The Purpose of Pentecost by T.L Osborn [Summary] 

Main Summary: The Purpose of Pentecost by T.L. Osborn argues that Pentecost’s true purpose is not just speaking in tongues, but receiving supernatural power to prove Christ’s resurrection through miracles. He insists Spirit-filled believers must evangelize the lost with signs and wonders—not just words—to convince a skeptical world that Jesus lives.

Lessons You’ll Learn From This Post 

• The Whole Purpose
• The Main Sign
• The Same Evidence
• Genuinely Baptized
• This Same Anointing
• A Holy Ghost-Filled Life
• Our Best Example
• Nothing Else Will Substitute
• This One Principle
• Demonstration of the Spirit
• Tongues are not enough
• What an Inheritance!
• Prophet of Pentecost
• Impotence of a Modern Church
• A Convincing Soul-Winner

Also read Are You a Christian or a Disciple by Edward N Gross [Summary] Pt1

Pentecost is not a denomination; it is a Holy Ghost experience for all Christians.

The Whole Purpose

• Jesus promised power after the Holy Ghost comes upon you (Acts 1:8)
• On Pentecost, believers spoke with tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4)
• Speaking in tongues alone misses the whole point if that becomes the goal. 
• “Pentecostal” people err by making tongues an end in itself
• Other Christians err by rejecting the New Testament pattern of tongues
• The real issue: power for what?
• Early Christians performed miracles as evidence that Jesus rose from the dead
• “With great power the apostles gave witness (proof) of the resurrection” (Acts 4:33)
• This remains the whole purpose—to witness with proof that Jesus lives. 
• Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and pagans do not believe Christ lives today. 
• People must believe God raised Christ from the dead to be saved (Romans 10:9)
• World evangelism is every Christian’s task—not just tongues, but proof of the resurrection
• Young Christians need real challenges: visiting homes, jails, street meetings, and praying for the sick. 

Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice before everyone has heard it once?

The Main Sign

• Jesus revealed God’s plan for our lives and how we can help open the way for His return
• He said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14)
• Jesus gives this as the main sign of His coming—not wars, earthquakes, or pestilence alone. 
• Over half the world’s inhabitants have not yet heard Jesus’ name
• Over half the world’s tribes have no portion of the Gospel translated into their language
• Storm clouds gather quickly; millions will perish in darkness unless we work fast
• No one should hear the Gospel twice before everyone has heard it once.
• The supreme task of the Church: the evangelization of the world
• This is why Jesus sent the Holy Ghost—to endue believers with supernatural power and boldness
• Believers need power to face the unbelieving world and give proof with signs, wonders, and miracles

Also Read The Anointing of the Holy Spirit by Peter Tan Pt2 [Summary] 

Jesus proved that when the Gospel of the kingdom is preached, devils are cast out, and the sick are healed.

The Same Evidence

• “This gospel of the kingdom” means the same Gospel Jesus Christ and His disciples preached
• Jesus commanded His disciples: “Preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
• With that message, He commanded them to heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead, and cast out devils
• These signs provided evidence of “this gospel of the kingdom.”
• Jesus went through cities and villages preaching the Gospel of the kingdom AND healing every sickness (Matthew 9:35)
• When Jesus cast out a devil, He declared: “If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you” (Matthew 12:28)
• Devils are cast out, and the sick are healed when the Gospel of the kingdom is preached
• This same Gospel, preached in the power of the Spirit and confirmed by signs and wonders, produces the greatest evangelistic triumphs in history
• Men full of the Holy Ghost give “witness of the resurrection” just as the early Christians did
• They preach the Gospel “with signs following” and win lost souls

I determined to be at least one more vessel through which God could manifest His power.

Genuinely Baptized

• The author sailed to India in 1945 with his wife and baby boy, burning to preach Christ
• The Holy Spirit guided him to get an interpreter, conduct crusades, and build churches
• Missionaries opposed his plans and insisted he study the language for five years first
• He wasted an entire winter studying Hindustani instead of preaching
• One mission opened only once a week, with never more than ten or fifteen people
• A Pentecostal church there opened only on Sunday evening for a short, routine service
• Missionaries advised him not to give altar calls because “we do things differently here.”
• On the final night, Osborn ignored their advice and called sinners to receive Christ
• Eleven Indians immediately responded, weeping and receiving the Lord
• The author regretted allowing anyone to detour him from God’s method
• He returned to the USA but later saw William Branham’s miraculous ministry in Portland
• He there and then determined to pay the price to preach the Gospel in the real power of the Holy Ghost
• Over 15 years, he conducted mass crusades in over 40 countries, ignoring unsuccessful missionary traditions
• Results: hundreds of thousands of heathen souls accepted Christ because they saw miracles in Jesus’ Name
• This is the purpose of genuine Holy Ghost baptism—not just tongues, but proclaiming with evidence that Christ lives so men may believe and be saved

Also Read Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney

Our ministry today must be a replica of the ministry of Jesus Christ, and anything less is not ‘this Gospel with evidence. 

