Peter Tan-Chi - Are You A Faithful Witness?
This year, we are starting a new series called "Truth Matters," specifically in the Book of Acts, where we will study Acts 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on. Why is truth important? Tell me, why is this important? Because truth, even if you deny the truth, does not change the fact that it is still the truth. Truth cannot be twisted and it will affect your life. Let me give you an example. On December 31st, our family was on vacation. We were in America, we were staying in a hotel in the mountains, and my son started complaining of a stomachache, and we were hoping it would go away, so he spent the whole night hoping it would go away. So in the afternoon of December 31st, he complained, in the evening he complained, and the next morning, January 1st, you understand?
It was Tuesday, January 1st, I remember clearly, and my son, Peter, was complaining even more. So we decided we had to take him to the hospital, so I drove two hours with my son to the hospital, and we went to the hospital, and we went to the emergency room and got him checked out. A few hours later, after the MRI and blood tests, my son told me, you know what? It didn't hurt so much anymore, and he was thinking that he could go home. I said, no, no, no, let's wait for the doctor to come. The doctor came and the doctor said: I'm sorry, you can't go home, you need surgery. So my son had an appendectomy, on January 1, 2019. Exactly 10 years ago, my son drove me to the hospital emergency room because I also needed an appendectomy. What do I want to say now? What I'm trying to say is, my son was hoping the pain would go away, that the pain wasn't that bad at the time, but you see, the truth matters. What would have happened if he didn't know his appendix was about to burst? disaster! Many of you are in pain, I know this, and it may not be physical pain.
Let me tell you, truth is important. You need to know what's causing your emotional pain, what's causing your financial troubles, what's causing your relationship problems, and the truth is, a lot of people are in pain. I tell you, pain is God's way of searching for the truth. What's your problem? You cannot solve your painful problems until you know the truth. We have had many prayer requests this week, and another girl had a boyfriend who, in her mind, was a man who would bring her happiness. Ten years later, this man left her, and she was devastated. Her friend told her, you know what? Try being gay. So she tried homosexuality. She fell in love with this. So she married a girl. Five years later, she divorced that girl. Why? Because the truth matters. You can try to solve the problem, I'm not judging this girl. But my heart goes out to a lot of people who are in pain. You are looking for a solution, and many of us think the solution lies in relationships. We think the solution is marriage, family, and money.
My friend, this is why you need to study the Bible. The truth matters. For example, why would I want to teach Acts? You don't know what the first message of Christianity is. You don't know what the church is. You don't know what God's expectations for the church are. Do you know what the church's first message was? First ever sermon, what should your message be? You will study the Book of Acts and I will teach you. Is Christianity important? Very important. How do you explain how a group of men, a group of ordinary men, a group of ordinary women, 120 of them, were able to change the entire Roman Empire? The early Christians had no political power, no money, no technology, and no beautiful buildings. How did they change civilization?
Think about this. Truth is important. The entire theme of Acts is that Jesus was continually at work through the Holy Spirit in the lives of the apostles and his people. Many times the titles in your Bible are not inspired by the Holy Spirit, OK? So a lot of the Bible says "The Acts of the Apostles," and that's really the Acts of the Apostles, and for some it's the Acts of the Holy Spirit, but I propose that the book Acts of the Apostles is about... look again: Jesus continues to work through the Holy Spirit in the lives of the apostles and His people. So what is the summary of the book of Acts? The synopsis of the book of Acts, as I see it, is based on Acts chapter 1 verse 8. So, guys, let's read it together. If you want to know which verse is the key verse, this is the key verse. Everyone, please read: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses.
Note that we are His witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. In other words, the Bible says, you need to have the Holy Spirit, and then you will receive power, and then you will bear His testimony. Where to start? Start in Jerusalem. To me, Jerusalem today is your home, your place of work, your community. You start where you are. And then the Bible says, then throughout all Judea and Samaria, your influence will spread, farther and farther, to your other relatives, your friends, wherever they are, and then the Bible says, to the ends of the earth. Let me give you a summary of the Book of Acts. The summary of Acts is based on Acts 1:8. For example, it is divided into three parts. The first part is: how the church began. From chapter one to Acts chapter eight, the church begins in Jerusalem. This is where they start.
