Study Focus: John 15:26, 27; John 16:8; 2 Peter 1:21; Acts 2:41, 42; Acts 16:6-33; Acts 17:33, 34.
Part I: Overview
Mission is God’s work first. We cooperate with Him in witnessing to lost people as we unite with and are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Without the empowerment and guidance of the Holy Spirit, our witnessing efforts are powerless. We may be able to convince someone of certain Bible truths, but without the deep working of the Holy Spirit in their lives, little change will take place. They may change their beliefs but not their hearts. There may be an external conformity to truth, but there will not be the life-changing transformation into the likeness of Christ that only the Holy Spirit can bring.
In this week’s lesson, we will study the role of the Holy Spirit in witness and His mighty power to change our lives. Our study will especially analyze examples recorded in the book of Acts that reveal the remarkable work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of unbelievers. These unbelievers came from various cultural backgrounds. There life experiences were different. Some were educated and others uneducated. Some were wealthy and others poverty stricken. Some were Jews and others Gentiles. They came from different continents and viewed life differently; yet, all were impacted by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is no respecter of persons. He can transform any individual who is open to His influence. The main purpose of this week’s lesson is to reveal that as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, we will see the miracle-working power of His grace.
Part II: Commentary
The primary chapters on the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament recount Jesus’ discourse in John 14-16. The Holy Spirit is our Helper, the paraclete, who comes along side us, empowering our witness, guiding our words, and empowering our service for Christ. Witnessing is never about us. It is always all about Jesus. The purpose of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to “testify” of Jesus. Our Lord stated it clearly: “ ‘But when the Helper [Greek: paraclete] comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness’ ” (John 15:26, 27, NKJV).
Notice carefully that the Holy Spirit bears witness and testifies, and we also bear witness. The Bible commentator Matthew Henry states, “The Spirit’s working is not to supersede, but to engage and encourage ours.”—Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, 1991), vol. 5, p. 915. Our work is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in leading people to Jesus and His truth. It is the Holy Spirit’s work to convince and convert. It is the Holy Spirit’s work to reveal truth and righteousness. It is the Holy Spirit’s work to place within the heart a desire to do right and place within the mind the power to choose right.
A Church Growth Explosion in Acts
When Jesus told His disciples that the power of the Holy Spirit would come upon them and they would be witnesses to “the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NKJV), they must have wondered how this ever could be possible. How could this little band of believers ever impact the world? How could they ever fulfill Christ’s command to “ ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’ ” (Mark 16:15, NKJV). They were a small, largely uneducated, insignificant band of believers. They had little means and a huge task. Some would say an impossible task. Yet they understood that with God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, “ ‘nothing will be impossible’ ” (Luke 1:37, NKJV).
They prayed. They sought God. They confessed their sins. They repented of their selfish attitudes. Barriers between them were broken down. They were drawn closer to God and to one another. During the 10 days in the upper room, their lives were changed. They were now ready for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and on Pentecost God poured out His spirit in abundant measure. Three thousand were converted in a day. In Acts 4, thousands more believed. In a relatively very short time, the New Testament church exploded in growth.
In Acts 4:31-33, we get a brief glimpse in one short verse of the continuing spiritual experience of these early believers and the ongoing ministry of the church. “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31, NKJV). Notice three facts here. They prayed. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. They spoke the Word of God with a confidence birthed in the crucible of prayer. Acts 4:33 adds, “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all” (NKJV). The Greek verb “gave” in this passage is apodidomi, which literally can be translated, “to deliver that which is due.” Redeemed by His grace, transformed by His love, the disciples felt an inner compulsion to share their faith. They could not keep silent.
Commenting on Acts 4:33, The SDA Bible Commentary states, “The witness of the apostles was presented, not in their own strength, but in a power they could never have engendered within themselves. Theirs was the energizing of the Divine Spirit.”—Vol. 6, p. 173. It is the Holy Spirit who always empowers genuine, authentic witness and makes it effectual in the hearts of unbelievers. The witness of the New Testament believers bridged cultural barriers. It compelled them to cross continents. It led them into cities and villages, across barren deserts, through stormy seas, and up steep mountain pathways.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, these New Testament believers planted churches (Acts 9:31), broke social mores and cultural customs (Acts 10-15), and planted the gospel message throughout the Mediterranean world. The Holy Spirit led them on a remarkable journey of faith that resulted in tens of thousands accepting Jesus.
The Holy Spirit Opens and Shuts Doors
There are times when the Holy Spirit shuts one door, only to open another. This truth is illustrated in the life of the apostle Paul. On his second missionary journey, Paul was “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia” (Acts 16:6, NKJV).
Perplexed and wondering where God was leading, Paul and his evangelistic team travelled through Asia, determined to preach the gospel in Bithynia, but “the Spirit did not permit them” (Acts 16:7, NKJV). Paul’s motive was only to serve Christ and preach the gospel, but on every hand, doors were shut in his face. Then miraculously in a dream, “a man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us’ ” (Acts 16:9, NKJV). At that time, God shut the door to certain geographical regions in Asia, because the door of an entire continent was open to the gospel. When the Holy Spirit shuts one door, He opens another.
