Clothed with Power and Commissioned as a Witness

The following is a lightly edited transcript provided by a transcription service. Please check video before quoting.

David Platt at Passion City Church

Well, if you have a Bible, and I hope you or somebody around you does, you can look on with it, let me invite you to open with me to Acts chapter one. And while you’re turning, I definitely want to say I love this house. I love this church. I love the leaders in this church.

I thank God and it’s always just in a fresh way. Whenever I’m here for God’s grace toward me and my wife through Louis and Shelly and Brad and Brittany and so many other faces in leadership, I’ve been shaped in so many ways by leaders in this church and I mean all the way to where I just want to look like Brad Jones. And this was a total accident by the way. I give myself a haircut periodically and I really thought the guard was on

And it was not. And so I texted Brad, I was like, I’m going to look a little different this week. He texted me back a selfie. He was like, you and me man. And so anyway, I man and my heart is so full as I’ve prayed about the next few minutes that we have in God’s word.

The Core of Passion City

So here’s the word I got when these guys reached out to me to be here tonight, the word I got, I’m just going to read it this summer at the five, we’re gathering all the rooms of our house and our friends from all over the city to come and experience the love and the power of Jesus as our pastors have really encouraged us to find ways to strengthen the core of passion city.

We’re praying that God would use these summer gatherings to place a spirit of evangelism in and on our people. We’re praying that people would be burdened for the loss in our city and we’re praying the spirit of God would empower and embolden us to speak the name of Jesus to everyone around us in this city.

Empowering & Emboldening People to Spread His Name

I love that we want to experience it. So the purpose of this gathering is to experience the love and the power of Jesus and walk away empowered and emboldened to speak his name to everyone around us.

Yes, and I’m here tonight to tell you God wants that for you right where you are sitting right now, not just the person next to you in front of you, behind you. God wants you to experience the love and the power of Jesus in your life and to live empowered and emboldened to speak his name to people all across the city.

What is Passion City Church?

So this is what it means to be the church. I want to remind you over the next few minutes, passion City Church. And I know not all of you go to Passion City here. So if that’s you, just apply this to your church. But specifically, specifically speaking to this house at this moment, I want to remind you, I want to help you see who you are through the eyes of God, straight from his word.

Part of this is out of the overflow of things God has been opening my eyes to in my own life and in the church that I pastor in metro Washington, DC over the last few months in particular, we had just to summarize our gatherings on Sunday morning or at nine and 11, our 11 o’clock gathering usually ends around 1230. And there was this one particular Sunday where we kept going past 1230 to one, to two, to three till about four o’clock in the afternoon.

The Church is Powerful

And people were just on their faces confessing sin and worshiping and awe and interceding for each other in a way I’d never experienced in my life. And around four o’clock I decided to kind of close things down. I was kind of afraid to, I didn’t want to stop, but it seemed like it was time.

The next morning got up and was in my time alone with the Lord and just had the sense that that was not supposed to stop with Sunday. And so reached out to a couple of our pastors and said, guys, I think we need to just invite people to gather together again tonight just to pray, seek the Lord.

United Together

And I don’t know if anybody will come, 20 people come. It’ll still be awesome seeking the Lord with 20 people. If more than 20 people come, it’ll be awesome. So awesome. We’re awesome.

We’ll go with that. So we sent out an email that afternoon. We’re just like, come together tonight, seven 30. Well, that night, a lot more than 20 people came, and for the next three hours we just saw the Lord confessing sin, praying at about 10:30.

It was like, okay, I think we need to close down for tonight, but let’s invite people to come back. Tomorrow we send an email out the next day. So we gathered again the next night, the next night, the next night, and was beautiful getting a taste of going beyond just the normal routine and seeing people come together and confess sin, people confessing, addictions, confessing, adultery, multiple couples turning to each other in these gatherings, confessing adultery to each other, just being honest with sin, praying for people’s salvation.

We are Stronger Together

And we would pray for people on one night who would come to Christ the next night. So one quick story. This one of these nights we were celebrating, there was a woman who was like 92 years old who had been baptized and it was just like, praise God, 92 years old. And so we said, who’s got parents that you’re still praying for their salvation?

