In Acts 1:8 Jesus says, ?But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.?

Jesus is speaking to a specific group of people – the early apostles – who were eyewitnesses of his miracles and resurrection. He promises that the Holy Spirit will anoint what they have seen and experienced – their testimony. But Jesus is not only talking to the early disciples; he?s also talking to us.

The desperate need for reconciliation

Today?s world is in a desperate need for reconciliation and righteousness. The need for righteousness has reached the point that even the police in our nation are despairing for it.

In the Evening Standard of 16th July 2014 Phil Gormley, the deputy director of the National Crime Agency, commented on recent 660 arrests of child abusers in Britain, many of them in prominent positions in society. He said:

?We?re going to need to understand as a society how we will confront this issue. We are not going to arrest our way out of this. The numbers involved are huge.? He added, ?I think we are all pretty appalled by what this says about human nature.?

But true righteousness is impossible without God; hence our nation is in a desperate need for reconciliation with him.

Reconciliation means that the relationship that has broken down between God and human beings is restored. But God has never broken that relationship. He has always loved us and he will always love us. God has always loved us and he will always love us.

But like the police who despair over the impact of our fallen nature in society, God also sees the consequences of sin. That?s why sin is always an offence to God, and he has to deal with it. But unlike the police that have to focus on solving only major crimes due to lack of resources and will never even know about most of the crimes committed, the all-seeing God can never overlook any sin.

?The depravity of our society? demonstrates clearly how the natural man left to his own devices is unable to produce righteousness. That is why the blood of Jesus was needed to satisfy God?s justice and open our way to God. And the blood also dealt with our rebellious nature and released an anointing of conviction so that Godhaters would become God-lovers!

The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, ?Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people?s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ?s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ?s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.?

Power of the apostolic testimony

?Our world desperately needs the power of our testimony. And our testimony is built on that of the early apostles.

The testimony of the early apostles has a special authority that comes directly from God. Scholars still debate over details of the early church history, but the apostolic word recorded in the New Testament is certain and reliable. The early apostles had the authority to represent Jesus to the point that what they were saying was as if Jesus had said it. But that was because they were only saying what Jesus said through them!

In 1 Corinthians 3:10 the apostle Paul writes, ?According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.?

The early apostles? testimony was an eyewitness testimony and it should be sufficient to us when it comes to doctrine. We don?t need to invent new doctrines; only to bear witness to the doctrines that are already in the Bible. The apostolic testimony is the foundation for all churches for all time. It is the foundation we can safely build on.

The power of your testimony

?But when it comes to you being Jesus? ambassador, your testimony can be as powerful as the testimony of the apostles.

You are a new creation and your testimony has supernatural power. In John chapter 9 a man born blind is healed by Jesus. Afterwards, the Pharisees interrogate him. In verse 25 the man responds, ?One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.? That testimony cut through all the contradictions and religious arguments of the Pharisees. And your testimony can have the same power.

Most people come to Jesus because of the testimony of someone they know. When you tell the story of how Jesus found you, you speak with the same authority as an apostle. It is the authority of the Holy Spirit. You are the proof that gospel is true!

How I found Jesus

?Most people come to Jesus because of the testimony of someone they know. What brought me to Jesus was the testimony of my brother.

I was 18 and I had come to the UK from Australia. We had been separated for a while but now, when my brother came to London to see me, I knew instantly that something had changed in him. There was a new smile and new-found peace.

My brother?s testimony led me to Jesus. He was the final link in the chain of witness.

When I was around ten years old, my mother would take us to church every Sunday. It was the old-fashioned dressup- in-your-Sunday-best occasion in a high Anglican church with all the ?smells and bells?.

My mother wanted me to get involved in some church activity but the only thing for the youth was the boys? choir.

Very quickly they discovered that I couldn?t sing! They asked me if there was anything else I could do instead and I said that I was learning ballet. You wouldn?t want to be a 10-yearold boy learning ballet in Western Australia 50 years ago, as it was not considered cool. Still, the Archdeacon gave me a project of choreographing a dance for a hymn so that they wouldn?t need to hear me sing.

I choreographed the hymn Hushed Was the Evening Hymn written by James D. Burns and composed by Samuel and Arthur S. Sullivan. Not many will be familiar with the hymn so here are the lyrics:

Hushed was the evening hymn

?The temple courts were dark; The lamp was burning dim Before the sacred ark; When suddenly a voice divine Rang through the silence of the shrine. The old man, meek and mild, The priest of Israel, slept; His watch the temple child, The little Levite, kept; And what from Eli?s sense was sealed The Lord to Hannah?s son revealed. O give me Samuel?s ear, The open ear, O Lord, Alive and quick to hear Each whisper of Thy Word, Like him to answer at Thy call, And to obey Thee first of all. O give me Samuel?s heart, A lowly heart, that waits Where in Thy house Thou art, Or watches at Thy gates; By day and night, a heart that still Moves at the breathing of Thy will. O give me Samuel?s mind, A sweet unmurm?ring faith, Obedient and resigned To Thee in life and death, That I may read with childlike eyes Truths that are hidden from the wise.