Next section, Acts Chapter 8 to Chapter 12, the church begins to grow throughout Judea and Samaria. Who is the main character? The first part is Peter, the second part is Philip, and then the last part of Acts, which is Acts 13 to 28, is spread to the ends of the earth and continues onward. What does this mean for CCF? The whole Philippines, the whole world, from Asia to America, all over the place. Now ladies and gentlemen, please note that Acts does not end. If you read the Bible, Acts 28:31, it does not end. Do you know why? The Book of Acts is not yet finished. It is up to you to write it, and it is up to me to write it, because the work of Jesus Christ continues to this day. You and I are part of the future history of the Church.
What is God trying to do in and through CCF Church? My friend, this is why the book of Acts is so important to me. It tells you what the church is, why we exist, what should our message be? According to the book of Acts, what should our organizational form be? What are the main verses? Everyone, read it again, read it together: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Power comes from the word dynamite. Dunamis, what do you have power for? Become a witness and bear my testimony in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, and Samaria. So my topic today is a continuation of Pastor Ricky's message from last Sunday. The topic is this. Everyone, read: You are a faithful witness. person? Are you? From one to ten, ten is very loyal, one is not loyal at all, one to ten, how would you rate yourself?
Thinking about your score, have you scored it now? One to ten. OK, think about your score. OK, because I'm going to improve this score, I want to move up to ten. OK, now, the word witness comes from Greek. Simply put, it means martyr. That's where the word Martyr comes from. Martyr originally meant witness. How come it now has the meaning of martyr? Originally, a witness literally meant a Martyr, but today when you read the word Martyr, what do you think of? Are you willing to work hard and sacrifice? Look, what do you think of? sacrifice? You think about death, and let me tell you why, because to be a faithful witness, in the early church, that meant being willing to die.
You see, a witness doesn't make up the truth, you just tell the truth, They were witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. Their message was simple: Jesus died for our sins, He rose from the dead, He will come again, and they were sentenced to death for their testimony. They were strictly ordered to deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, not to talk about it, they couldn't, and that's why the early apostles, every one of them, were martyrs, for example, Matthew, Matthew went Ethiopia, martyred. Mark went to Alexandria and was martyred. You see, Luke, the author of Acts, is the only Gentile author among the New Testament authors. Luke was a physician and a world-class historian. But when he came to know Jesus, he became a martyr. Peter, went to Rome and was martyred. Andrei was martyred. Thomas, you go to India. There is a group of Christians who call themselves the Thomasites and they were martyred.
I like Thomas, he doubted Jesus, and when Jesus appeared to him again, it changed his life. Jude, martyred. Matthias, we're also going to talk about this man today, the man who replaced Judas Iscariot, who died and was martyred, in Georgia, today's Georgia, next to Turkey, ladies and gentlemen, what was it that made these men willing to do that? Suffering and death for his faith? What would make you do this? Think about this. What makes you so passionate? So that you are willing to lose everything, your family, your possessions, even your life, I want to share with you that you will not be a faithful witness, you will not be a martyr, unless you have something in your life. These three facts.
This morning I'm going to talk about Acts chapter 1. Three facts. The first fact is: you must have a real encounter with Jesus. The second fact is that you must support the mission of Jesus. The third fact is that you must be guided by the Holy Spirit. Give you power. Without these, you cannot be a martyr. Martyrdom is not a bad word. What's today's topic? Are you a martyr? Are you a faithful witness? Can you ask your neighbor if you are a martyr? You can never be a martyr, you can never be a faithful witness, unless you have these three things in your life. First, meet Jesus for real. What do I mean? Let's read Acts chapter 1. I'm going to highlight some verses. Please read them.
