If we think about how the Spirit enables us to speak in the languages that people need to hear, it raises the question of how to characterize the need to be saved when speaking to unbelievers. How should we think about this compared to what we read in Scripture?
Continue reading “Invitation”Tag: speakinginpower
Praying for Boldness
Reaching out to unbelievers to talk about God, especially in today’s non-spiritual environment, is hard for all of us. The key to improving in this is not to depend on our own power, but as in everything else, to focus first on God.
“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:29-21
To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, Ephesians 6:18b-19
The boldness needed here is not something that we can drum up within ourselves; we need the Spirit to give us boldness in speaking.
Continue reading “Praying for Boldness”Sharing the Gospel with the Spirit’s Words
As described earlier, the Spirit led people to speak the gospel in ways that listeners needed, and He gave them power for the task.. Another way to picture this is as two different ways of speaking – words powered by human abilities, and words powered by the Spirit. The events at Pentecost showed people being given power from the Spirit, but He also continued to enable them to speak effectively after that.
For example, Peter boldly stood before the crowd at Pentecost and proclaimed Jesus even though he previously shrank from even being associated with Him. Such boldness continued as he confronted the very Jewish leaders who had earlier intimidated him. It also empowered other believers when they prayed for boldness in Acts 4, and the result was that they were filled with the Spirit and spoke the word boldly (v 31).
In another aspect of the Spirit’s power, Peter’s bold speech not only communicated well, it touched the hearts of his listeners (Acts 2:37). In a similar manner, Stephen, filled with the Spirit, later spoke such that his opponents “could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking” (Acts 6:10).
Both of these are clear examples of the Spirit empowering believers to speak the gospel effectively, but there are many more. The power to go, to speak prophetically, to speak beyond one’s station, to live aligned to the words spoken, to refute opposition, to speak in love and with Godly wisdom, and so on.
References to these things run throughout Scripture once you look for them, but one of the clearest statements is when Paul is reinforcing the Thessalonian’s faith and recounting how they had originally come to salvation through Paul’s words. He described them as accepting his message as the word of God rather than the word of man, and that it was at work in their lives (1 Th 2:13).
It seems that we can proclaim the gospel in many ways, but for people to accept it as the word of God, it must be shared with the Spirit’s power rather than just human wisdom and abilities. Then it can work in their lives.
Speaking with the Spirit’s power doesn’t guarantee success, but we still need to seek His help to reach into the darkness of today’s world. We still need the power from on high that Jesus promised.
Speaking in Power
In a previous post, I described how the Spirit enabled the early church to speak in ways needed to proclaim the Gospel. Jesus had foretold that the Father would give words to be spoken and the miracle at Pentecost was a sign of that starting. Paul recognized this and asked for prayer, and Scripture gives many other examples of how the Spirit enabled the early church to adapt the word to different contexts.
However, I think that using words that communicate effectively was just one manifestation of the “power from on high” that Jesus promised and when He told them that they would receive Holy Spirit power to be His witness all over the world (Acts 1:8).
When that happened at Pentecost, Peter boldly stood before the crowd and proclaimed Jesus, even though he previously shrank from even being associated with Him. Such boldness would continue as he confronted the very Jewish leaders who had earlier intimidated him, and it would also empower other believers (Acts 4:31).
Peter’s bold speech not only communicated well, it touched the hearts of his listeners (Acts 2:37). In a similar manner, Stephen would later speak such that his opponents “could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking” (Acts 6:10).
Clear communication, boldness, speaking to the heart, and standing against opponents were just the beginning of ways the Spirit would empower believers to spread the word. Scripture shows that they would be spiritually sent, spiritually guided, speak beyond their stations, speak in Godly wisdom, speak in love, speak words of knowledge, and so on. All of these were empowered by the Holy Spirit, continuing the process that began at Pentecost.
Speaking in power would now compliment the “power and authority” to perform miracles that Jesus had previously given the disciples (Luke 9:1). Since they are both expressions of God’s power, it seems easy to confuse them. In particular, our modern mindset separates the spiritual and the material in a way that was not common in the first century. Because of this, we may interpret ambiguous passages in a way that assigns physical manifestations where it was not meant, and vice versa. Therefore, we need to be careful to distinguish the type of power at work when reading Scripture.
While this brief essay describes speaking in power, there is still an opportunity to seek God further about its representation in Scripture and the various ways it is manifested. In doing so, we can open the door for Him to work through us today.
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