Stop Waiting for a Word: The Word Is Go and You Are Qualified

Sermon outline

When the Holy Spirit came upon you, you received divine enablement to be a witness, so stop waiting to feel worthy, trained or anointed: you are qualified now, and the word is go.

1. Before the message: if you are struggling with giving, don't fight the Word, sit there and grow

   He says plainly that this is not his subject for the night, but he stops to help people who struggle in some area, and especially with money. His counsel is not to fight the Word or leave the church over it: keep your money until the Word gets into you and you can give by faith. Giving is sowing for your future, your protection and your prosperity, and everything in the kingdom grows with time, including your faith, your giving, your healing and your strength against the devil. He then gives away copies of his book on tithing, one per family.

   Illustration: As a new convert he used to cut open the tithe envelope his wife had prepared and take half the money out, and he put coins in the basket. One day, as he dropped in a two rand coin, the Lord asked him, 'Is this what you think of me?' He calls his old self Mr Scrooge squared. He also compares growth to the first day in the gym: nobody lifts a weight once and sees the result.

   “Don't fight it, sit there and grow.”

   • Philippians 4:17

2. You shall receive power: divine enablement from above

   He names his subject, the clothing of the Holy Spirit, and has the church read Acts 1:8 with him. From the Amplified Bible he explains power as ability, efficiency and might: when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you receive divine enablement. God cannot fail, so as long as you work the principles of His Word you cannot fail either, and when you speak it is not just words but spirit that comes out of you.

   “If God cannot fail, it means you cannot fail.”

   • Acts 1:8

3. The power is for witnessing, and the responsibility now rests on your shoulders

   The enablement is not for looking good or for displaying now and again in church what you can do. It is given so that you will be witnesses, and the verse says 'you', the whole church, not the pastor or the leaders. God has done His part by giving Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Believers who only keep growing in knowledge, wisdom and revelation without going become top heavy.

   Illustration: A top-heavy Christian: everything about you on the top grows, in knowledge, wisdom and substance, except that the feet are not walking and carrying the good news.

   “He has divinely equipped you with power for what? To be witnesses.”

   • Acts 1:8

4. Excuses that immobilise you: you are equipped now

   'When I am more proficient in the Word', 'when I have studied enough', 'when I buy my first car' are excuses the devil uses to immobilise you. You will keep growing, but while you are learning you are already thoroughly equipped to tell your story and share what God has done for you. Some believers camp at that point, and sometimes God has to press you in to press you out. Even if you make a mistake while sharing the gospel, God is big enough to cover it.

   Illustration: A true story he read in a book: a newly saved Native American preached to his own people about 'Paul with his wife Silas'. The detail was wrong, but his heart was in it and the Spirit of God was in it, and they all stood up and accepted Christ.

   “Sometimes God has to press you in to press you out.”

5. Go, stand, speak: angels are opening the doors

   In Acts 5 the apostles are put in the common prison, but at night an angel of the Lord opens the doors, brings them out and says, 'Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.' While you sit in the house of the Lord, and while you are on your way to a cell group or to share at work, angels are opening the doors that need to be opened. The command was not to pray, sing or fast but to speak, and the words of life are already in your mouth.

   Illustration: Don't say, 'If I lay my hands, I wonder what will happen.' Say, 'In the name of the Lord Jesus, I'll lay my hands. God's with me. Something will happen.'

   “God believes in you. It's about time you believe in yourself.”

   • Acts 5:17-20

6. As He is, so are we: you are qualified now

   Many say, 'Pastor, I'm waiting for a word', but Acts 1:8 has already said go. As He is, the healer and the author of life, so are we in this world, short of nothing. You are qualified not because you feel worthy but because you are the righteousness of God in Christ and there is no condemnation. Religion keeps people waiting until the potential God put in them goes to the graveyard. Young, middle-aged or old, it is not too late.

   Illustration: For a long time he held himself back, thinking he first needed a degree in theology, more fasting and prayer, and grey hair as an elder before God could use him. He adds that Smith Wigglesworth started his ministry at 48 and shook the world, and that a cell group you start will grow into a church.

   “Religion will keep us waiting until we're 70 years old and will accomplish nothing.”

   • 1 John 4:17
   • Acts 1:8
   • 2 Corinthians 5:21
   • Romans 8:1

7. You are the offspring of God

   The church reads Acts 17:28 together: in Him we live and move and have our being, and we are His offspring. He explains the Greek word genos as kindred, kind, nation, offspring: you hail from God and are the product of God, a partaker of the divine nature. The times of ignorance are over and you now walk in the light of who you are, so keep saying what you see by faith and not what your eyes see. He asks the church to meditate on this every day until Sunday, and reminds parents that God has His eyes on their children.

   Illustration: The child of a multi-millionaire does not walk around telling his school friends, 'My dad's really poor.' Don't look at the five people in your cell group or at the car that hops to church with one tyre bouncing: it is your start, but it is not your finish.

   “It's your start. But that's not your finish.”

   • Acts 17:28-30
   • 2 Peter 1:4
   • Mark 11:23
   • 1 Corinthians 3:16
   • 2 Corinthians 4:7

8. Divine impulses: you are anointed whether you feel it or not

   There are divine impulses in your body and in your hands, so when you lay hands on someone you are not laying on empty hands. Jesus lived a life of perfect activity: healing, preaching, travelling, speaking to the storm. It is time for the church to get busy as carriers of the gospel. We have been robbed by focusing on feeling the power. The feeling is a blessing God gives, but the anointing is a fact all the time.

   “You are anointed 24-7. Whether you feel it or not, as a fact.”