Acts 1:3 After he suffered, he showed himself alive to the apostles with many proofs. Notice that the Bible uses Fantastic grammar, it uses words like "convincing evidence," which is infallible evidence, and the Bible tells us that Jesus made sure that He appeared to the apostles, without any doubt, without any question, that they would really Believe that He rose from the dead. The resurrection from the dead is the foundation. Without the resurrection from the dead, there is no Christian faith. You see, Jesus didn't want the disciples, including you, ladies and gentlemen, including me, to think that He was just a teacher, to think that He was just a philosopher, to think that He was just a good man, no, God wants you to know, Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died on the cross and then rose from the dead. Resurrection is extremely important.
Let me give you an example. Manny Pacquiao will come back to boxing, right? I think this month, if I told you, I'm going to fight Manny Pacquiao, I'm going to beat him, would you believe me? of course not. Now I tell you, you tie up my right hand, I only use one hand, only my left hand, and in the first round I will knock him to the ground, will you believe me? of course not. But I said, to prove I will beat him, OK? Are you willing to bet your entire fortune on whether I can beat him? Are you willing? Are you willing to bet your entire fortune on me beating Manny Pacquiao in the first round? Bet or not? Don't you believe me?
But, I will tell you, to prove to you that I will defeat him, you shoot me and on the third day I will rise from the dead, and boom! One of you shot me immediately, and on the third day, we were at... you were at the funeral home, okay? You saw my big picture, and all of a sudden I opened the tomb, Hello! Gosh! You are shocked! I am resurrected with full blood! But it's not the same anymore, I'm a new person, now do you believe I can beat Manny Pacquiao? Louder please! You'd stake all your fortune and double it on me to beat him, wouldn't you? You see, if you believe that Jesus rose from the dead, you will be like the early apostles. Our problem is: you haven't really met Jesus. We don't really know who Jesus is. The Bible tells us that Jesus appeared to them for forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. Notice that to prove that He was alive, the Bible tells us that Jesus was teaching them about the Kingdom of God.
Why is this important? Because Jesus wanted them to know that He wasn't just the Messiah, He wasn't just the Son of God, He was the King who was coming, and the Kingdom of God is real, it's not just spiritual, so there are 40 days For a long time, His only theme was the Kingdom of God. What do I mean? Look at the next verse and you'll start to understand. It's important for you to understand that Jesus is the coming King. Let's read this together: Acts 1:6-7, "When they were gathered together, they asked Jesus, 'Lord, will you restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?'" Notice, they were asking Jesus, will you restore the kingdom to Israel? They are not stupid. Many people say that they do not understand the Kingdom of God. They understand the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom of God is related to the Kingdom of Israel, because the Bible tells us that when Jesus returns, the headquarters of Jesus' government will be in Jerusalem.
Israel will be restored, and you see it today, slowly but surely. So they were not stupid, but Jesus didn't rebuke them. You know what Jesus said? "It is not for you to know the times and dates that the Father has set by his own authority". Jesus is saying: Don't bother guessing when I will come again. That is not the point. The point is... This is the most important thing. The point is What? You are to be my witnesses. Don't waste your time prophesying, when will Jesus come again? No, no, no, actually in verse 11, Acts 1:11 the angel said, "Men of Galilee, why are you What about standing and looking at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven". In other words, He is saying, "Christians, don't waste your time speculating about when Jesus is going to come back".
You know, there are a lot of people today who like to prophesy, prophecy classes, please note, I am not against prophecy, but please listen to what Jesus is saying. Jesus is saying, the most important thing is... What is the most important thing? Please read: When the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will receive power, and you will be my witnesses, in exchange for Bottom line, ladies and gentlemen, don't waste your time attending so many prophecy classes and trying to guess when Jesus is going to come back. The truth is: Jesus is coming back soon, isn't he? That's all you need to know, He is coming again soon. What do you have to do? Be ready. What do you have to do? Get busy. So, ladies and gentlemen, is Jesus coming again soon? Are you a faithful witness? OK, There are only a handful of people here, out of thousands of people, only ten are faithful witnesses. Let me ask you another question, maybe in a different way, are you willing to be a faithful witness? Yes! Okay. . Want to be a Martyr, okay?
