Endued Power From on High — Joshua Daniel

Welcome to the Lord's Challenge, our weekly quarter-hour broadcast bringing the reality of God's Word to all people everywhere. Stay tuned as Joshua Daniel challenges us to a walk with God and the corresponding impact that it will have on our lives, families and society today.

Christ’s Commission to Preach Repentance

If you will please turn to Luke 24 chapter 46, And said unto them, Thus it is written, And thus it behoved Christ to suffer, And to rise from the dead the third day. That and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Witnesses to the Uttermost Parts of the Earth

You are my witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry you in the city of Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high. The eighth verse of the first chapter of Acts,.

But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me, beginning at Jerusalem, to the uttermost part of the earth. You see, somewhere, you know, there has been some disconnection to the uttermost part of the earth.

Rejecting Selfish Christian Comfort

What? You can't get on with even a bunch of people? You can't make friends with half a dozen people? What does that show? Breeds there the man that sold so dead, who hath to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land.

And so on it goes. A selfish man, the poem says, he will die unsung, unwept. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ was not going to produce a bunch of people who will just be satisfied cushioning their own littleness to the uttermost parts of the earth.

And to whom was he telling this? To simple people who belong to a very small country. People with limited education. But you shall be endued with power from on high. And the Lord Jesus Christ, in fact, said in John 16, It is expedient that I should go away, for if I go not away, John 16, nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you.

But if I depart, I will send him unto you. What? All right. Suppose today, as it happened to Job, everything that you had is taken away from you. Your family is gone. Your loved ones are gone. And your possessions are gone.

Your health is gone. Would you still praise God? My dear friends, let me tell you, I don't trust myself. Whether I would grumble or what I would do, or I would sit in a trance and say, Hey, where is all my stuff?

It's gone. I wonder how you would take it. But the Lord Jesus Christ said, I'm going to leave you. If I don't leave you, you will not have the Holy Spirit sent to you. I will go and send him unto you.

So I must need to go. It's expedient. Just think of the vacuum that there would have been in those men's lives. They walked so close to Jesus. In each storm, they would say, Lord, carest thou not that we perish?

Look at the storm. Don't you care for us? They had learned to trust in Jesus, lean upon Jesus. And every time there was a crisis, Jesus was there for that need. You meet that need and suddenly he's gone.

What do you do? I don't know what it is like when you have a mother taken away from a family suddenly. I don't know what it is like or what the vacuum and the emptiness that would come into a family. Or if a father is taken away.

The Holy Spirit as Comforter and Indwelling Presence

Very well. Here is Jesus saying, I must leave you because I am going to send you a comforter who will be with you forever. He will be with you and he will be in you. My dear friends, are we at all conscious that Jesus Christ lives in our hearts by faith?

Are we ever at all conscious? Is it only my hunger, my needs, my wants? You see, needs are very different from wants. You say, I want that. I want this. I can't do without that. You see, my needs, my wants, is that all you're conscious of?

If I had somebody who says, all things are in me. I will supply you all that is needed. What would I say to that person? Come along. I want you to live with me. I want you to be near me because you will supply all my need.

And how is it that we don't have that kind of relationship with the Holy Spirit? We keep grieving the Holy Spirit. As a tennis player, you know, I was always wanting a real stimulating game, challenging game.

Suddenly, some fashionable lady would appear on the club courts. Now listen, there are many ladies who can beat me hollow. But you know some of these talkative ladies who come painted up to the tennis court and then they want to play pat ball, you see?

And you say, boy, my evening is gone. No, I just hated it. Well, you may say I was not very generous or gentlemanly or whatever. But you see, I had very limited time for a game and I wanted a real good game.

And I didn't want to play pat ball, you see? Now, my friends, can you think of a person who has the Holy Spirit close by and turns his back on the Holy Spirit and say, I can do it all by myself. And you do not even know if your next breath will come to your nostrils.

What happens? What kind of stupidity is that? And how can you forgive yourself for that? That he should be with you forever, that he should be in you. And then we also see in the ninth verse, John 69, 8 and 9.

The Spirit’s Reproof of Sin, Righteousness, and Judgment

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. See, there is no reproof for sin. Some churches where I preached, I saw a certain amount of carelessness and children running about, as one pastor told me, a very godly pastor.

You know, brother, when I start preaching, people get their, you know, what I call toilet urges. You see? What? Isn't there a time, a time and a season and an appropriate moment for such urges? Only the sermon must stimulate such urges.

What's shocking? Indiscipline. Oh, brother, when I start preaching, the children are going out. I say, look, there are thousands of people before me, but no one moves. Not even children. But when the Holy Spirit is come, He doesn't pat you on your back for your indiscipline and your sin.

He shall reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment. You know, my dear friends, when He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He shall guide you into all truth. Yes, I want to know all the truth.

Why do I want to know only the good side of Joshua Daniel? I want to know all the truth. Where am I stubborn? Where am I foolish? Where am I stupid? Where am I disobedient? I want to know all the truth.

Where am I not practicing what I preach? I want to know all the truth. And who will tell me all the truth? It's only the Holy Spirit. Let us pray. Let us tell God, Oh God, the greatest gift of heaven.

I don't want, and I go running after the useless things. What riches we have in this great Comforter, and we want to live without Him? It's impossible to be happy without Him. Gracious Father, please come to us, visit us.

We ask in Jesus' holy name. Amen.

The speaker on this program was Joshua Daniel. He would like to know what your response has been to the Lord's challenge, and would be delighted to hear from you. Please write, and if you have burdens you want to share and want prayer, do let us know.

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