And people stood up all across the room. We gathered around them. We prayed together for their parents. Well one, she’s about 23. One sister in Christ was praying for her mom.

Well, the next night she invited her mom to come and she didn’t think her mom had come until she was sitting there and we’re talking about somebody’s given testimony about a restored marriage and a husband who had come to faith in Christ.

And this girl sees her mom come in on the other side of the room. So pause there. I’m standing up on the stage listening to this testimony about this marriage and this guy who just came to Christ.

We Must Trust in Christ

And I started thinking, I think I need to give an invitation for people to trust in Christ. It’s like nine 30 or 10 o’clock at this point in my mind, I start thinking, give an invitation to a prayer meeting at 10 o’clock. Surely everybody here knows what they’re doing it is in.

But then in my mind, it’s like, well, where does it say that in the Bible? Everyone who goes to prayer meetings at nine 30 shall be saved. It’s not. It’s not in there. So I’m like, okay, I think I need to do this. And I just had this sense. I think I need to just invite people if they want to trust in Christ to come down to the front.

The Spirit is Speaking

So this person finished sharing, I just stepped up and I said, I have a real sense the spirit speaking right now and this way shared the gospel and just said, I want to invite you if you would be so bold to stand up where you are and just come down to the front if you need to trust in Jesus tonight and just pause.

And then all of a sudden, this one guy over here, a young adult, probably 25 years old, he gets up and he starts running down to the front and his grandmother who’s on the other side of the comes running over to meet him.

And then this person starts coming, this person starts coming. Well then this girl, so now come back, this girl’s mom comes up from the back and she starts walking down. She meets her mom down there who she’d been praying for the night before.

Invite People to Pray

What I found out later was that when she saw her mom come in, she immediately started praying that I would give an invitation that night and specifically that I would invite people to come down to the front if they wanted to trust in Christ.

Boom, only, only God and I could keep going on story after story like people praying for healing, seeing healing, seeing some not healed, trusting in God, and that there’s one night this one sister in Christ was just sharing about her story and struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts, and I just paused and said, I don’t want us to go any farther for a minute.

Let us Pray Together

Let’s just let this soak in If you’d be so bold, who in her struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts? I want to gather around and pray for you.

Would you stand up where you are? And people all across the room stood up. We just gathered around these brothers and sisters praying the hope and the love and the peace and the strength of Jesus over them.

So all that to say, I could go on and on, but I’ve just been reminded in a fresh way that God has designed for the church not to be a people who just go through monotonous religious motions once a week, kind of move on with our lives.

God has designed us to be a people and dwelled by a supernatural Holy Spirit who’s moving in power among us and launches us out in power in the place where God’s called us to live. I want to show you that picture of Passion City Church tonight, that you are a people. Well, I’m starting to get into it. Lemme show you first in the world.

Our Power Comes From the Holy Spirit

Lemme show you the word. So where do we get the idea that Christianity is just like monotonous religious motion? It didn’t come from this book, it didn’t come from here. Acts chapter one. So just the very beginning of the church in the first book, oh, Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he’d given commands to the Holy Spirit, to the apostles whom he had chosen.

He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you heard from me for John baptized with water, but you’ll be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

So when they’d come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to He said to them, it’s not for you to know times or seasons that the Father is fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria unto the end of the earth.

A Glimpse into Heaven

When he had said these things as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight while they were gazing into heaven. As he went, behold two men stood by them in white robes and said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

The Return to Jerusalem

Then they returned to Jerusalem from Mount Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they’d enter, they went up to the upper room where they were staying. Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas Bartholomew and Matthew James, the son of Alpheus and Simon the zealot, and Judas, the son of James.

All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers. Oh, okay, so much here. So at this point, as you keep reading, in Acts One, they carry out a process whereby they replace Judas as an apostle with a brother named Messiah.

And that leads to chapter two verse one. Imagine this scene. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly there came from heaven, a sound like a mighty rushing wind.