Ladies and gentlemen, a faithful witness means a Martyr. You don't have to make things up. You just tell others what God has done to you, and that's a faithful witness. So a Faithful witness, you need three things. One, met Jesus. Two, embraced the Great Commission. Have you embraced the Great Commission? Let me give you an example, Judas, he didn't really meet Jesus, he Nor does he truly support the Great Commission. Let's look at Acts Chapter 1 Verse 16, "Brothers, the words of the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David prophesied in the Scriptures about Judas, who led the people to arrest Jesus. This must be fulfilled. He was among us, and he received a share in the apostleship".
I realized that Judas had the privilege of being with Jesus, that Judas had heard of Jesus, that Judas had been in Jesus' inner circle, and that he knew little about Jesus, much like a lot of people today. You know a thing or two about Jesus, you've heard about Jesus, but it's all in vain. Can I tell you why? When you listen to today's message, you don't think of one of your friends as Judas, OK, now you think of yourself, OK? I'm going to talk to you now, heart to heart, are you a Judas? What do I mean? Look at Judas, who heard everything, who had all the privileges of being in the intimate presence of Jesus, and yet... Let's read this passage together: John 12:4-5 4 There was a disciple, Judas Iscariot, who was about to betray Jesus said, "Why don't you sell this ointment for thirty taels of silver and give it to the poor"?
Notice that Judas did a good job of pretending to be a follower of Jesus. He could talk so spiritually, wow, we should help the poor, why don't we care about the poor? Judas could be a hypocrite, he could speak in Christian terms, notice the next verse, 6 He said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief and had a purse and took what was in it. Judas' heart was never right, and it was clear that he never knew the real Jesus. He wanted to use Jesus to achieve his ends. He never gave his heart to Jesus. That's why it's possible that in a group of people like this, you hear the same message, you study the same Bible, when you leave this place, one person is touched by the Lord and you are changed, and another person, you listen to I got the exact same information, but to no avail, and let me tell you why. If the heart is not right, the mind cannot think clearly. To Judas, his heart was money. To Judas, Jesus was his tool for personal gain.
What I am concerned about is that there are some people here today whose hearts are not right and whose lives have not been transformed. They have religion but no transformation of life. Judas had everything, but he betrayed Jesus. Why? You see, when you allow sin in your life, it blinds you. Miraculously, you and I might be like Judas. I remember that I had a friend who graduated from one of the top schools in the United States, theological school, Dallas Theological Seminary. But he was like Judas, living a life of duplicity and a shady life. He would teach the Bible, but privately, secretly, he was having an affair. But you see, the cost of sin is always high. It can blind you and destroy you. The man didn't realize that he was being slowly destroyed. He had an illegitimate child. Can you imagine? How can you be a pastor and have a family and children (outside of marriage)? The cost of sin is extremely high.
As Ravi Zacharias once said, sin will take you where you don't want to go, further than you want to go, and keep you in it longer than you want. If it is longer, the losses it will bring to you will be far greater than you imagine. Judas did not know the Lord. Why? Look at this quote. If you can't see the sun, the street lights will impress you. If you've never experienced thunder and lightning, fireworks will impress you. If you turn away from the greatness and beauty of God that is in Christ Jesus, you will fall in love with the darkness and short-lived pleasures of this world. I sympathize with many of you, your life has not changed, you are still having immoral sexual relationships, and you think that is OK. You are not going to be a faithful witness, not possible. You need to actually meet Jesus and know who He is.
