Message from Pastor Leo

April 1, 2009

Are you a believing believer?  Do you trust God to fulfill His promises?  Do you really know what He’s promised?  In today’s world, many call themselves “Christian,” but what do they really believe?  What do you really believe?

Jesus promised the early church that power would come upon them.  He said “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8

The early church took that promise to receive the power of the Holy Spirit straight from the Lord’s mouth, and they believed it and trusted in it.  And that power is life-changing power. 

Remember on the night our Lord was betrayed and arrested in the Garden, and His followers all fled?  Just 50 days later, Peter, an uneducated fisherman, the one who denied Jesus three times, is found speaking-out boldly about Jesus, right there in the streets of Jerusalem.  He was empowered by the Holy Spirit just as Jesus had promised.  It’s that same power that enabled more than three thousand to hear and believe the truth that day, and to surrender their lives and trust in Jesus as Lord – turning them from lives of sin to lives of righteousness. 

It’s that same life-changing power of the Holy Spirit that healed a crippled beggar through Peter as he and John were on the way to the Temple.  Less than two months after his disciples were cowering and afraid, they’re now empowered by the Holy Spirit and standing in the Temple preaching boldly about Jesus.  Even when they’re hauled-in to face the same leaders who had put Jesus to death, Peter and John are speaking out boldly – proclaiming the name and power of Jesus!

And you know the story of Saul.  He persecuted the church mercilessly: As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Acts 8:3  But then the power of the Holy Spirit fell on Saul.  And Saul, the greatest enemy of the church at that time, became Paul the greatest witness.

It was an awesome time in the history of the church.  But should it be any different today?  NO!  We should be expecting the power of the Holy Spirit to come upon us too.  We too have the very words of God - the Bible.  The same instruction given to the believers then is given to you now.  God is the same and His promise is the same.

The difference is, we don’t believe it.  We don’t take it to heart.  We should be believing believers.  We should believe in the promises of God and expect them to come true.  But we don’t believe because we don’t know what God really said.  If you ask around, every one believes something different.  Why is that?  You all have the same Bible with the same words.  Why are your beliefs different from someone else?  Because most of you are not reading the Bible for yourself.

Look, you can’t be a believing believer if you don’t know what God said: Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 

When you read your Bible, when you listen to sound Biblical teaching, “hearing” the promises of God with your own ears and eyes, faith comes.  It’s the miraculous enabling power of the Holy Spirit that guides and encourages your belief.

And when you’re a believing believer, when you know what God has promised and you trust Him to keep His promises, you too can boldly step-out in faith when you’re prompted.  The believers of the early church knew they would receive power.  Jesus told them they would and they believed.  So they prayed, And now, Lord, … grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:29-31

Are you reading your Bible?  Are you seeking the promises of God?  Are you expecting His promises to come true?  If you will faithfully read your Bible every day, faith will come.  So read your Bible.

May the Lord Jesus Christ Be Magnified!

Pastor Leo A. Giovinetti