-ian common sense.  Nothing I have written is deep or profound except, in the sense that, it is Scriptural, pure and true.

Reader, one must worship God before serving Him.  One must walk with God before walking with men.  One must talk with God before talking to men. One must witness God’s power and greatness before one can ever witness to others. Christ must be preeminent and everything else counted loss if one is the have power with God and man.

If this is new to you, I wonder what has been going on and being taught in your church.

Godspeed.