This Same Anointing

• Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness” (Matthew 24:14)
• The Greek word for “witness” means “something evidential,” “with proof,” or “with evidence.”
• Our ministry today must replicate Jesus Christ’s ministry—anything less falls short
• John’s disciples asked if Jesus was the Christ; He replied: “Go tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the Gospel preached to them” (Matthew 11:4-5)
• Christ’s message came with evidence—no doubt remained that He was the Christ
• God anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost and power (Acts 10:38)
• Believers receive this same anointing when baptized with the Holy Ghost, for the same purpose
• Missionaries have gone worldwide, but few have demonstrated what they preach
• They missed the real purpose of being filled with the Holy Ghost
• Where men boldly proclaim Christ in all His power today, thousands convert
• Where they preach without evidence, few convert
• This Gospel must be proclaimed with evidence—as a witness
• Every Christian can and should receive this experience, regardless of denomination
• Jesus commands every Christian: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.”

It is one thing to say, ‘I am a church member, or a minister, or a preacher,’ it is another thing to say, ‘I am His witness.

A Holy Ghost-Filled Life

• The witness produces the evidence that convinces people
• Philip went to wicked Samaria, preached Christ, and the people gave heed because they heard AND saw the miracles he did
• Unclean spirits came out, palsied and lame people healed—great joy filled that city (Acts 8:5-8)
• Philip produced evidence because he lived a Holy Ghost-filled life
• Miracles testified to his sermons and convinced the entire city
• Hearing the message alone proves insufficient—people must see miracles that bear evidence of truth
• In Chile, a Presbyterian pastor said, “More has been accomplished in three weeks of miracle evangelism than in the past hundred years of traditional theological sermons.”
• Paul said: “Our Gospel came not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost” (1 Thessalonians 1:5)
• Paul preached “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:4)
• God bore witness to the Gospel with signs, wonders, divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost (Hebrews 2:3-4)
• Jesus was “approved of God by miracles, wonders, and signs” (Acts 2:22)
• The world needs preachers and laymen who preach in demonstration of the Spirit so people’s faith rests in God’s power, not human wisdom
• Fancy sermons and elaborate discourses draw no audience in this generation
• For seven years, the Osborns used accordion, piano, and violin—but after replacing entertainment with miracle power, they won more souls in one night than in all seven previous years
• The Greek word for “witness” in Matthew 24:14 matches the “Tabernacle of Witness” in the wilderness (Acts 7:44)—God’s miraculous power remained evident there 24 hours a day
• Our bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost—we are now “Tabernacles of Witness.”
• God’s miraculous power must remain perpetually evident in our lives
• Peter, arrested for healing a cripple, declared: “We are His witnesses.”
• Without Holy Ghost power, a hopeless vacancy exists—the Shekinah glory must dwell in our lives

The Bible is our best example of this. Wherever those preachers of the Early Church declared the Gospel, Christ confirmed it with signs and miracles.

Our Best Example

• Mark 16:20 declares: “They went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, confirming the word with signs following.”
• These were preachers with evidence—their sermons came with demonstrated
• They arrived in towns and people said: “These that have turned the world upside down have come hither also” (Acts 17:6)
• Unbelieving religious leaders despised hearing that Paul or Peter had arrived
• In Guatemala, certain church leaders worked harder trying to prevent mass evangelism than they ever worked before on the mission field
• Twenty-two other churches cooperated wholeheartedly—their churches overflowed with hundreds of new converts
• Scores of new churches resulted from the campaign
• Miracles, signs, and wonders as evidence of the Gospel caused thousands to accept Christ as Saviour
• The Bible remains our best example: wherever Early Church preachers declared the Gospel, Christ confirmed it with signs and miracles
• Whether Peter in traditional Jerusalem, Philip in immoral Samaria, or Paul on pagan Melita, the same results followed
• Acts 6:8,15 describes Stephen: “Full of faith and power did great wonders and miracles among the people… all that sat in the council saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.”
• Stephen was a witness—his preaching came with power because he was full of the Holy Ghost

This Gospel of the kingdom’ was preached as a witness! This is the purpose of being filled with the Holy Ghost.