The Archdeacon who asked me to choreograph the dance for the hymn was another link in the chain of witness. In fact, looking back at the words of this hymn, I can?t help noticing how relevant they are even to my walk with God today.

One time, when our High School Religious Education teacher didn?t show up, we were delighted, as we thought we would have some free time. But then the door opened and in came the substitute, Mr. Dobson, the maths teacher.

He walked to the blackboard and began to draw, furiously. Clouds of chalk filled the air! He drew lakes and clouds, a beautiful landscape. Mr Dodson said that all of this couldn?t have come from nothingness but God had created all of it. Then he shared a testimony of how he met God. My maths teacher was the next link in the chain of witness. His words were to me words of reconciliation, drawing me to the Father.

Then I came to London to become a star! It was the summer of 1970. I went to the Isle of Wight to a pop festival. We pitched our tent and went to listen to Jimi Hendrix in one of his final concerts.

Between the performances, a man took the microphone and said he had been given permission to preach. I could see demons begin to manifest around me ? although it was only later that I understood they had been demons. Then the man talked about how God loves us.

He was yet another word of reconciliation, a link in the chain of witness.

The concert took place just eighteen months before my brother came to see me from Africa and led me to reconciliation with God. But although he led me to Christ, God had already prepared the ground of my heart through other witnesses.

Be in the chain of witness

We can all be links in the chain of witness. God has given us words of reconciliation.

Don?t lose hope just because someone doesn?t give their lives to Jesus straight after you tell them for the first time about him. This happens occasionally, but only when you happen to be the last link in the chain of witness!

Just be there at the right time to forge the link. You need to know how to ?close the deal? ? but you can rarely do that straight away.

This nation desperately needs ambassadors for Jesus, ready, willing and able to reconcile people to God. Don?t become so preoccupied with your needs so that you forget to be an ambassador! Decide to speak the words of reconciliation and you will soon be surprised about the power of your words.

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Some people asked Smith Wigglesworth, a great Apostle of Faith in the first half of the 20th century, about prayer. They said, ?Smith Wigglesworth, you?re a man of faith and miracles, you?ve raised people from the dead. You?ve cast out more demons than we?ve had hot dinners. Tell us, how long do you pray every day?

?Well, the apostle replied, ?I don?t ever pray any longer than twenty minutes.?
?What?? his questioners exclaimed. After pausing for effect, Smith Wigglesworth continued, ?Yes, but I never go twenty minutes without praying?.
Your prayer life is not measured in minutes. Prayer is a lifestyle. Prayer is a constant two-way communication with God. Prayer is essential to living in freedom.

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Kathryn Kuhlman – 1969 Crusade Preaching- A video

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Aimee Semple McPherson

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It was on July 4, 1948 that the first Kathryn Kuhlman “miracle service” was held at Carnegie Hall, North Side – the first of many such services to be held regularly over the years of her ministry in Pittsburgh. Kathryn Kuhlman moved from Franklin, Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh, after the roof of Faith Temple in Sugar Creek (where she had been conducting services since l947) fell in under the weight of the greatest snowfall in area history on Thanksgiving Day, l950. And it was in l954 that she founded The Kathryn Kuhlman Foundation.
Kathryn Kuhlman was once asked, “What do you regard as the ultimate goal of your ministry?” To which she replied: “MY PURPOSE IS THE SALVATION OF SOULS. Divine healing is secondary to the transformation of a life.

Kathryn Kuhlman always pointed men and women to Jesus, emphasizing that the greatest miracle was the transformation of a life.

Kathryn Kuhlman was born-again at the age of fourteen in the Methodist Church of Concordia, Missouri. In her own words, she said of that experience and her ministry: “It was the beginning of something that changed my whole life.? All that I knew was the glorious new birth experience, and (as a young girl) when I went to preach to those farmers in Idaho, I could tell them nothing more than what I had experienced: that Jesus would forgive their sins. So, I preached salvation all across Idaho to every farmer, to everyone who would listen; but gradually I began to realize there was someone besides the Father and the Son – there was this Third Person of the Trinity. I felt compelled to know more regarding Him and, as I began searching and studying God’s Word, I could see that divine healing also was in the atonement.”
“It was in Franklin, Pennsylvania in the old Billy Sunday Tabernacle. I had gone to Franklin by faith (l946), not knowing what I would find there. It was in the third service, as I was preaching on the Holy Spirit, sharing with the people the little that I knew about that Third Person of the Trinity – a woman stood up and testified to her healing of a tumor. That was the first healing that took place in this ministry. It happened without the laying on of hands, without any special prayer; it just happened as a woman sat in the audience while I was preaching on the power of the Holy Spirit. Since that time, there have been thousands and thousands of healings. WHAT IS THE SECRET?? It is the Third Person of the Trinity – the Holy Spirit!”
Kathryn Kuhlman always pointed men and women to Jesus, emphasizing that the greatest miracle was the transformation of a life. She often said:
“I believe in miracles with every atom of my being… because I believe in God – but Kathryn Kuhlman has nothing to do with the healing of sick bodies.? I have no healing power. It’s the power of God that does the healing. The only part I have in it is making Jesus real to the hearts of men and women. Any results there might be in this life of mine, is not Kathryn Kuhlman. It’s the Holy Spirit; IT’S WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES THROUGH A YIELDED VESSEL.”

