Darren & Lisa Kaytor with Pastor Max Solbrekken
WITH
GREAT POWER
By
Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
“And
with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.”
(Acts 4: 33)
Many GREAT things happened
in the Ministry of the Early Church. There was great
power
and great
grace.
There was great
giving, great consecration
and great
dedication
to God. There was great
fear of the Lord
in the Church and outside the Church, as well.
There was great
persecution
and
great
deliverance.
There were great
miracles, signs
and
wonders
after God poured out the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room in Jerusalem
on the Day of Pentecost in 33 AD.
In
this paper we will examine the Holy Scriptures as they relate to the
awesome Power
unleashed upon the recipients of the Baptism
of the Holy Ghost and Fire
and those who followed them! And why the Baptism of the Spirit in the
lives of 120 spiritually hungry and obedient believers in Jesus, the
Messiah was instrumental in transforming their lives and the
multitudes who gave ear to their witness!
Rather than relying on the
old worn-out cliches
of carnal, less-than-spiritual preachers, we will allow the Holy
Spirit to lead us into the truth of His own precious and Holy Word!
Jesus believed the Scriptures and lived by them and so must we.
He said: “…
And the Scriptures cannot be broken.” (John
10: 35); “Search
the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they
are they which speak of Me. And ye will not come to Me, that ye may
have life.”
(John
5: 39, 40)
On the Day of Pentecost,
the preaching of the Apostle Peter brought 3,000
souls
to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Sometime later, a crippled
man was miraculously healed through the ministry of Peter and John,
resulting in another 5,000
conversions
to
Christ.
When they were beaten for
preaching Jesus the Crucified, Risen and Glorified Christ, the
Apostles prayed: “And
now Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto Thy servants that
with all boldness they may speak Thy Word; By stretching forth Thy
hand to HEAL,
and that SIGNS
and WONDERS
may be done by the Name of the Holy Child Jesus.
“And when they had
prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spoke the Word of
God with boldness.”
(Acts 4: 29-31)
WHAT,
WHEN, WHERE, WHO AND WHY?
What was this power? Where did
it originate? What did it accomplish? Why did it come? Who were the
blessed recipients of it? Did its Source weaken and diminish? Is this
power available to the Church today? Is it blasphemy to blame God for
our lack? Should we examine our hearts and repent of our unbelief and
stop making excuses?
Jesus spoke to more than 500
men in Galilee at one time before His ascent to Heaven, and I'm sure
He would have asked them all to tarry in Jerusalem and wait for the
Promise of the Father. Why were there only about 120 in the Upper
Room when the Holy Ghost fell? Where were the 380?
Is not this a picture of
the Church today? The golf course, football game and banqueting table
seems more exciting and enjoyable than an old fashioned Prayer
meeting. I'm afraid, that many of the traditional and evangelical
churches today fit in the 380 category, while Full Gospel Churches
are active on the Front Lines!
After praying for ten days,
one hundred and twenty spiritually hungry souls were baptized with
the Holy Spirit and Fire and went out to win the world for Christ.
The Bible says: “And when
the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in
one place. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a
rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were
sitting.
“And there appeared unto
them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
“And there were dwelling
at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under Heaven. Now
when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were
confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own
language.
THEY WERE ALL AMAZED &
MARVELLED!
“And they were all amazed and
marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which
speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein
we were born...speak in our tongues wherein we were born?
“And they were all
amazed, and were in doubt saying one to another: What
meaneth this?
Others mocking said: These men are full of new wine. But Peter,
standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them:
Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known
unto you, and hearken to my words:
“For these are not
drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel:
“And
it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of
My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men
shall dream dreams: And on My servants and on My handmaidens, I will
pour out in those days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy.”
(Acts
2: 1-8, 11-17)
This was in direct
fulfillment of JOEL'S prophecy: “And
it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon
all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old
men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions: And also
upon the servants and upon the handmaidens in those days will I pour
out My Spirit.”
(Joel 2:28)
Jesus had promised to send
the Holy Spirit to His Disciples. They would be endowed with power
from on High. He called it, 'The
Promise of the Father.'
It would be given as a free gift to everyone hungering and thirsting
after Righteousness!
