Sermon Summary | May 20, 2018
“LET US DECLARE IT?”
(
1 John 1:1-4
):
The Christian church is experiencing another springtime of the Spirit. From all over the world come reports of Christians in every denomination experiencing the baptism in the Holy Spirit. As on the first Pentecost, these same Christians testify of supernatural manifestations of the Spirit. Healings, miracles, prophecy, and tongues—to mention only a few—are appearing with marked frequency in every Christian communion.
Whatever one’s attitude toward these manifestations may be—whether approval, apathy, or even hostility—evidence of renewed commitment, fervor, and charity among those involved in this contemporary Pentecost cannot be denied. Once nominal Christians now affirm vigorously that meeting the Holy Spirit in a personal Pentecostal experience has transformed their Christian faith into the most dynamic factor in their lives. From merely peripheral social obligation, the Christian faith they professed has become the very center around which their whole lives are organized.
Under the laws of evidence, truth relies heavily upon the testimony of witnesses. The biblical records claim authenticity as the personal transcript of those most deeply involved. Credibility is, after all, on the side of those who participate in the events they record Thus the apostle John could say with the conviction born of experience: “That which was from the beginning, that which have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life...declare we unto you...”
Pentecost is the infusion of supernatural power to implement the redeeming purpose of God in the world. In the same verse in which Jesus promised his disciples power, he defined the purpose and scope of this spiritual enduement: “And you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and all of Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Let us go, and declare it to all the world! Jesus is Lord! —USK
