Empowering the Church

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Acts 1:8

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."

NKJV

After having spent three years with his Disciples, Jesus was all too familiar with their propensity to become full of fear and lose faith when the going got tough.  He probably remembered the evening when he was asleep in the boat and his disciples suddenly awoke Him fearing they were going to perish in a storm (Matthew8:23-27).  Perhaps he recalled walking on the water towards the disciples when they found themselves in another storm.  These fearful disciples once again feared they would perish and when they saw Jesus coming to them, even feared he was a ghost.  Peter was the only one showing courage by stepping out of the boat and also walking on the water towards the Lord, but when he took his eyes off of the Lord he too became fearful (Matthew 14:22-33).  Perhaps he also recalled how Peter, who showed great courage by stepping out of the boat denied Him three times in His time of greatest need (Matthew 26:69-75). 

The context of Acts 1:8 is Jesus preparing to leave to be with the Father in Heaven.  In this context Jesus warns His followers not to immediately go out and begin ministering but instead to wait and receive power from the Holy Spirit (Acts1:4-8).  Jesus knew the persecution that was coming, he knew many of his followers would be martyred for their faith.  He knew that without the empowering of the Holy Spirit, these weak and fearful followers would cower in fear instead of spreading the Gospel.  We are no different from these early followers of Jesus and can easily become paralyzed by fear.  That is why we, as a church community, need the empowering of the Holy Spirit now more than ever. 

Many believers today, like those in the early church, profess their faith in Christ under the threat of death.  I for one am horrified when I hear of the crucifixion and beheading of Christians in the Middle East for their belief in Jesus Christ.  I know these fellow believers are now in the presence of the Lord but I also believe there is no way these individuals can stand for Christ under this type of threat unless they have the empowering of the Holy Spirit.  Truly, our weapons and might I add strength are not of this world (2Corinthians 10:4).

In nations like the United States, Christians usually do not face the threat of death for their beliefs but they do suffer from a form of soft persecution.  Even though this soft persecution does not mean they face the threat of death, they do face the threat of loss of their livelihood or property because of their beliefs.  It would be easy for these people to simply give in and keep their faith and beliefs to themselves but that presents a conflict with the command of the Lord before leaving to be with his father in Mark 16:14-18,

Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;  18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." 

NKJV

So important is this command that scripture repeats it in Matthew 28:16-20, Luke 24:44-49, and Acts 1:6-8.  It is clear that Christianity is to be actively practiced and not just something believers do on Sunday.  However, to be effective in carrying out the Great Commission, it is imperative to be empowered by the Holy Spirit as the believers were in Acts 2 for it records the transformation of timid Peter into the first evangelist. 

The Book of Revelation also provides instruction as to how the Church is to function in the Last Days.  Over the next seven Saturdays, we will look at what God told each of the seven churches to which the Book of Revelation is addressed.  God commends each of these churches for the good they do but also has instructions on how they can improve something I believe the Church Community needs today.

It is my hope that as we look at God’s message to each of these churches, we will discover what we must do to become a vibrant, empowered, and effective church in these troubling times.  There is a lost and dying world out there that needs to see the example of a vibrant empowered church.  The question is will we as a Church Community answer the call.