The Holy Spirit is in Each of Us

It filled the entire house where they were sitting and divided tongues as fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. They were dwelling in Jerusalem.

Jews are devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound, the multitude came together. They were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in their own language. They were amazed that saying are not all these who are speaking Galileans, how it that we hear each of us in his own native language.

Ians and Meads and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judean, Cappadocia, Pontus in Asia, Ian Paraphilia, Egypt in the parts of Libya belonging to siren visitors from Rome, both Jews and Proselytes credence and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues, the mighty works of God and all were amazed and perplexed saying to one another, what does this mean?

Baptized in the Name of Christ

Others? Mocking said, they’re filled with new wine, but Peter standing with the 11 lifted up his voice, and addressed them men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you. Give ear to my words. These people are not as drunk as you suppose. It’s only the third hour of the day. It’s only nine in the morning. They’re not drunk.

Not that they would be drunk later that night, but that’s how the first Christian sermon begins. We won’t read the whole thing but just jump to the climax. Verse 36, but all the house of Israel before, know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. And when they heard this, they were cut to the heart.

They said to Peter and the Apostles Brothers, what shall we do? Peter said to them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you and for your children, for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.

We are Commissioned to Bore Witness

And with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized and they were added that day about 3000 souls.

How about that? For the first day of a church plant, in Acts One, 120 people gathered in an upper room by the end of the sermon, a sermon in Acts Chapter Two, there are 3000 people. So you do the math, that’s 2500% growth. Just imagine that today, we’ll just use round numbers for simplicity. Say there are 5,000 people who gather next week at Passion City Church.

The Church is Always Growing

That would mean this happened by the end of the day. Next week 125,000 people will be lining up to be baptized. This is the church from the start. And it didn’t stop. Historians estimate that Christianity grew by approximately 40% per decade.

For the first few centuries, the total population of Christians by 3 50 80 E was over 33 million people. 33 million. It started with 120 what we just read, within three centuries, they were over half the Roman Empire and beyond. Do not believe the lie that the church is powerless.

The Church is Passion

The church is full of power. The church is a movement of people with supernatural power, emboldened to speak a name that has the power to change the lives of millions of people. And this is the church God is calling us to be today that God is calling passion city church to be in this city. Lemme show you this. So how does God see you as a church? Here’s how.

If you’re taking notes, maybe write them down. Here’s how God sees you. You are a group of ordinary people, of ordinary people. That’s where it starts. You might read this story and you might hear Peter, John, these women who stood so faithful with Jesus, and you might think these were extraordinary people, but that’s not what you would’ve said if you had known them in the first century.

Acts four 13, you just turn over there describing Peter. And John. The Bible describes the crowd’s reaction to them saying when they saw the boldness of Peter and John perceived that they were uneducated common men, they were astonished.

Did you hear that descriptor? Common and uneducated, meaning if you’re going to start a movement, you don’t start with this group

We All are the Commissioners

Commoners, ordinary and not just ordinary people. Ordinary sinners. Think about Peter who preaches this first Christian sermon where 3000 people are baptized. This was not the most likely candidate for the job. This is the disciple with the foot-shaped mouth.

Think about the last time we saw Peter, remember the author of Acts is Luke. So Luke finished his story talking about Peter this way. Luke 2254, they seized Jesus, let him away, bring him to the high priest’s house. Peter following at a distance when they’d kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard, sat down together.

Peter sat down among them, a servant girl seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said This man also was with him, but he denied it, saying, woman, I do not even know him. A little later someone else saw him and said, you’re also one of them. Peter said, Man, I am not after an interval of about an hour still another insisted saying certainly this man also was with him for he too is a Galilean.

The Lord Speaks

Peter said, man, I don’t know what you’re talking about. And immediately while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed and the Lord turned and looked at Peter and Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him Before the rooster crows today, you’ll deny me three times.

And Peter went out and wept bitterly. The last time we saw Peter, he was afraid to even say he knew Jesus. Now he’s standing and preaching the first Christian sermon and 3000 people are baptized.

United Together in God

Don’t miss the point. This is what brought these 120 together. This is what brought 3000 people to join them that day or brought ’em together, is that they were saved by the grace of God. What makes the church the church is not the gifts of an extraordinary few.