God is the God of the open door. One of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to open hearts to the gospel. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The same Holy Spirit that opened the heart of Lydia, a slave girl, the Roman jailer, a Roman judge, Crispus (the ruler of a synagogue), and Dionysius is still opening hearts and minds to the gospel today. The same Holy Spirit that prepared a Roman retirement community, Philippi, for Paul’s witness is preparing communities today. The same Holy Spirit that went before Paul to Thessalonica, a blue-collar working community, has gone before us to prepare the way for major public evangelistic meetings today. The same Holy Spirit that worked in sophisticated Athens and decadent Corinth is still working in the cities of our world to create a receptivity to the gospel.
The same Holy Spirit who worked in ages past is still working today. There is still power in the Word of God to transform lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. According to the apostle Peter, the Bible was written as “holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21, NKJV). The same Holy Spirit who inspired the Bible works through the Word of God to change minds and transform lives as we share the Word. The power of New Testament witnessing was the power of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God to change lives. The apostles shared the Word. They were students of the Word. The Holy Spirit worked through Spirit-filled men and women whose minds were filled with the Word of God.
Part III: Life Application
Illustration
The story is told of a couple that ordered a new refrigerator. Everything seemed to be working fine as the delivery man set up their new appliance. They filled their refrigerator with food and then left the house for a two-week vacation. When they returned and opened the refrigerator door, they were greeted with a horrible smell. The fruit had spoiled, the vegetables were rotten, and the rest of the food was putrid. They discovered there was a power outage while they were gone. Their food had to be tossed out. When the power supply is cut off, food spoils. Likewise, when the power of the Holy Spirit no longer flows through our lives to others, not only is our witness ineffective, it spoils. We cannot facilitate the production of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the lives of unbelievers if the fruit of the Spirit are not manifest in our lives because we are “unplugged” from God, and the power is shut off.
Reflect on the following questions:
1. Are you connected to the Source of all power? What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
2. Is there any barrier between you and someone else that would hinder your effectiveness in witness?
3. Have you ever attempted to witness in your own strength rather than in the strength of the Holy Spirit?
4. What is your attitude toward witnessing? Do you believe that the Holy Spirit is opening doors of opportunity in your community? Is He regularly opening doors of opportunity for you in the lives of the people you meet every day?
5. Let’s pause and silently pray for opportunities to share God’s love and truth with specific people around us.
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Key Text: Acts 4:31
Study Focus: John 15:26, 27; John 16:8; 2 Peter 1:21; Acts 2:41, 42; Acts 16:6-33; Acts 17:33, 34.
Part I: Overview
Mission is God’s work first. We cooperate with Him in witnessing to lost people as we unite with and are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Without the empowerment and guidance of the Holy Spirit, our witnessing efforts are powerless. We may be able to convince someone of certain Bible truths, but without the deep working of the Holy Spirit in their lives, little change will take place. They may change their beliefs but not their hearts. There may be an external conformity to truth, but there will not be the life-changing transformation into the likeness of Christ that only the Holy Spirit can bring.
In this week’s lesson, we will study the role of the Holy Spirit in witness and His mighty power to change our lives. Our study will especially analyze examples recorded in the book of Acts that reveal the remarkable work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of unbelievers. These unbelievers came from various cultural backgrounds. There life experiences were different. Some were educated and others uneducated. Some were wealthy and others poverty stricken. Some were Jews and others Gentiles. They came from different continents and viewed life differently; yet, all were impacted by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is no respecter of persons. He can transform any individual who is open to His influence. The main purpose of this week’s lesson is to reveal that as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, we will see the miracle-working power of His grace.
Part II: Commentary
The primary chapters on the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament recount Jesus’ discourse in John 14-16. The Holy Spirit is our Helper, the paraclete, who comes along side us, empowering our witness, guiding our words, and empowering our service for Christ. Witnessing is never about us. It is always all about Jesus. The purpose of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to “testify” of Jesus. Our Lord stated it clearly: “ ‘But when the Helper [Greek: paraclete] comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness’ ” (John 15:26, 27, NKJV).
Notice carefully that the Holy Spirit bears witness and testifies, and we also bear witness. The Bible commentator Matthew Henry states, “The Spirit’s working is not to supersede, but to engage and encourage ours.”—Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, 1991), vol. 5, p. 915. Our work is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in leading people to Jesus and His truth. It is the Holy Spirit’s work to convince and convert. It is the Holy Spirit’s work to reveal truth and righteousness. It is the Holy Spirit’s work to place within the heart a desire to do right and place within the mind the power to choose right.
A Church Growth Explosion in Acts
When Jesus told His disciples that the power of the Holy Spirit would come upon them and they would be witnesses to “the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NKJV), they must have wondered how this ever could be possible. How could this little band of believers ever impact the world? How could they ever fulfill Christ’s command to “ ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’ ” (Mark 16:15, NKJV). They were a small, largely uneducated, insignificant band of believers. They had little means and a huge task. Some would say an impossible task. Yet they understood that with God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, “ ‘nothing will be impossible’ ” (Luke 1:37, NKJV).
