I. THE POWER

II. THE PURPOSE

III. THE PLAN

Have you ever considered what you want your last words to be? Have you considered what you want your family to remember as you die? What are your last words going to be? What can they put on your tombstone?

There are last words that are humorous: Here lies John Smith for he can do no more. The person that has a good sense of humor always desires that they will have something witty, or light to say as they die.

There are last words that are sad: It is said that the last words of the man that started one of the denominational movements in America were said to his son. The son was also a leader in the movement. The man's last words were in the form of a question to his son concerning the movement that they had perpetuated. "We were right, weren't we?"

There are last words that are comforting: My mother died very unexpectedly to the family, however she must have had a premonition because a week or so after her death we found a note she had written to the family assuring us of her love toward us and asking forgiveness for any ill feelings that might have been left unsettled. The words were a comfort to us.

Last words are very important. These usually are those things that are most important to the dying person. They are words that the person desires with all their being to impart to those around them.

These words that we are going to consider in this section are not Jesus' last and final words, however they are His last words to the disciples before ascending into heaven. These words must have been words of importance and we need to consider them as such!

Acts 1:8 is a verse that is often quoted in reference to the missionary effort, and rightly so. It is a verse that we need to consider as we move along in our thinking.

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (KJV)

This term translated "power" is the term that we gain our word dynamite from. The believers were promised the Holy Spirit and the power which He could give to them. The text speaks of the apostle’s future spreading out over the known world with the message of the Lord. As you read through the first few chapters of the book of Acts you will see that this is about what happened. The apostles went out evangelizing and they did it with great power!

The power of the Holy Spirit was given to the church age believers on the day of Pentecost. It is our place to use that power and to manifest that power even today! HOW DOES THIS POWER MANIFEST ITSELF?

The Holy Spirit's power is manifested in a number of ways. Galatians 5:22 mentions that the fruit of the Spirit are love, long-suffering, faith, joy, gentleness, meekness, peace, goodness and self-control. This is a very definite manifestation of the Spirit's power. If we were to unleash only this power in the churches of the world we would see reformation in a real sense.

As we allow the Holy Spirit free reign in our lives, these fruits will be manifested to the world. This in turn will be a powerful message to those around us. Imagine the United States tomorrow morning if every Christian in the country came to work like that! Just imagine!

Another manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit in our own day is the boldness to speak the gospel when we know we should. There are those in every generation that can freely proclaim the Gospel in all sorts of different situations of life, yet most of us must with Paul ask one another to pray for us that we might have boldness in speech and witness. We have that boldness as we allow the Holy Spirit to demonstrate His power through us.

The boldness to witness is closely related to the power of the Holy Spirit within the life of the person that we are talking to.

My wife and I spoke with a young man years ago, for about two hours. He had a very warped sense of his eternality. As we began to understand what he was saying we started using the Word of God to show him where his thinking was in error. He would bring up something and we would show him that it was wrong from the Word. Finally he said, "Hold it now - you have me totally confused." What he meant, and didn't understand was that the Scriptures had been so powerful in exposing the error of his beliefs that he was confused. He never accepted the Lord that we know of, but he knew that his human philosophy could not stand before the Word of God, indeed, his own thinking could not stand the convicting work of the Holy Spirit.

The power of the Holy Spirit may well be seen in answered prayer, as we make our requests known concerning witnessing. A pastor of a fairly large church challenged his congregation of about 200 to list 3 names on a 3x5 card. These were to be people that the person wanted to witness to in the next 30 days. He promised to pray for each and every name for 30 days and the people were to do the same, asking that the Lord would give them opportunity to witness to these 3 people within the month. After the month was over there was a testimony time and everyone had witnessed to some on their list and the vast majority had had the privilege of witnessing to all 3 of the people on the list. POWER IN PRAYER! One of the people on my list was my father. We had approached him with the Gospel many times, but he would never listen to us. After the pastor challenged us and prayer had been offered, my father opened the opportunity for a witness.