What makes the church the church is the grace of an extraordinary God. That’s a huge difference. So why are we here today? Why does this church exist? Because certain people are super talented. No, because God is gracious, ordinary people. Like if I was going to start a movement, I would not pick you. I mean that.

Do Not Sell God Short

That’s the point. You wouldn’t pick me. Who are we? And there is a spirit of fear over the people of God today that is causing us to stay silent with the gospel and it is from the adversary. And some of you think you’re not adequate for kingdom work, you’re just an accountant, you’re just a teacher. You’re just a mom at home with your kids.

You’re just no, do not sell God short. You are made in his image and saved by his grace, which leads to a desperation for his spirits. You got to feel this. In fact, here, look back in chapter one. Look at verse nine, chapter one, verse nine.

You’re going to feel the wonder and even the humor in these verses, verse nine. So when Jesus said these things, what are these things? Well, in verse three, Jesus had been speaking to them about the kingdom of God.

The Holy Spirit

In verse eight, he talked about how the Holy Spirit was going to come upon them. They’d be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judean, and Samaria to the ends of the earth. So imagine the scene where Jesus has gathered with his disciples on this mountain outside Jerusalem. They’re still overwhelmed. Jesus has died, and risen from the grave.

They’re pretty excited. The gang is back together. We’re rolling again. And Jesus says, all right guys, here’s the plan. We’re going to start back in Jerusalem. Now think about that. What just happened in Jerusalem? They just killed Jesus there.

So if you’re a follower of Jesus, the last place you want to be is in Jerusalem right now. They hate you there. So Jesus says, that’s where we’re going to start, but that’s not where we’re going to stop. We’re going to go from there into Judea and Samaria. And as soon as we hear that, put yourself in these Jewish disciples shoes because they hated the Samaritans.

Let Go of Hate

So Jesus just said, here’s the plan guys. We’re going to start where they hate you, then we’re going to go to where you hate them. And then that’s not all we’re going to go to places in the world you don’t even know exist the ends of the earth.

You don’t even know how to get there. So Jesus just said, we’re going to start where they hate you go where you hate them, head to places you don’t know how to get to. And then as soon as Jesus says this, all of a sudden he starts floating up to heaven.

Jesus Embodies the Holy Spirit

We’re not talking like levitated a few inches off the ground. We’re talking shot up into the sky. He’s gone. It’s unusual. So what are you doing if you’re one of these disciples? You’re looking up dumbfounded. It’s exactly what they were doing.

Verse 10, while they were gazing into heaven as he went. Then watch these two men show up. All two men stood by them in white robes. Imagine that. Put yourself in these disciple shoes. You’re dumbfounded. Look it up into the sky. Jesus just disappeared into a cloud. Then all of a sudden you look beside you and two dudes in white robes are suddenly appearing there out of nowhere. What do you do? Jump back. How’d these guys get here?

I’ll tell you how Jesus gave this plan to his disciples, took the flight of all flights up to the right hand of the Father, sat down, got comfortable, looked down, saw 120 people looking up into the clouds, and he said to two angels, go down there and tell them to do what I told them to do.

Jesus is in Heaven

You say you’re making that up. No, I’m not. Read verse 11. They said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? What kind of question is that? Well, I’m kind of looking up there because Jesus just levitated all the way into the sky and a cloud took him. So I’m just kind of curious to know where he went and if he’s coming back.

And by the way, while we’re asking questions, who in the world are you and where in the world did you come from? And the guy says, well, he’s coming back. Verse 11, this Jesus who is taken up from you in heaven, we’ll come in the same way as you saw him going to heaven. Do you know what they did after that? They did what Jesus told them to do.

They went into Jerusalem, gathered together in a room, and started praying all these with one accord. Verse 14 says we’re devoting ourselves to prayer. Notice it does not say all these with one accord. Were devoting themselves to strategizing.