My friend, if you knew who Jesus is - the coming King, the Son of God, the One who loves you, you would love Him and serve Him. Judas betrayed Jesus and Peter betrayed Jesus. What's the difference? Peter got to know Jesus and he was changed. Judas betrayed Jesus and committed suicide. What's the difference? Judas' heart was never given to Jesus. Peter loved Jesus, he failed, but he repented. Look what happened to Judas. The biblical writers wanted us to know the fate of Judah. 18 This man bought a field with the wages of his evil deeds. Then he fell down, his belly burst open, and his intestines came out. 19 All the people who lived in Jerusalem knew about this, so they called the field Achdamama, which means Field of Blood, according to their local language. What's the point here? There is no contradiction between the narratives in the Gospels and Acts.
In Matthew, you know that Judas betrayed Jesus and he hanged himself, remember? But what does this verse tell us about what happened to Judas? He fell, his belly burst open and all his intestines came out. There is no contradiction here. Judas hanged himself, and after he hanged himself, his body swelled. We don't know how long he hung there, but when he hit the ground, boom! The whole belly burst open and the intestines came out. But the important point is that Judah left no legacy. Judas' life was completely wasted. Because the Bible tells us: Acts 1:20 For it is written in Psalms: 'Let his habitation be laid waste, and no one should dwell in it'; and 'Let others take his place.' The first verse comes from Psalm 69, and the second verse comes from Psalm 109. They are both prophetic psalms, telling what will happen to those who betray the Savior. Judas lost everything.
To this day, if you go to Jerusalem, we go in March and April. You will see a place called Archdamas, which has become a cemetery. The Bible says that Judah left no inheritance. In fact, in this place, in this cemetery, there is a Catholic church, very close by. Friend, if you don't embrace Jesus' mission, Jesus' mission will still be accomplished, what do I mean? Let's read it together. Acts 1:21 21 "Therefore, as long as the Lord Jesus is always going in and out among us, 22 from the time John baptized him until the day he was taken up from us, there must be one from among our constant companions. To be witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus". In other words, Judas gave up that wonderful privilege of being a truly committed apostle, a follower of Jesus. He gave up. Why? Life is about choices. You are free to choose, but you are not free to escape the consequences. In Judas' case, he chose money.
Now I don't know about you, what you will choose. Maybe your problem isn't money, but you value something more than Jesus. Check your own life. You never align your life mission with the mission of Jesus. Many of us have our own free will. We don't commit our mission, our will, to the Lord. Do you know why? Because you have never truly met Jesus. When you meet Jesus, He becomes your Lord and His will becomes your will. But for some of us, you say you're a follower of Jesus, but you're actually following yourself, and I call this the Judas syndrome. There are many Judas today. It 's sad, I want to cry, when I see so many people who think they are followers of Jesus, but they are following themselves. Judas gave up wonderful privileges. But the qualifications for being an apostle, if you want to be an apostle, there are theological teachings here: Acts 1:22 22 From the time John baptized until the day the Lord left us and was taken up, that is the qualification, in other words, strict.
For example, for an apostle to belong to the Twelve Apostles, you must always be with Jesus. You must be with Jesus from the time of His baptism until Jesus was betrayed and later when He rose from the dead. Together, why? Your job is to bear witness. There are a lot of people today who want to be called an apostle, okay? There is this apostolic movement, and I don't judge them. But please don't call me or Jim Welchel Apostle Jim, or Apostle Peter, okay? But strictly speaking, the word apostle simply means "sent out," Apostelos, someone who is sent out. I'm sent out, but I wouldn't classify myself as the apostle Peter, OK?
