No mission is successful without power. On Remembrance Day we have remembered and it is hard not to think of war. When you go to war you must be prepared and armed for battle. Take for example a warship, which must be prepared for battle. I was looking at the German Battleship Bismarck and wondered how much ammunition this ship needed. It had eight massive 38 cm guns, which had 1,004 projectiles for it / It’s 12 Secondary Batteries had 1,288 projectiles / 16 Heavy Anti-aircraft Battery – 6,825 projectiles / 16 Medium Anti-aircraft Battery – 34,100 projectiles / 18 Light Anti-aircraft Battery – 44,000 projectiles. This ship would have been useless in war if it did not have this kind of power. If it went out without ammunition it would have just looked like a warship. Many churches and Christians are in this state. One man in our study said it would become an easy target for the enemy. You cannot complete the mission without power. We must be empowered before we go on that mission. Just as the disciples needed power, so do we. Too many people go on their mission without appointment and anointment. Scripture tells us the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon Saul, David, Samson, Elijah, Mary, Jesus, John, Paul, Disciples, to name a few.
In order for us to go we must be sent in power. Otherwise we are operating in our own strength and our mission will not be blessed. Can we honestly say the church looks like the gospels and the book of Acts and has its same power /fire? We need the fire but where is the fire? We need the power but where is the power? Are we willing to stop what we are doing and wait on God to be clothed with power? Will we cry out for it. We must wait for power of God – Saul did not wait and lost the kingdom (1 Samuel 13:5-14). Jesus makes this very clear. You cannot go on mission without my power. You must wait. But most North Americans do not like to wait.
- Acts 1:4 “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
- Luke 24:45 “Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am
going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Before we go on mission we must be grounded and founded on the Rock. In order for us to do what God wants, we must have a foundation in the Spirit. We must wait for it. Too many people want to benefit from the obedience of those in the upper room who waited as commanded. What about you and I? Are you prepared to wait like they did for the power to fall? This is why we are calling on God for revival. This is why we will wait. In the book “By My Spirit” by Jonathan Goforth “he speak of results which are abnormal. If the Almighty Spirit moves in sovereign power on the hearts and consciences of men the outcome must be above the normal. "One thing to be borne in mind is that since the days of Pentecost there is no record of the sudden and direct work of the Spirit of God upon the souls of men that has not been accompanied by events more or less abnormal. It is, indeed, on consideration, only natural that it should be so. We cannot expect an abnormal inrush of Divine light and power, so profoundly affecting the emotions and changing the lives of men, without remarkable results. As well expect a hurricane, an earthquake, or a flood, to leave nothing abnormal in its course, as to expect a true Revival that is not accompanied by events quite out of our ordinary experience." But though we speak of the manifestations at Pentecost as being abnormal, yet we maintain that Pentecost was normal Christianity. They were filled unto all the fullness of God, and God did work in and through them above all that they had asked or thought, even unto the "exceeding abundantly." My conviction is that the Divine power, so manifest in the Church at Pentecost, was nothing more nor less than what should be in evidence in the Church today. Normal Christianity, as planned by our Lord, was not supposed to begin in the Spirit and continue in the flesh. In the building of His temple it never was by might nor by power, but always by His Spirit.”
When we are filled with power we go out under the appointment and anointing of the Holy Spirit. We go out in the same power “his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead.”
Luke 10 “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the labourer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Mark 16:15 “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.”
As we wait for the spirit we call out, we prepare by digging in the word, we pray, we remain obedient, we confess and repent and make restitution, we live holy and blameless lives. In order for our mission to be successful we must wait for the power. We must be sent in power.
