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One Day… Outpouring of the Spirit
excerpt
by Captain Rowan Castle
'…that there
would be such an outpouring of the Spirit upon us that we
would be courageous and effective witnesses in our families,
communities, cities, Australia and the world.'
Brothers and sisters, we are The Salvation Army—mobilised and
unified towards the common cause of the salvation of the world
and it is the Spirit's coming that empowers the believer for
this task. Acts 1:8 says, 'But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of
the earth.'
What is the catalyst for this outpouring? What is God waiting
for? Surely the God who so loves the world that he sacrifices
his only son is not reluctant. Surely he is not preoccupied.
Is there some special time for revival? Of course not, what he
waits for is you. He waits for a heart, mind and spirit
totally surrendered and available to him. He waits for people
who value the salvation of souls and the growth of his kingdom
more than personal pride, gain and acceptance.
Much has been said, written and discussed on the topic of
evangelism and it sometimes seems that evangelism is something
that was possible once but is now rare. Our history as a
movement suggests that we were once a revolution of
evangelical zeal, methodology and results. Our status as such
has now been lost in the face of enormous societal change.
Questions of 'Who are we now' and 'What is our purpose' have
haunted Salvationists of late as we simply fail to believe
that we can experience a revival akin to our early days (e.g.
1878-1888 in England).
We cannot afford to give into the enemy's lie that when it
comes to our witnessing we have had our day. Yes, the early
days of the Army, and the world in which they lived, have come
and gone but we can never afford to accept that the power and
truth of Acts 1:8 are also gone. We can never dismiss the
promise of Jesus: '...you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses...'.
That same power is available to you today and the key word is
'you'. Not 'we' or 'us', or even 'the Army'—but you! You can
know the Spirit's power. You can be God's witness to the end
of the earth. It starts with your consecration to God and ends
in his power made manifest in you. There is no program,
invitation, permission, better time or better person than you.
So this is what I understand about being a courageous and
effective witness. First, some people say 'yes' and some
people say 'no'. Our witness must be courageous. There is a
risk of failure, rejection and frustration—people will accept
Jesus, but others will reject him.
In Mark 4, Jesus promises a one in four ratio; in Luke 17:17,
Jesus only gets one out of 10, and in Luke 10:16 Jesus reminds
us that it is him who is rejected—not us. Some may say 'no',
but we keep going for those who say 'yes'. Second, people love
to hear the good news. Romans 1:16 says, 'I am not ashamed of
the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation
of everyone who believes.' I am constantly amazed (though I
shouldn't be surprised) at how people respond to the gospel
when it is heard. This good news to which we are a witness is
music to humanity's ears.
And finally, the world is crying out for holy people — a
people cleansed from sin and filled with love; a people full
of grace and free from hypocrisy; a people whose capacity for
acceptance stamps out the fear of judgement; a people who are
consecrated, fully surrendered and available to God...a people
who know the outpouring of the Spirit in their lives.
Brainstorm
Who is there in your life you can take a risk with today?
If you wanted to tell someone about Jesus what would you say?
Maybe you could take a few moments to think about what you
would witness to. Take some moments each morning to listen to
what God says about the people in your life that don't yet
know him. Maybe listen on their behalf and see if God has a
message for them.
Be radical, hit the streets and start your adventure as an
evangelist by asking people if they know about Jesus. It can
work!
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