They prayed. They sought God. They confessed their sins. They repented of their selfish attitudes. Barriers between them were broken down. They were drawn closer to God and to one another. During the 10 days in the upper room, their lives were changed. They were now ready for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and on Pentecost God poured out His spirit in abundant measure. Three thousand were converted in a day. In Acts 4, thousands more believed. In a relatively very short time, the New Testament church exploded in growth.
In Acts 4:31-33, we get a brief glimpse in one short verse of the continuing spiritual experience of these early believers and the ongoing ministry of the church. “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31, NKJV). Notice three facts here. They prayed. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. They spoke the Word of God with a confidence birthed in the crucible of prayer. Acts 4:33 adds, “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all” (NKJV). The Greek verb “gave” in this passage is apodidomi, which literally can be translated, “to deliver that which is due.” Redeemed by His grace, transformed by His love, the disciples felt an inner compulsion to share their faith. They could not keep silent.
Commenting on Acts 4:33, The SDA Bible Commentary states, “The witness of the apostles was presented, not in their own strength, but in a power they could never have engendered within themselves. Theirs was the energizing of the Divine Spirit.”—Vol. 6, p. 173. It is the Holy Spirit who always empowers genuine, authentic witness and makes it effectual in the hearts of unbelievers. The witness of the New Testament believers bridged cultural barriers. It compelled them to cross continents. It led them into cities and villages, across barren deserts, through stormy seas, and up steep mountain pathways.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, these New Testament believers planted churches (Acts 9:31), broke social mores and cultural customs (Acts 10-15), and planted the gospel message throughout the Mediterranean world. The Holy Spirit led them on a remarkable journey of faith that resulted in tens of thousands accepting Jesus.
The Holy Spirit Opens and Shuts Doors
There are times when the Holy Spirit shuts one door, only to open another. This truth is illustrated in the life of the apostle Paul. On his second missionary journey, Paul was “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia” (Acts 16:6, NKJV).
Perplexed and wondering where God was leading, Paul and his evangelistic team travelled through Asia, determined to preach the gospel in Bithynia, but “the Spirit did not permit them” (Acts 16:7, NKJV). Paul’s motive was only to serve Christ and preach the gospel, but on every hand, doors were shut in his face. Then miraculously in a dream, “a man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us’ ” (Acts 16:9, NKJV). At that time, God shut the door to certain geographical regions in Asia, because the door of an entire continent was open to the gospel. When the Holy Spirit shuts one door, He opens another.
God is the God of the open door. One of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to open hearts to the gospel. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The same Holy Spirit that opened the heart of Lydia, a slave girl, the Roman jailer, a Roman judge, Crispus (the ruler of a synagogue), and Dionysius is still opening hearts and minds to the gospel today. The same Holy Spirit that prepared a Roman retirement community, Philippi, for Paul’s witness is preparing communities today. The same Holy Spirit that went before Paul to Thessalonica, a blue-collar working community, has gone before us to prepare the way for major public evangelistic meetings today. The same Holy Spirit that worked in sophisticated Athens and decadent Corinth is still working in the cities of our world to create a receptivity to the gospel.
The same Holy Spirit who worked in ages past is still working today. There is still power in the Word of God to transform lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. According to the apostle Peter, the Bible was written as “holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21, NKJV). The same Holy Spirit who inspired the Bible works through the Word of God to change minds and transform lives as we share the Word. The power of New Testament witnessing was the power of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God to change lives. The apostles shared the Word. They were students of the Word. The Holy Spirit worked through Spirit-filled men and women whose minds were filled with the Word of God.
Part III: Life Application
Illustration
The story is told of a couple that ordered a new refrigerator. Everything seemed to be working fine as the delivery man set up their new appliance. They filled their refrigerator with food and then left the house for a two-week vacation. When they returned and opened the refrigerator door, they were greeted with a horrible smell. The fruit had spoiled, the vegetables were rotten, and the rest of the food was putrid. They discovered there was a power outage while they were gone. Their food had to be tossed out. When the power supply is cut off, food spoils. Likewise, when the power of the Holy Spirit no longer flows through our lives to others, not only is our witness ineffective, it spoils. We cannot facilitate the production of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the lives of unbelievers if the fruit of the Spirit are not manifest in our lives because we are “unplugged” from God, and the power is shut off.
Reflect on the following questions:
1. Are you connected to the Source of all power? What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?
2. Is there any barrier between you and someone else that would hinder your effectiveness in witness?
3. Have you ever attempted to witness in your own strength rather than in the strength of the Holy Spirit?
4. What is your attitude toward witnessing? Do you believe that the Holy Spirit is opening doors of opportunity in your community? Is He regularly opening doors of opportunity for you in the lives of the people you meet every day?
5. Let’s pause and silently pray for opportunities to share God’s love and truth with specific people around us.