Passion City

They were not devoting themselves to whiteboarding a plan. Don’t miss it. These 120 knew that what God had told them to do was so big there was no way they could do it on their own. They were common, uneducated, ordinary men and women who’d just been given a charge to change their city and the world and they knew they needed God. See it.

Passion city you need, you are desperate for God to do what God has called you to do in the city. And I want to exhort you in a church that is filled with talented people on this stage, like beautifully gloriously talented people and not just on staff or in leadership in the church.

I look across this church, I know there are leaders in business, there are leaders in this area, that area. And I want to remind you how foolish it would be to think we got all these talented people, all these resources, think about what we can do in this city.

Be a Part of the Holy Spirit

The reality is it doesn’t matter how many talented people you have or how many resources you have apart from the power of the Holy Spirit of God, you will do nothing in this city for the spread of his glory. In fact, the exact opposite could be true.

You could have the least talented people with the least amount of resources and with the power of the Holy Spirit of God, you can be a part of changing this city for the glory of Jesus Christ. Do you believe this?

Ask the question honestly. Do you believe in Passion City Church that you can accomplish more in the next week in the power of the Holy Spirit than you can in the next century with your own gifts and talents?

If you believe that it will change the way you live, it will cause you to devote yourselves to prayer, to seeking him in desperation for him, which leads to, okay, so you are a group of ordinary people clothed with extraordinary power just like Jesus had promised.

Christ Will Rise

So at the end of Luke chapter 24, verse 45, Jesus said, it’s written Christ, the Christchurch suffer on the third day, rise from the dead and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed in his name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem.

You are witnesses of these things and behold, I’m sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in this city until you are clothed with power from on high. What a phrase. God says, I’m going to clothe you with power from on high, which is exactly what happens in Acts chapter two. Can you just imagine if this happened in this scene in this room?

Suddenly there came from heaven. Verse two says this sounds like a mighty rushing wind. It’s like hurricane-forced wind sound. It’s not actual wind, it’s the sound of it fills the entire house where they’re sitting. And then verse three divided tongues as a fire appeared to them. What does that mean? What does that look like? Fire tongues appear to them and rest on each one of them.

Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

Just pause and look at the person next to you and imagine a fire tongue on them. That’s unusual. What does it look like? What do you do if you look around and you’re like fire tongues everywhere? What a scene and they’re all filled with the Holy Spirit. Here’s what happens. Jesus promised it in Acts, eight, you’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you’ll be my what?

Witnesses. So they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and what did they begin to do? They began to speak in other tongues. That’s a word for languages in other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance, they all, excuse me, start witnessing about Jesus in other languages.

So think about this extraordinary power that was on these ordinary disciples. Extraordinary power. Well, in one sense, to obey God’s word, you got to see this.

What is Pentecost?

Many people miss it. When did this happen? Acts chapter two verse one, when the day of what arrived? Pentecost, you say, what’s Pentecost? Well, Pentecost was a feast. The Jews from all over the world came to celebrate, celebrated 50 days after the Passover.

Pentecost literally means 50th. And traditionally it was the day when they celebrated how God in the Old Testament gave his people his law, including the 10 Commandments. So you got to see this hold your place here in Acts and turn back with me to Exodus chapter 19, the second book in the Bible, Exodus 19. I want to show you, the connection here.

So make sure we’re understanding the timeline in Acts. So the book of Luke, Jesus was crucified at the time of the Passover. So here we are 50 days later at the Feast of Pentecost. They’re celebrating God, giving his law and his commands to his people.

Let’s see if there are any similarities between Exodus 19 and Acts Chapter 2. Look at Exodus 19, verse 16. On the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightning a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God.

They took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now, Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in what fire? The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln. The whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke. God answered him in thunder.

The Lord came down on Mount Sinai on the top of the mountain. The Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up the Lord said to Moses, go down and warn the people lest they break through to the Lord to look.

God’s Presence in Pentecost

And many of them perish. So get the picture, God descends on Mount Sinai in fire in such a way that the people can’t even get near the fire of God’s presence on this mountain. But now in Acts two on the day of Pentecost, as they are remembering when God brought fire on Mount Sinai and they had to stay away, now resting on each one of them are tongues of what Fire. But that’s not even where it stops. Check this out.