This
gift could not be poured out upon His disciples until Jesus had first
poured out His blood. It would come through the Blood of the
Everlasting Covenant and emanate from God the Father in Heaven!
(Heb.13: 20)
The Key to this POWER is in
the Holy Spirit alone! Only true believers in Christ are able to
receive this marvellous Gift, because the world does not know Him. He
is given only to True Believers and He works only through the shed
BLOOD of our Saviour, Jesus Christ!
I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU
COMFORTLESS!
JESUS
said: “If ye love Me,
keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give
you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever.
"Even the
Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him
not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you
and shall be IN
YOU. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (John
14:15-18)
Our
Lord called the Holy Spirit, the parakletos
(Gr.), one who
pleads another’s cause, defends another and comforts him. He
is our Divine Helper, Who comes alongside to help us. Jesus promised
that the Holy Spirit would never leave us, but come and live within
us!
“Jesus
answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words:
and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make Our
abode with him.”
(John 14: 23);
“Ye
are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater
is He that is in you,
than he that is in the world. No man hath seen God at any time. If we
love one another God
dwelleth in us,
and His love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we
in Him and He in us
because He hath given us of His Spirit.” (1 John 4: 4, 12-16)
These
comforting words reassured His disciples, and bring reassurance to
believers today as we battle the same enemies, temptations and trials
they had to overcome. The Gift of the Holy Spirit was given to
oversee His Church and will be with us until the end.
Not
only would Christ’s Miracle Ministry continue, but would escalate
under the tutorship and leading of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Promised:
“Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do
shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do that the
Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My
name, I will do it.” (John 14: 12-14)
UNBELIEF
& HARDNESS OF HEART!
After His resurrection
from the dead, Jesus was not pleased with two sins which are also
prevalent among His followers today, namely unbelief
and hardness
of heart. He
rebuked them in no uncertain terms. We must ask, where do these two
sins originate?
He
had walked with them for three years and on a number of occasions
told them of His DEITY and role as MESSIAH, which would fulfill the
Old Testament prophecy:
“Surely
He hath borne our sicknesses (heb.
makob),
and carried our pains (heb.
nasa),
yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He
was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His
stripes we are healed.” (Is. 53: 4,5)
Regarding
the Origin of SIN and His disciples’ disregard for Christ’s
teaching about His Death and resurrection, let me say unequivocally
that Satan, the LIAR is responsible!
St.
Paul stated: “Ye did
run well; who did hinder you that you should NOT obey the Truth? This
persusion cometh NOT of Him who calleth you.”
(Gal.5:7,8); “This
wisdom descendeth NOT from
Above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.”
(James 3:15).
Clearly,
then, any thought, thing or action that opposes the Word of God is to
be avoided like the plague: “…For whatsoever is not of FAITH is
sin.” (Rom.14: 23)
“Afterward
He appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided
them for their
unbelief and
hardness of heart,
because they believed
not them
which had seen Him after He was risen.” (Mark 16: 14)
He
delivered ‘The Great Commission’, which would define the
role of His Church throughout the Gospel Age until the consummation
of all things spoken by the Prophets. He will return soon to rapture
the Church and judge the quick (living) and dead at the ‘White
Throne Judgment’. (Rev. 20: 10-15).
The
Bible says: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins
may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing come from the
presence of the Lord: and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before
was preached unto you:
"Whom
the Heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things,
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His Holy prophets since the
world began.” (Acts 3: 19-21)
HERE
IS THE BOTTOM LINE!
“Unto
you first God, having raised up His SON Jesus, sent Him to bless you,
in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” (Acts 3:
26).
All
the POWER and supernatural gifts God has given His Church is so that
the world may believe that He sent His Son into the world to save us.
And that He was incarnated (God
in human flesh)
and died vicariously for us all on the CROSS and became the
propitiation (satisfaction)
for our sins, having
met the Demands of Divine Judgment.
He
took our place on the CROSS, dying in our stead, satisfying the
Righteousness of God against the sins of mankind, past, present and
future.
St.
John declared: “And
many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples,
which are not written in this book: But these are written that Jesus
is the Christ the Son of God; and believing ye might have life in His
name.” (John 20:
30, 31). Amen.