The apostles produced great fruit in the early days of the church yet they didn't have the power themselves to do theses things. The Holy Spirit was the key to their power. So be it with us. We have no power! The only effective power we have is the Holy Spirit. When we remember this fact and begin to look to Him for His power and His work in the lives of those we minister to, then we will begin to see the power of the Spirit.

Not only has God given us power, but He also has given us purpose. Christ stated that, "...ye shall be witnesses...." We all have the same ability to witness for Christ - not just the pastor - not just the evangelist - not just the missionary - not just the Sunday school teacher. Every one of us are to be witnesses for the Lord. Too many fundamental churches function on the pastor/layman system. The pastor does the work and the men let him. (Notice should be given that I refrained from the obvious play on words - lay man!)

We are all to be witnesses! I am reminded of a little fourth grader that was introduced to me in Ireland. She was very active in sharing her belief in Christ with everyone she met. She even witnessed to her schoolmates and was known to mention the Gospel to her teachers. She by the way, attended a Roman Catholic school. The girl was bold enough to confront nuns with the Gospel that she knew they needed to hear. The point of the story is this, if a fourth grader can witness to Roman Catholic nuns, then certainly the rest of us ought to be able to witness for the Lord in much less threatening situations!

The term translated "witness" is the term from which we gain our English word martyr. "One who bears witness by his own death" (An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words; W.E. Vine; Fleming H. Revell Co.; Old Tappan, New Jersey;) We fear a little rejection and mild persecution if we witness, yet many in ages past have placed their lives on the line to witness for their Lord. In some countries today if you are very outgoing with your witnessing you open yourself up for all sorts of governmental difficulties.

Not only are we to be witnesses, but we are to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. Some find that this is a very uncalled for comment and observation, however in light of the present affairs in this world, we need to be very careful to let people know who we are witnessing about. We have loads of latter day lunatics around and we don't want to be mistaken for them! We have a number of groups that are witnessing of the work of a number of people and gods. We have people witnessing of the works of all the eastern gurus and leaders. We have people witnessing of the works of Jehovah. We have people witnessing of a watered down Jesus. We have people witnessing of the works of a new Messiah that has come to complete the work that Jesus didn't do when He was here.

We have many that are Christians today that are witnessing of the works of Jesssuuuusss as well. The term Jesus is a very meaningful term to the Christian and well it should be; however the overemphasis of the name is not really in keeping with the Scriptural usage of the name of our Lord.

Of the 354 occurrences of the name Jesus outside the gospels only a few ever appear alone. Generally the term Jesus is used in conjunction with the terms Lord and Christ. The term Jesus is a term that describes His earthly ministry up to and including the ascension. Out side of this context the name Jesus is linked to "Lord" and/or "Christ." Rarely is the name Jesus used alone.

In keeping with this may we consider Acts 2:36. "let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." The context of this statement is Peter's sermon and in this part he is speaking of Christ's glorification and position in the heavens.

There is nothing wrong with using the name Jesus, yet there seems to be something amiss if a Christian is dwelling on the earthly ministry of the Lord. There is so much more than the gospels that we need to be studying as well!

"GOD HATH MADE ... JESUS ... BOTH LORD AND CHRIST"! (Acts 2:26) WE ARE WITNESSES OF JESUS CHRIST THE LORD, THE SON OF GOD!

He has given us power, He has given us purpose, and now we need to notice that He has given us a plan. Christ in the final part of the verse mentions the "where" of this witnessing. "and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

The indications of what Christ wanted seems to be fairly clear to the casual reader. The church is to be a witness to all parts of the world. There is a move among some in America to pervert the easy, plain meaning of this text. Some are beginning to teach that we need to deal with Jerusalem first and then Judea and then Samaria and then when these are done the uttermost parts of the earth. In other words begin in America - start churches in America then the uttermost.

First, they say, we must build a strong economic base, then train our people here by having them go out into America to start churches and then in a few years as they are experienced they can go on to the field. As we build all of these churches we will be building a strong economic base for the missionaries to go forth from.

