Luke 24:49
And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
One of the most ignored commands of the Saviour to believers is the command to tarry until ye be endued with power from on high. Had the apostles not obeyed this command, there would be no day of Pentecost. Had the apostles not obeyed this command, three thousand people would have never been saved and would be burning in Hell today. Had the apostles not obeyed this command, the early church would have likely died, the Gospel would never be heard, and a whole world would not have been turned upside down for Christ.
The need to tarry until you are endued with power from on high is still the greatest need for believers today. We like to talk about the power of the Holy Ghost, but when was the last time you tarried until God did something in your life? If more people tarried until they were endued with power from on high, there would be fewer people tarrying on social media and spreading gossip and lies about others. If God’s people tarried until they were endued with power from on high, they would have no time to tear down the fallen that the power of God can restore. If God’s people tarried until they were endued with the power of God, they would find that they would not need to compromise what they believe to attract people to their church.
The word tarry means to stay or abide. In other words, God wants the believer to stay in their time of prayer until they are endued with God’s power. I have found in my life that many times a week I must get alone and tarry for God to do something in my heart, life, and ministry. When I find myself a bit overwhelmed with the pressures of the ministry, I know it is time to go to my place of prayer and tarry. When I see the lack of souls being saved and coming to church, I realize it is time to get alone to tarry until God does something in my life and ministry.
My pastor for many years, Dr. Jack Hyles, tells of his ministry as a young man. He said he went a year without seeing people saved and baptized. He said he was dying inside and needed God to do something for him. He said that he would beg God daily to do something in his life to change the lack of souls being saved. He said one day he told God that whatever it took for him to have God’s power on his life to do it. Not long after that prayer he received word that his lost father had suddenly died of a heart attack. Bro. Hyles said that after his dad’s funeral, he went to the graveside, fell on his face, and tarried until God endued him with power. The rest of his ministry was never the same after that moment. God used him to see thousands of souls saved, influence hundreds of churches to be started around the world, and build the largest Sunday school in the world.
God may not build the largest Sunday school through you, but you would see God do the miraculous through your life if you were endued with His power. Preacher, are you dying within? Do you need something to happen in your ministry? Christian, are you tired of the status quo and not seeing souls saved? The answer to any person is to tarry until you are endued with power from on high. You will never tarry if you never get away to pray. Let me encourage you to tarry until God does something in your life. God’s power working through you will turn your average into the miraculous.
Comments