Nothing Else Will Substitute

• Modern theologians claim people can be saved yet oppose all miracles today—this brings shame
• The Bible loses its meaning without Elijah raising the dead and calling down fire
• The Bible loses its meaning without Daniel praying unharmed in the lion’s den
• The Bible loses its meaning without the three Hebrew children delivered from the fiery furnace
• The Gospel loses its meaning without Christ healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, and giving sight to the blind
• The Early Church loses its meaning without Peter raising the cripple and healing the sick in Jerusalem’s streets
• Paul’s example loses its meaning without his healing the impotent man and casting out devils
• Christ’s commission loses its meaning without His order to cast out devils and lay hands on the sick
• Removing miracles from the Bible leaves nothing but a lifeless ritual
• Take the miraculous out of Christianity—only another religion remains
• Jesus condemned scribes and Pharisees who traveled land and sea to make one convert, then made him twice the child of hell (Matthew 23:15)
• Faithless missionaries warn converts to “beware of false prophets” while bold believers gather thousands of heathen souls in weeks
• Acts 4:31,33 reports: “With great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection… great grace was upon them all”
• Acts 5:12,14 reports: “By the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders… believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.”
• Multitudes were added because of the signs and wonders—the apostles preached with evidence
• Nothing else substitutes for “this Gospel with evidence.”
• One miracle outweighs a thousand sermons
• All Jerusalem attended Peter’s preaching after the crippled beggar was healed
• All Ponce, Puerto Rico, became convinced when Juan Santos walked after 16 years of dragging his body on the ground
• All of Guatemala City gave heed when the blind, crazy, paralyzed beggar of their streets healed instantly
• This Gospel of the kingdom preached as a witness—this remains the purpose of being filled with the Holy Ghost

He who warns against false miracles should at least be able to produce the real miracles! Moses did! Elijah did! Peter did! Paul did! One must be full of the Holy Ghost to do this.

This One Principle

• The Early Church operated on one principle: “We ought to obey God rather than men; for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. For we are His witnesses!”
• They saw Jesus heal the sick, cast out devils, give sight to the blind, raise the paralytics, and bless the poor
• They heard Him say: “The things which I do shall ye do also. Go ye; heal the sick, cast out devils, preach the Gospel. As My Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”
• Early Christians succeeded because they followed this principle—whole cities changed, multitudes believed, countries felt their impact
• When Early Church methods produce miraculous results, why substitute other methods today?
• Early Church methods applied today produce the same results
• This generation needs the miraculous power and ministry of Jesus Christ through Holy Ghost-filled Christians as much as any generation ever did
• Fashions change, times change, styles change, theories change, doctrines change, religions change—but “this Gospel” remains designed by the Master for “every creature,” “all nations,” until “the end of the world”—including signs, wonders, and miracles
• No need to adjust the Gospel to the modern mind—only need to proclaim it as a witness with Holy Ghost evidence
• Same results follow today as in the Early Church: “Multitudes will be added to the church daily, both of men and women” (Acts 5:14)
• Osborn has proven this in over 40 nations—no exceptional situation yet
• He knows what it means to travel the world preaching Christ, to obey God rather than man, to face discouragement and condemnation for bold ministry
• Faith wins and bold courage defeats every foe
• Only one purpose of Pentecost exists: to effectively evangelize lost souls
• Only one way to evangelize the world before Jesus comes: proclaim this Gospel with evidence in the power of the Holy Spirit—not hospitals, schools, colleges, leprosariums, or social training
• Every race, regardless of tradition or color, yearns to know and serve the God of miracles
• God made all nations of one blood (Acts 17:26)—they share the same hunger for a God who confirms His Word and fulfills His promises
• Osborn has preached to Hindus, Mohammedans, Buddhists, Shintoists, pagans, Catholics, orthodox Christians—educated and illiterate, black, red, yellow, brown, and white
• All people of all races, countries, and creeds share the same hunger for truth
• They accept Christ when they see His Word confirmed by signs and miracles—this is the purpose of being baptized with the Holy Ghost
• While modern theologians warn people of false prophets and deceivers, multiplied thousands turn from heathen religions worldwide when hearing the Gospel preached with evidence
• He who warns against false miracles should at least produce real miracles—Moses did, Elijah did, Peter did, Paul did
• One must be full of the Holy Ghost to do this—this is why a real Holy Ghost experience remains so vital today

The whole world is waiting to believe the Gospel proclaimed by one whose witness is confirmed by the demonstration of the Spirit and of power!