So Exodus 20 through 31 are God giving his law to Moses on Mount Sinai, including the 10 Commandments that end in chapter 31. So skip to chapter 31 verse 18, chapter 31, verse 18 says, God gave to Moses when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone written with the fingers of God.

And then in chapter 32, we have a story about how while Moses is meeting with God up on the mountain, God’s people at the bottom of the mountain are worshiping an idol, a golden calf, and God brings his judgment down on them.

If you look down in verse 28 of chapter 32, see how many people died under the judgment of God on that day, In verse 28, Sons of Levi, according to the word of Moses, and that day about how many people, 3000 of the people fell?

The Judgement of God

So on the day when God’s people remembered when his law was given and 3000 people were struck down by the judgment of God on the day when they’re thinking about that the spirit of God comes down, the fire of his presence rests on his people. They proclaim his word.

And how many people just so happened to be saved? 3000, drop that mic. Don’t miss it. This is not a coincidence. The spirit of God changes everything. Everything. So don’t live a spiritless Christian life trying to obey this law on your own. You can’t do it.

Live in the power of God’s spirit in you and don’t think that you’re going to proclaim this word in your own power with your own gifts and it’s going to change people’s life. It’s going to happen when the Spirit empowers you to do that. This is the whole beauty of the new Covenant X. Ezekiel chapters 36 and 37, I will put my spirit in you. I’ll cause you to walk in my way. I’ll enable you to experience the life I’ve designed you to live.

The Spirit of God is Inside You

Sin does not have power over you Christian. You have the spirit of God inside of you. You are not powerless. You have extraordinary power inside of you to live the life God has created you to live. I love Hudson Taylor.

His spiritual biography is called Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret. And he writes, this is like the main paragraph. He said, oh, and he talked about how he spent so much of his supposedly Christian life trying to do a bunch of things for Jesus but missing the reality of Jesus in him.

And he wrote It’s a joy to feel Jesus living in you, to find your heart taken up by him, to be reminded of his love by his seeking communion with you at all times, not by your painful attempts to abide in him. He is our life, our strength, our salvation. He said, I’m no longer anxious about anything for Jesus I know is able to carry out his will, and his will is mine.

His Grace is Enough

It makes no matter where he places me or how that’s rather for him to consider than for me in the easiest position. He must give me his grace, the most difficult position. His grace will be sufficient. So if God should place me in great perplexity, must he not give me much guidance and positions of great difficulty, much grace and circumstances of great pressure and trial much strength, no fear that his resources will be unequal to the emergency and his resources are mine, for he is mine and is with me and dwells in me.

Do you feel that this is why Jesus held his disciples in John 14? It is better for me to go away. It’s better for me not to be here instead me to be in all of you. Do we believe that? Just think what if Jesus was here tonight, like sitting on the front row, we’d be like, that was an amazing night.

Jesus is Here in Passion City Church

Jesus was there. We’d be taking pictures, totally posting about that. Jesus showed up at Passion City Church tonight we have something much better. Jesus is in every single one of us who has put our faith in him. He is in us. Do you believe this? This is your life, Christian.

You’re an ordinary person filled with extraordinary power. Accountant, teacher, mom at home with your kids, whoever you are, college student. You have extraordinary supernatural power inside of you. For what purpose? I’m glad you asked.

This is where it all comes to a head. You are a group of people, ordinary people clothed with extraordinary power and personally commissioned by God as witnesses to the greatest news in all the world. That was a lot to write down. I’m going to say it again. Ordinary people called with extraordinary power and personally commissioned by God as witnesses to the greatest news in all the world.

God Calls Us

That’s who you are. That’s what God told his people in the Old Testament. Isaiah 43, fear not I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called you by name. You’re mine. When you pass to the waters, I will be with you. You pass to the rivers, they will not sweep over you when you walk through the fire, and you will not be burned because I’m the Lord your God.

You are precious and honored in my sight and I love you. I’ve created you for my glory and I have made you my witnesses to the world, to the nations to tell them who I am and how I can change their lives for all of eternity. How I can do what we celebrated tonight in baptism in people all across this city you are commissioned to be witnesses was exactly what Jesus had said. Right?