Now if you want to be called an apostle, that's up to you. But the Bible says that to be qualified as an apostle, you must have followed Jesus from the time of His baptism to the time of His crucifixion. You have seen His resurrection and you are a witness. So they chose two men, one was Joseph and the other was Matthias. In other words, they preselected two people, so two people were qualified, and then they prayed and said, Lord, you know the hearts of all people, please show me who you have chosen out of these two, so that he Judas had given up his position as an apostle. Judas gave up these privileges. So the crowd cast lots for them, and Matthias was chosen, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
My friends, you are not going to draw lots today, are you? But let me tell you, in Jesus' day, they followed Proverbs, I believe it was in Proverbs 16, and they cast lots and the Lord decided which one, don't do that when you want to get married, OK? Which one should I marry? This one or that one? You have to use your common sense and they used their common sense. You know, they prayed, the Bible tells us, they prayed. If all conditions are equal, and there is nothing contrary to the Bible, all conditions are equal, it is OK to draw lots. I know of a business company that is very successful today and it is run by Christians. When they had a disagreement, and there was nothing against the Bible, all conditions were the same, but they didn't know what to do, left or right, all conditions were the same, they drew lots. Why? They said: Lord, we have done our part, everything is according to the Bible, but we don't know which one to choose, A or B, so they just draw lots, okay?
Those of you who are single now, please don't draw lots, okay? If you want to know when to get married, where to get married, and what day to get married, you have to ask your parents. That's my suggestion. Okay, now look at Revelation, Revelation 21:14 14 The wall has twelve foundations, Revelation Chapter 21 talks about the new heaven and the new earth, it talks about this glorious city, when Jesus comes again, the amazing reality, the Bible says, the streets are paved with pure gold, the city gates, twelve gates, each gate is made of a whole pearl, but please note that the city wall has twelve foundations, and on the foundations are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Note that here the eternal is sacrificed for the temporal. Judas never knew what he was missing.
Ladies and gentlemen, the cost of disobedience is so great, you will never know the ultimate cost of your disobedience, because you will never know what you have missed, you will never know what you have missed, Judas gave up. Fantastic privilege. My advice to you is this: Be faithful. You do what God wants you to do. For CCF, God has called us to be faithful witnesses. Can you ask the person next to you: Are you a Martyr? Simply put: Are you a faithful witness? You cannot be a faithful witness unless you have met Jesus. What's the second point? You must embrace the Great Commission. The Bible tells us that when you embrace the Great Commission, you need the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us read it together and be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Because you can't do this on your own. Let me repeat, the Christian life is not difficult, it is impossible, the Christian life is not difficult, it is supernatural, you need the Holy Spirit, that's why He told them. Let's read together, Acts 1:8, "And you will receive power, for you need power, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and then you will be my witnesses".
Have you seen this sequence? You become a faithful witness to Jesus Christ. Your life is transformed in word and deed, and you become a credible witness. You don't become a Martyr. What does Martyr mean? Faithful Witness, what is today's topic? Be a faithful witness. Are you a faithful witness? You need the Holy Spirit. You can't do it on your own. Note the importance of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:4-5, let us read it together: 4 When Jesus gathered with them, it means, in the Greek, He ate with them, ate supper, and had lunch, He was with them As they ate together, He commanded them, "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the Holy Spirit, which God the Father has promised to us all, saying: 'This is what you heard me say: John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'"
What does it mean to be baptized with the Holy Spirit? We'll explain it to you next week. We're going to read chapter 2 and I'm going to explain to you the importance of being baptized in the Holy Spirit and experiencing the filling of the Holy Spirit within you, but now let me talk to you about the Holy Spirit, why is this so important? You need the Holy Spirit, and let me tell you why, folks, let's read: John 16, folks: John 16:7-8 But I tell you the truth, it is for your good that I go away. If I do not go, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him. Do you know what Jesus is saying? Jesus is saying, right now, I am limited by my physical body. You see, Jesus is in a body. But Jesus is saying, when I go to heaven, I will send the Holy Spirit to you, I will no longer be limited by it. My body is restricted, do you know why? The Holy Spirit will be with each of us. You are with Jesus today, aren't you? Jesus can be in your heart, in my heart, in your heart, you know why?