They forget that the Gospel spread quickly from Jerusalem, where all of the Christians had spent their monies on one another. The Jerusalem church was very poor from all indications. Building an economic base from which to launch missionaries is not a Biblical imperative, nor is it a Biblical principle. The Biblical principle is to live by faith and allow God to provide the finances.

It is agreed that we need to train our workers. It is agreed that we need to build more churches here. The teaching that we must reject is the fact that we should emphasize "home" over "away!" Actually they are verbalizing what has been practiced in America for years! I think the facts show that this is what has gone on for years.

It seems quite evident that the American church has been very committed to self-improvement. The facts of how many dollars are spent here and abroad will quite adequately bear this out!

The problem in America is not the need for a strong economic base. The need is for a strong Spiritual base! If the spiritual lives of believers were of the quality that the Scripture calls for, there would be no need for dollars, no need for workers, no need for emphasis of anything over anything. The people would be going and the finances would be present. God has promised to supply the needs. The missionary need is met through God's people. God has not changed nor has the need for finances. That leaves us to conclude that God's people are not holding up their end of things.

The problem in America is not the need for a strong economic base. The problem is the schools and seminaries that have lost the strong "Go Ye" emphasis of years past. The schools are not teaching missions in the manner in which they should. Pastors coming out of our schools have not been exposed properly to missions. Pastors coming out of our schools have no burden for reaching the world. They have very little burden for reaching the people in this nation. Pastors are not preaching missions nor are many of them interested in missions. This makes for a weak, watered down concept of missions in America.

Let us consider the text and how it relates to our age. Properly viewed this text may be prophetic. The Apostles, in their own time, did this with God's help. If you take time to read the first few chapters in Acts you will see that this is the pattern that occurred in the early church. They reached Jerusalem and then because of the scattering, the gospel went out into the countryside. Those suggesting that there is a sequence fail to realize that the gospel went out into the world almost immediately, in that those that heard the sermon on the day of Pentecost were from all over the known world and many of them probably returned to their own country with the gospel within days of hearing it.

Even if it was sequential, we are in the uttermost phase. Even if you could verify that there was a sequence to follow in this verse we would have to admit that we are in the last phase of the sequence and have been for centuries. There is historical evidence that the apostles reached into India to the east and possibly into Ireland in the west. Paul himself spread the gospel into much of the known world.

The simplicity of the text - demands no sequence. The text states simply that "ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Of the Bibles I checked only the Living Bible even hinted that there was to be a sequential order to the witnessing. None of the translations nor the Living Bible suggests that this is a process of sequence that is to be followed literally by every believer of every generation.

There is no basis to on which to build a sequence in this text! I have checked with Greek scholars, commentaries, and translations and found no basis for a sequence.

The term "both" is defined in Funk and Wagnall as follows: "the two together:" or "equally; alike; as well:" The term "and " is defined as "also; added to; as well as:"

Oswald J. Smith observes (in I Have Walked Alone With Jesus; 1982)

DEC. 26

"When I was in Sumatra I heard of a town to which no one had gone, and I penetrated back through the jungles until I reached it. Never will I forget the thrill that was mine as I crossed the threshold of that town, realizing that I was in all probability the first messenger of the cross to have done so.

"If I were a young man today, I would ask, as Livingstone did, to be sent to new fields, for I would want to be the first to reduce the language to writing, translate portions of the

Bible and give the people the gospel. I, too, would be a

pioneer.

"Why waste your life here in America or Great Britain? You, too, can be a pioneer. Oh, I know what you are saying. I have heard it said again and again. You are quoting Acts 1:8, but you are not quoting it right. This is the way you quote it: "Ye shall be witnesses unto me first in Jerusalem, then in Judea; after that in Samaria, and last of all, to the uttermost part of the earth." But that is not what it says. Let me quote it for you now: "Ye shall be witness unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." It is not, "first" but "both." And what does the word both mean? It means at one and the same time, does it not? In other words, we are to evangelize Jerusalem, and at one and the same time, Judea and Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth. We are to work both fields; the home and the foreign, together."