Demonstration of the Spirit

• Paul declares no difference between Jew and Greek—the same Lord is rich to all who call upon Him (Romans 10:12-15)
• “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
• The whole world waits to believe the Gospel proclaimed by one whose witness is confirmed by demonstration of the Spirit and power
• “The labourers are few.”
• The Lord spoke to Paul: “Stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness… to open their eyes (the Gentiles), and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God” (Acts 26:16,18)
• The early church prayed: “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” (Acts 4:29-30)
• The Lord of the Harvest calls out: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8)
• May the Holy Spirit stir hearts until each person cries: “Here am I, Lord! Send me! I will go! I will be Thy witness!”
• “Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18)

Pagan gods will be abandoned, broken into pieces, and tossed into bonfires when their worshippers see evidence of the living, resurrected Christ alive in their midst.

Tongues are not enough.

• In a dark, pagan city of Nigeria, the author attended a heathen wedding
• He asked if people knew about the Bible—they replied: “Of course. Do you think we’re pagan? We have our churches. We hear the Bible read.
• He asked if they had ever seen a blind man healed, a deaf man restored, or a leper cleansed
• They answered: No, never… ever
• Would they like to? “Of course. We long to see God among our people.”
• The author pointed to a beautiful church across the way—had they seen miracles there?
• They responded in surprise: “Miracles there? They don’t believe in miracles! They tell us we don’t need miracles today. No, we’ll never see miracles there!”
• When asked what happens if they become sick, they replied: “We have our Ju-Ju! We call our priest of Ju-Ju. We bring Krola nuts, powdered chalk, and chickens. We shed the blood of fowls upon our Ju-Ju gods, and they bring us a cure.”
• If a child gets sick and they take it to the preacher, what will he do?
• “White man, you ask a foolish question. We never take him to the preacher. We consult our Ju-Ju. While we shed fowl’s blood, we make many cuts on the child’s side to remove its blood; the Ju-Ju will be pleased, and the child will heal.”
• If they asked for prayer, the preacher would say a short prayer for God to bless the child, teach something through the sickness, and ask for God’s will to be done—”And nothing would happen… at all… at all!”
• One of them continued: “The preacher does not believe in his God as we believe in our Ju-Ju. If we consult our Ju-Ju and shed fowl’s blood, in ten minutes something will happen.”
• Those people had absolute, unwavering faith in their Ju-Ju idols
• When the author told them Jesus Christ remains the same today as in Bible days, they became as excited as children
• Everyone agreed: “White man, if you come to our town and let us see Jesus do these miracles, we will destroy all of our Ju-Ju and follow all you teach us!”
• The author acknowledged that he had seen this same attitude wherever he had talked with non-Christians around the world
• Pagan gods will be abandoned, broken into pieces, and tossed into bonfires when worshippers see evidence of the living, resurrected Christ alive in their midst
• Muslims, Shintoists, Buddhists, Hindus, and pagans are no different from people in Jesus’ day when “a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased” (John 6:2)
• Must this generation cry in despair: “Where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of?” (Judges 6:13)
• Nothing short of a genuine Holy Ghost experience meets today’s demands
• Stephen, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, did great wonders and miracles among the people” (Acts 6:8)
• This is the purpose of Pentecost
• Speaking in tongues alone proves insufficient today
• To turn men from heathen religions, modern atheism, and infidelity, believers must produce miracles that convince men Christ lives and is real

God has empowered his people with his own miraculous virtue to enable them to claim their inheritance of unregenerate souls. 

What an Inheritance!

• Over a thousand years before Christ, David declared: “He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen” (Psalm 111:6)
• David said God empowered His people with His own miraculous virtue to enable them to claim their inheritance of unregenerate souls
• The word “heathen” means unregenerate, unsaved, or ignorant of God and His covenant
• A “heathen” is any unregenerate person ignorant of the Gospel—whether a savage in Ecuador, Africa, or New Guinea, or a polished intellectual in Europe, Asia, or America
• God showed His people the power of His works so He could give them the heritage of the heathen
• What an inheritance! Unregenerate souls… millions of them… waiting to be claimed for Christ and His Church
• These souls are the “pearl of great price,” the “treasure hid in the field” for which a man must sell “all that he hath” to go and buy (Matthew 13:44-46)
• David said God has empowered believers so they can possess this treasure of souls as their inheritance

World population increases by 50 million souls every year. Each day, over 120 thousand people die without Christ.