That is the Holy Spirit. If I go, I will send the Holy Spirit to you. Then He tells us what the Holy Spirit will do. He, the Holy Spirit, please note this pronoun, He is a person, the Holy Spirit. 8 And when He is come, He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. You see, ladies and gentlemen, I can't convert anyone. I can't do that. Only the Holy Spirit can, let me repeat. Only the Holy Spirit can convict and convert anyone. Not you, not me. of. Let me give you an example of the power of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 6, one of the most immoral groups in the early church, sexual immorality, homosexuality, idolatry, to name a few, let's read it together: 1 Corinthians 6:9, "Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not deceive yourselves, neither whoremongers, idolaters, adulterers, pedophiles, or sodomites... Take heed, do not be deceived. The thieves, the greedy, the drunkards, the revilers, the extortioners cannot inherit the kingdom of God".
He is saying, don't fool yourself, you need to change, how should you be changed? Here is the good news, and the good news comes in the next verse: Read this: 11 As some of you were once like this, but you are washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by The Spirit of our God. You see, only the Holy Spirit can sanctify you. Ladies and gentlemen, how can you change without the Spirit of God? Many of you are trying to live the Christian life on your own, and you can't. You need the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does some amazing things, and I pray that this will inspire you greatly, like, when I learned about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, it changed everything in my life, even as I was giving my testimony, I'm here to tell you Read these words about witnessing: Successful witnessing consists in sharing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.
So, once you understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit, you don't force people to change, you don't try to force them to come to Jesus. For example, did I tell you what happened to me around January 1st? Did I just tell you what happened to my son? Did I tell you what happened to me? No? Exactly ten years ago, on January 1st, I also had appendicitis, and it was my son who drove me to the emergency room and the hospital. Ten years later, where did I drive my son? emergency room. Now why am I talking about this? Because in the midst of these things, my wife and I were thinking about how to share the gospel. Why we embrace the Great Commission, even if we leave our comfort zones, we still want to share the gospel.
For example, when I was flying last week, I was in the plane, and the Lord spoke to me: You share the good news with the flight attendants. You know, when I got on the plane, I got up at 3:30 in the morning, very Morning, everyone is still sleeping, but you know, there are flight attendants, they have no choice, they have to stay awake, so I talk to them, guess what I talk to them? Jesus. I hope they're here today, okay? I invited them. Because after sharing the gospel with them, they prayed and accepted Christ. I gave them the address of CCF. Do you know? What I discovered: People are hungry for God, people are hungry for the gospel, but you need to do your part. What is my part? Be empowered by the Holy Spirit. You know the Bible tells us, let's read it together: Gal 5:22 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Before I learned about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, I was living a failed Christian life. What really changed my life?
Ladies and gentlemen, when one day I come to the Lord and I say, Lord, I am tired of this rollercoaster of a Christian life, will you change my heart, will you really change me? ? I asked God's Spirit to fill me, you know what? My life has never been the same since. He did something deep inside of me, He changed me. Because only the Holy Spirit can change you. There are a lot of Christians today who think they are a Christian, or maybe you are a real Christian, but you have never been controlled by the Holy Spirit. What do I mean? Let's read it together: Romans 8:9 9 But you are not of the flesh, but of the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ. Please note that the name of the Holy Spirit has three different names. The first name is: You are no longer of the flesh, but of the Spirit.
The name of the Holy Spirit, He is called the Spirit, with a capital S. If the Spirit of God... The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of God, living in your hearts, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. So, who are the real Christians? According to this verse, who are the true Christians? He must have the Holy Spirit. Do you have the Holy Spirit? How do you know you have the Holy Spirit? how do you know? Here's the test: Do you have the fruit of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control. Have you ever been transformed in your soul? Ladies and gentlemen, salvation is a gift, it is by grace, but true salvation, true grace will transform your heart.