We should be, if following this principle, expending similar efforts and expense on the field and at home. How many churches today expend 50% of their budget and effort for the world? (50% outside immediate area) ONE AND THE SAME!

Some say, "But we are reaching the world!" How can they say that? If we have observed this concept properly then why are there 200 times as many Christian workers in America as there are in the world? As a sidelight did you know that Amway and Avon have 14 times more representatives in America than the entire church has outside the U.S.?

Why are 96% of church funds used for English speaking people and only 4% used for non-English speaking people?

Why do churches in this nation receive 75 to 100 resumes from prospective pastors when their pastor resigns? (One church received this many before they even announced that they were looking for a new man.)

Why are mission agencies crying for workers while churches are inundated with prospective pastors?

Why are churches turned down by prospective pastors because the church does not pay enough?

Why are veteran missionaries having so much difficulty raising support to return to their ministries on the field?

MAY I SUGGEST SOME POSSIBLE REASONS?

1. We have lost our basic commitments to our Lord Jesus Christ and His love for the WORLD. Christ died for the sins of the world not for the sins of the people living in the United States!

2. We, as the people of Israel, are following other gods. We are following our pet philosophies, we are following our pet authors, and we are following our own fleshly desires instead of getting into the Word to follow the Savior that we claim to serve.

3. Some that are called aren't going. While on deputation, I had quite a number of people tell me that when they were young, they had felt God wanted them to go into missions, but they never took that step for Him. Every one of them regretted deeply their decision.

The example of Christ and Paul - demand no sequence. Christ did not send the disciples out to plant churches so they would be financed. He sent them out and told them not to worry about their needs. Paul did not go planting churches so that he could be supported by the strong economic base. He went out preaching the gospel.

The great missionaries of the last generation went out with a very poor economic base. The Christians had to give sacrificially to get them to the field.

No, there is no sequence - we are to be working both fields at the same time.

Just recently I spoke to some Christians, two of them being pastors, about missionaries not being able to get to the field because of a lack of support. Their thinking was not, "oh, let's find new ways of raising support for them," but their thinking was, "Maybe it would be better for the missionaries to find some place here in the states to minister until the economy can pick up enough for them to raise their support."

Their thought was - they should get busy here - forget the field. In short - work in Jerusalem and forget the uttermost for now. NO! THE "GO YE" MEANT TO THE WORLD NOT THE UNITED STATES!

We are to be witnesses to all four!

HOW CAN WE WITNESS HERE IN OUR OWN CITY?

Witness at every opportunity - to friends - neighbors - coworkers - anyone that will listen! Leave tracts where you go. In restaurants, telephone booths, restrooms etc. I was in Albany, OR and was in three public areas, and there were tracts in all three (a restaurant, a restroom, and a phone booth). Invite people to Sunday school and Church. Place ads in newspapers concerning radio programs that you know are on the air and that are sound. Place ads for Christ in the newspaper. Help in the ministry of the local church. Help in calling programs, in teaching, in outreach, etc.

HOW DO WE WITNESS IN OUR OWN COUNTY?

The same way as in the previous section. Help start Bible studies in the surrounding towns. Win the people here and they may win others out and around.

HOW DO WE WITNESS TO OUR OWN STATE?

Help pioneer works as they struggle to get on their feet through prayer and financial support as you can afford it. Support ministries that cover the state and work in other areas. Get involved in projects where you can help in other towns. Maybe an afternoon of witnessing or of calling in another town for another church. Maybe help build if you are skilled in these areas.

HOW DO WE WITNESS TO THE WORLD?

Prayer support for missions. Pay support for missions. Write your missionaries. Keep them informed about the goings on of this country - sports - politics - science - etc. Encourage them as you can in that this may help keep them on the field. Send tracts to people that you know abroad. If you really want to do it in a neat way go to the field yourself and witness in person. This can be done on a short-term basis as well as a long-term basis.