We read Luke 24, you are witnesses of these things. I’m sending my Holy Spirit upon you so that you will be a what? A witness. Acts one, eight. Now we say at this point, well I witnessed with my life. I witnessed by being a good person and well, it’s obviously good to have a life that reflects the gospel. We want that. But that’s not what it means to be a witness.

What Does a Witness Do?

What does a witness do? A witness speaks. A witness doesn’t get up on the stand and smile and be a good person. They testify to something. The word marries for witness from which we get martyr.

Think about the disciples who heard these words in Acts 1, eight out of those 1110 would die martyrs, deaths. John would be exiled on an island and it wasn’t because they went out and were nice kind people. If they had done that, they could have lived the Jewish dream.

No, they lost their lives. They spoke because they witnessed Jesus cost them everything. We have brothers and sisters right now in Somalia North Korea and Yemen who if they go out and live kind lives, they’re fine. But as soon as they speak the name of Jesus, they could get their throat slit. But they do it anyway. They’re not hiding behind. Eyewitness with my life, let us not hide behind this.

We Witness by Speaking The Gospel

And why would we want to? People won’t be saved by simply seeing a smile on our faces. They’ll be saved from hearing the gospel from our lips. So we don’t just witness by being good people.

We witness by speaking the gospel. And we say, well, I witness when the Holy Spirit leads me, which I get totally wanting to follow the leadership of the Spirit in our lives at all times. But don’t miss what the Bible is teaching here. You have received power from the Holy Spirit so that you will be a witness. Consider yourselves led.

Do you have the Holy Spirit in you?

Do you have the Holy Spirit in you? Then you are led this week to be a witness. Let me show you this one other thing. You got to see this. Look at Peter’s sermon, excuse me, Peter’s sermon in Acts chapter two, verse 16. Almost immediately after he says they’re not drunk.

He says this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. And from verses 17 to 21, he starts quoting from the prophet Joel, does anybody know what chapter and verse he’s quoting from? Shout it out if you know it. Joel, chapter two verses, 28 through 32.

Now are these people just like the amazing Bible scholars or do they have a note? You have a note in your Bible, just kind of go down to the bottom. It’s like Joel 2 28 to 32. So it’s helpful and you can be a Bible scholar just like that.

Joel Chapter 2

So here’s what I want you to do. Hold your place here in Acts chapter two and turn back with me to Joel chapter two. Just show you this one more thing from the Old Testament, Joel chapter two. Feel free to use table contents if you need to. Joel’s kind of tough to find hidden in there between Hosea, Amos.

If you hit Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, just take a left. So Joel chapter two. So let’s do a little sermon critique of Peter. Okay, first Christian sermon. How did he do? He immediately starts quoting from Joel 2 28 to 32. So let’s just compare him and see if he got it right.

So Joel. Joel, yeah. We’ll start in Joel Two verse 28. It says it shall come to pass afterward that I’ll pour my spirit in all flesh. So now look at Acts two 17. In the last days, which will be God declares, I’ll pour up my spirit on all flesh.

Your Sons and Daughters Shall Prophesy

Okay, pretty similar. Verse 28, your sons and daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions. Here it says, your sons and daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.

Well, they kind of switch that, but it’s essentially the same. I mean, give him a break, right? It’s his first sermon. So he’s doing pretty good now, Joel 2 29. Even on the male and female servants, in those days, I will pour out my spirit. Alright? Acts two 18. Even on my male servants and female servants, in those days, I’ll pour up my spirit and they shall prophesy. Wait a minute, did Joel say that?

No, that phrase is nowhere to be found and they shall prophesy. It’s not found in Joel. So what are we to think? Peter, you blew it, man. First Christian sermon, you added to God’s word. And here we are 2000 years later, still talking about how you blew it.

The Word of the Lord

I don’t think this is an accident. Think about it with me. The difference between Joel two and Acts two in the Old Testament is a lot, does that not always give you pause when you’re preaching and you hear thunder? Okay, this is from the Lord. I know this is from the Lord. It’s straight from the texts, straight from the text.