So, if there is no change, no transformation of life, you have been coming to CCF all these years. Church, maybe all you have is religion. You are still immoral, you are still lying, you are still having an affair, you are still living a life of inconsistency, don't deceive yourself into thinking you belong to Jesus, why? Because the Holy Spirit has not changed you yet. Do you have the fire and passion to share the Bible and share Jesus? That's the work of the Holy Spirit, not me. You ask me, Peter, how can I have the Holy Spirit? Very simply, how do you have the Holy Spirit? Let us read together: Ephesians 1:13 13 In Him you also believed, in whom you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him. . It means that on the day you believed the gospel and understood who Jesus was, you really believed in Jesus.
Unlike Judas, Judas knew Jesus, but he never believed that He was the Son of God. He never devoted his life to … Judas never understood that Jesus was the King of Kings. To him, Jesus was just another teacher. Friend, if you really believe today, Jesus is the Son of God, the one who loves you, the one who died for you, the one who rose from the dead, and one day He will come back to judge you and judge the living. Man dead, you truly believe that He is the Son of God, the King of kings, my friend, if you truly believe in Him, and you ask Him to be your Savior, the Bible says, you will receive what was promised The Holy Spirit is the seal. The Holy Spirit is a gift. I firmly believe... I love this quote, I firmly believe that when our hearts are emptied of selfishness, ambition, self-seeking, and everything that is contrary to God's law, the Holy Spirit will come and fill every corner of our hearts.
Before you can have the Holy Spirit, you must empty your heart. Before you can let Christ control you, you must surrender. Before Christ can come into your heart, you must be willing to turn away from sin. If you want sin and you want Christ, it's impossible. Christ and sin cannot coexist in your heart. You have to be willing to hand over your sin and say, Lord Jesus, I'm sick and tired of this sin, and you come, you take over, and you'll never be the same again. This happened to me many years ago and my life was never the same. You know why? The world has yet to see what God can do with people who surrender completely to Him. Would you like to be that person? Would you like to be that kind of woman? Say: "Lord! I don't want to play games anymore, no more games. I want to commit myself completely to you. I want to be a faithful witness". How to do it? Have you met Jesus, the King of Kings? Do you embrace His mission? You know, some of us, your mission is to center yourself, and you're using religion to take advantage of people, and that's terrible. Never do this. Have you surrendered your life to the Spirit of God?
Let's bow our heads, if God speaks to you, and you want to surrender your life to the Holy Spirit, and I want you to do something, let me lay out with you what I want you to do, and if you're not sure whether the Holy Spirit In your heart, you're not sure, but you want the Holy Spirit to come into your heart today. That's what you want. Raise your hand. Praise God, anyone else? You see, you're not sure, all you have is religion, but you're not sure if the Holy Spirit is in you, you never really change, well, you put your hands up, keep them up, keep them up, 'cause I'm gonna do it with you Pray and keep raising your hands high.
Those of you who are raising your hands, I want you to stand up right now. Please stand up and I want you to humbly pray this prayer with me. You ask for the Spirit of God to come into your heart and you are willing to empty yourself. Empty anything that hinders Him, that is my first question. Second question, maybe you have invited Jesus into your heart in the past, but you have never given Him complete control. Well, I want to get you up too! If you have never fully surrendered your life to the Holy Spirit, stand up! Yes, now. You may feel like He's in your heart, but you never give it all away, and I don't want to push my luck, so I want you to stand up, just to make sure, you know why? The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the key. Allowing God's presence to transform your life is the key. You can never change your life on your own. You don't have this power, I don't have this power. That is not my willpower, my willpower cannot change me. Only the Spirit of God will change me. So my friends, you bow your heads now, and those of you who are standing, please join me in praying this prayer.
Lord Jesus, I am sick and tired of the way my life is going and I need you and I want to stop playing games with you. I invite you now, Spirit of the living God, into my heart, into my life, Lord Jesus, and fill me with your presence. I believe with all my heart that you are the Son of God. I believe with all my heart that you died on the cross and that you rose from the dead. Lord, I believe that you never die. You are the Lord of eternity. You are life itself. Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of eternal life. I Come to you. Now, Spirit of the living God, come and change me. I surrender my all. We all pray in the name of Jesus, Amen! Amen!