We spoke in a small church that had really spread their missionary support to every area, as Acts 1:8 tells us to do. They had a hometown missionary that planted churches, they had a man that worked with a camp in their state, and they supported a campus ministry in another part of the U.S. There were some foreign missionaries as well. I told them that they had done a good job of spreading their outreach monies around. I was informed that it had occurred accidentally - they hadn't planned it that way.

If you consider this verse a COMMAND TO YOU PERSONALLY, and it is, then ---GO--- be it in your town, in your state, in the country or in the world.

Americans are very self-centered these days and I think we, as Christians tend to follow the world's lead in this area. We really need to get a proper prospective of our Lord. We really need to get our priorities straight. We really need to get our view of hell straight. We really need to view the lost as God views the lost. We really need to get on our knees and ask God to give us the burden for the lost that He has.

WE REALLY NEED TO GO!

We really need to become evangelistic in our fundamental churches today. I recently read an article written by a fundamental evangelist concerning the decline in the evangelistic emphasis in our churches. He related information about the two or three week evangelistic campaigns that he had held in the past, and then he related that due to the pace of life in America that the campaigns were reduced to one week and then later they were reduced to four days and then three days. The purpose of his article was to relate that he was about to go to a church for his first ONE-DAY EVANGELISTIC CAMPAIGN! His final comment went something like this. I suppose the next church will want me to just phone it in.

ONE DAY EVANGELISTIC CAMPAIGN. We in America should be ashamed of ourselves! "But ye shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8

Over two and a half billion people today are without the good news and on their way to eternal hell. DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT TODAY? It is our generation's job to reach those people - no one else can do the job. DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT TODAY?

May we each one reconsider God's place in this program of "Man spreading the Gospel to man" through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives!

I'm not one that is much for invitations as a rule, however as the days go by I become more frustrated with the Body of Christ in America. We need to call for commitment - for service - for zeal. God has given us a job to do and we aren't doing it.

Yes, we can blame it on "the Church." Yes, we can blame it on other churches (they aren't doing the job). But that is foolishness. Your has to do something! My church has to do something. Stanley Derickson has to do something! You have to do something.

We don't have to worry about what Faith Baptist is doing! We don't have to worry about what Community Baptist is doing!

God has given us Acts 1:8 today! What are we going to do with it? If you are saved, what are you going to do with Acts 1:8 today?

Let's not let Acts 1:8 pass in one ear and out the other without it making a dramatic change in our thinking! If you can't go, then help go, and pray for those that can go.

In closing I would like for you to consider the words of a poem. I am not a poetry lover and I very seldom use poetry, but this poem has a very pointed message to it, and I feel it is a challenge to every man, woman, and child that claims Christ as their Savior.

It Isn't Fair

"It isn't fair! It can't be right!

I now protest with all my might!

I raise my voice both loud and strong,

It's wrong, my friend! It's wrong, it's wrong.

"It's wrong, I say, dead wrong, indeed!

That's why I weep and beg and plead.

It is a black and wicked sin

To keep the light from dying men!

"I plead the cause of men afar,

Unsaved, unloved, untold they are.

Why have we been so late and slow?

Why have there been so few to go?

"Unsaved, unsought and still untold,

Because we love and hoard our gold!

How dare we show such selfish greed?

And keep the truth from men in need?

"Let's follow Jesus' last command!

Let's take the light to every land!

This truth is plain: the need is great.

The time is short; the hour is late!

"Let's not linger, rest or sleep,

But rise and go and give and weep!

And quickly tell a dying race

Of Jesus' love and power and grace!

Fred D. Jarvis (June 1984 Pulpit Helps)

Let's consider Acts 1:8! According to current figures approximately 3,333 unsaved people died in the time it took you to read this section (3,333 per hour).

The poet states

"It is a black and wicked sin to keep the light from dying men!"

Every minute we delay our action as a church universal, 55 more unsaved people slip into eternal torment. What are you going to do with Acts 1:8?

Romans 10:14 "How, then, shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?"

How are you going to handle Acts 1:8?