Prophesy

Okay, okay. And they shall prophesy. Think about the difference. Old Testament, Joel, where a lot of people, prophets are a few people, just a few, right? Hosea, Joel Amos, some of these Isaiah, Jeremiah, there were a few prophets and they had the responsibility of speaking for God.

Well now in Acts chapter two, God pours out his spirit on all of his people and they shall all prophesy, which is exactly what Jesus promised. I’m going to give you power in my Holy Spirit and you’re going to be a witness.

All of you, not just like the great preachers. All of you are going to have my spirit to prophecy, to speak. Do you realize what this means? If you’re a follower of Jesus, you are a prophet. Now, I’m not talking about the gift of prophecy that we see later in the New Testament or even the Office of the Prophet, just like we talked about in the Old Testament.

But think about the fundamental responsibility of a prophet to do what? Is to speak on behalf of God with his authority, a follower of Jesus Christ. This is your life. You’ve been empowered with the Holy Spirit of God to speak on behalf of God with his authority to say to a neighbor, a coworker, a classmate, a friend, or a family member this week.

Trust in Jesus

If you turn from your sins and trust in Jesus, God will forgive you of all your sins and restore you to a relationship with him for all of eternity. You have the authority to say that. So say that you have been personally commissioned by God.

What could be more personal than him putting his very presence inside of you personally, commissioned by God to his witnesses, to the greatest news in all the world, that though we have sinned against God and are separated from him by our sin and deserve eternal judgment before him, God has done the unthinkable and has come to us in the person of Jesus. And Jesus has lived the life. None of us could live a life of no sin.

He Had No Sin to Die For

And then even though he had no sin for which to die, he chose to die on a cross to pay the price for our sin. And then the good news keeps getting better because he didn’t stay dead for long. Three days later, he rose from the grave. He lived the life we could not live died, the death we deserve to die, and conquered the enemy.

We could not conquer sin and death itself. Anyone, anywhere who turns from their sin and trusts in Jesus will be forgiven of all your sins and restored to God for all of eternity. That is the greatest news in all the world. And you have it. And this city needs it.

God Loves this City

And God loves this city. You know how much he loves the city? He loves this city. So much to put, and there are a lot of others, but I’m just going to focus on putting a house in this city full of ordinary people with extraordinary power commissioned by him to spread out into accounting offices, into classrooms, into neighborhoods, into every domain of society here.

Praise God. Not everybody is the preacher on the stage. Praise God. He’s put his power in all of his people for the spread of his glory in all of this city and get the picture. This is from Jerusalem to Judean Samaria, to the ends of the earth. By the way, we are the ends of the earth. It came to us. And think about this city where you live. Where I live is the same. Let’s just think about Atlanta. God has brought people from across the nations to this city.

Proclaim this Gospel

You have opportunities to make disciples of the nations here. Don’t just proclaim this good news to people who look like you and think like you and who you’re most comfortable around. Proclaim this gospel, be his witnesses to the nations here.

And then in a world where over 3 billion, have little to no access to this gospel in the world for God’s sake. Don’t stop here when you get an opportunity to travel for work to the Middle East. No, you are commissioned personally by God to be a witness to the greatest news in all of the world. And a place where most people don’t even know this good news.

When you graduate college or when you’re going through college, you have opportunities to go to the nations. I just think about these guys. In Acts, one could have only dreamed about the opportunities we have to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Prayers Over Passion City Church

It would take them disciples, months to travel from one place to the next. They never could have imagined a machine you could get in, they would pick you up, and take you through the air anywhere in the world, in a day it would take them months to write a letter to get it sent off somewhere.

You and I have a device in our pocket that enables us to communicate with people around the world in real-time, in multiple languages. We have more opportunities today than ever before in history to spread the greatest news in the world, to the world.

So let’s be the church. God has designed us to be ordinary people, with extraordinary power, personally commissioned by God to be witnesses to the greatest news in all the world. I want to pray this over Passion City Church. I want to pray this over every father of Jesus in this room.