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I like to open the Bible and pray, ‘Lord God, let the words leap off the page into my soul; make them vivid, powerful, and fresh to my heart.’ Charles Spurgeon

“How are we to handle this sword of ‘It is written’? First, with deepest reverence. Let every word that God has spoken be law and gospel to you. Never trifle with it; never try to evade its force or change its meaning. God speaks to you in this book as much as if he came to the top of Sinai and lifted up his voice with thunder.
I like to open the Bible and pray, ‘Lord God, let the words leap off the page into my soul; make them vivid, powerful, and fresh to my heart.'”
Our Lord Himself felt the power of the Word. It was not so much the devil who felt the power of ‘It is written” as Christ Himself. The manhood of Christ felt an awe of the Word of God, and so the Word became a power to Christ. To trifle with Scripture is to deprive yourself of its aid. Reverence it, and look up to God with devout gratitude for having given it to you.

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Many people do not receive the Holy Spirit because they are continually asking and never believing, says Smith Wiggleswoth.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7

When will we see people filled with the Holy Spirit and things done as they were in the Acts of the Apostles? It will be when people say, “Lord, You are God.” I want you to come into a place of such relationship with God that you will know your prayers are answered because He has promised.
Faith has its request. Faith claims it because it has it. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for” (Heb. 11:1). As sure as you have faith, God will give you the overflowing, and when He comes in, you will speak as the Spirit gives utterance (Acts 2:4).
You must come to a place of ashes, a place of helplessness, a place of wholehearted surrender where you do not refer to yourself. You have no justification of your own in regard to anything. You are prepared to be slandered, to be despised by everybody. But because of His personality in you, He reserves you for Himself because you are godly, and He sets you on high because you have known His name (Ps. 91:14). He causes you to be the fruit of His loins and to bring forth His glory so that you will no longer rest in yourself. Your confidence will be in God. Ah, it is lovely. “The Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17).
Thought for today: If you would believe half as much as you ask, you would receive.
 
Hebrews 11:1-40
1Now faith is confidence in what we hope for?and assurance about what we do not see.?^2?This is what the ancients were commended for.
^3?By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God?s command,?so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
^4?By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended?as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings.?And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
^5?By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: ?He could not be found, because God had taken him away.?^[a]?For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.?^6?And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him?must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
^7?By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen,?in holy fear built an ark?to save his family.?By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
^8?By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance,?obeyed and went,?even though he did not know where he was going.?^9?By faith he made his home in the promised land?like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents,?as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.?^10?For he was looking forward to the city?with foundations,?whose architect and builder is God.?^11?And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age,?was enabled to bear children?because she^[b]?considered him faithful?who had made the promise.^12?And so from this one man, and he as good as dead,?came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
^13?All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised;?they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance,?admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.?^14?People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.?^15?If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.?^16?Instead, they were longing for a better country?a heavenly one.Therefore God is not ashamed?to be called their God,?for he has prepared a city?for them.
^17?By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.?He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,?^18?even though God had said to him, ?It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.?^[c]?^19?Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead,?and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
^20?By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
^21?By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph?s sons,?and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
^22?By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
^23?By faith Moses? parents hid him for three months after he was born,?because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king?s edict.
^24?By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh?s daughter.?^25?He chose to be mistreated?along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.?^26?He regarded disgrace?for the sake of Christ?as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.?^27?By faith he left Egypt,?not fearing the king?s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.?^28?By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer?of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
^29?By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
^30?By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
^31?By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.^[d]
32?And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon,?Barak,?Samson?and Jephthah,?about David?and Samuel?and the prophets,?^33?who through faith conquered kingdoms,?administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,?^34?quenched the fury of the flames,?and escaped the edge of the sword;whose weakness was turned to strength;?and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.?^35?Women received back their dead, raised to life again.?There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.?^36?Some faced jeers and flogging,?and even chains and imprisonment.^37?They were put to death by stoning;^[e]?they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.?They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,?destitute, persecuted and mistreated??^38?the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves?and in holes in the ground.
^39?These were all commended?for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,?^40?since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us?would they be made perfect.

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