Prophet of Pentecost

• Joel prophesied the outpouring of God’s Spirit upon all flesh (Joel 2:28)
• The objective of this outpouring is to reap the harvest—lost multitudes ignorant of the Gospel
• Joel gave the reason for proclaiming this to the lost: “It shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be DELIVERED” (Joel 2:32)
• But Paul asks: “How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14)
• The last chapter of Joel’s prophecy carries urgent and compulsory force
• Joel commands: “Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles (heathen or unsaved). Let the heathen be awakened. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe… Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision” (Joel 3:9-14)
• Joel vividly described this generation
• Over one billion, 500 million people have never yet heard the Gospel—they remain “heathen.”
• Their harvest is ripe—they want to hear
• World population increases by 50 million souls every year
• Each day, over 120 thousand people die without Christ
• Every time you breathe, a poor heathen struggles his last and sinks into pagan darkness alone—without hope and without God
• Every time the pendulum of your clock swings, someone ignorant of Christ’s redemption gasps in hopeless despair as death’s dark curtains enshroud another unsaved soul
• This happens right now, while you read this
• In over 40 countries, Osborn has watched unsaved multitudes assemble “in the valley of decision.”
• They become attracted and convinced as believers “testify the Gospel” (Acts 20:24)
• The miracle-energy of the Holy Ghost works, “confirming the word with signs following” (Mark 16:20)
• Time after time, Osborn has seen these multitudes surrender their dead gods, break their dumb idols to pieces, and burn their deceitful fetishes
• Glorious to watch lives change “from darkness to light; from the power of Satan unto God” (Acts 26:18)
• Glorious to see men and women literally “destroy their altars, and break their images” (Exodus 34:13)
• God said: “Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them… but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images” (Exodus 23:24)
• Then God promises: “Ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee” (Exodus 23:25)
• The purpose of a Spirit-filled life is to demonstrate the supernatural power of the living God so unsaved multitudes abandon their dead religions to “call upon the Name of the Lord (and) be delivered” (Joel 2:32)
• This happens again and again wherever messengers go who are endued with the Holy Ghost, when divine energy demonstrates through them miraculous signs and wonders as evidence of the Gospel testimony

He who warns against false miracles should at least be able to produce the real miracles! Moses did! Elijah did! Peter did! Paul did!

Impotence of a Modern Church

• On every hand, at home and abroad, we see the impotence of a modern Church struggling against false religions
• The Church strives in vain to avert wholesale conversions of the unchurched to anti-Christian orders
• Three of every four conversions in Africa go to the Muslim faith
• Japan shows evidence of sweeping return to pre-war ancestral worship—Shintoism
• Christless sects rampage worldwide to persuade millions in this age of “awakening.”
• Jehovah’s Witnesses deluge this generation with thousands of tons of literature—Communists do even more
• While wholesale persuasion to false religions takes place everywhere, the Church leans on the arm of flesh instead of relying on the miracle-energy of the Holy Ghost
• While pagan rituals grip the masses, the Church stands by in impotence, paralyzed by rejection or neglect of the miraculous, baffled before the onslaught of non-Christian beliefs
• Joel makes a striking statement: “I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen” (Joel 2:19)
• The Name of Jesus Christ and the cause of Christianity are often blasphemed and ridiculed by heathen people, where they have not seen evidence that He is alive today
• Jesus said: “This Gospel… shall be preached as a witness” (Matthew 24:14)—proclaimed with miraculous evidence
• A verbal Gospel does not affect decisions among the masses
• Paul said: “Our gospel came not… in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance” (1 Thessalonians 1:5)
• Paul testified that Christ wrought “mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God” through him, “to make the Gentiles obedient… so that (he could say) I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ” (Romans 15:18-19)
• Paul claimed his preaching came “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)
• This great soul-winner believed in miracles—he believed it futile for faith to stand in human genius and reason
• In over 40 countries, Osborn has proven that Paul’s method works today
• The Gospel will not be “reproached among the heathen” when proclaimed in the power of the Holy Ghost—with miraculous evidence
• Miracles silence the unbeliever and influence him to turn to God
• God says: “Concerning the work of my hands command ye me” (Isaiah 45:11)—but this calls for the miracle energy of God at work in man
• God’s method appeared in Egypt when Aaron’s rod swallowed the rods of the heathen magicians (Exodus 7:10-13)—the ridiculers confessed: “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19)
• God’s order appeared on Mount Carmel when Elijah called down miraculous fire from heaven and put idolatrous prophets to shame (1 Kings 18:38)
• Who bore the reproach and shame that day? Certainly not Elijah
• Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal: “Cry aloud… either your god is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked” (1 Kings 18:27)
• Then Elijah prayed: “Let it be known… that thou art the Lord God”—and the fire fell
• The significance of a Pentecostal experience: believers will “be no longer a reproach among the” unsaved
• God has empowered and equipped believers to reap their inheritance of the souls of their generation
• Osborn knows what it means to be “a reproach” among the heathen
• In India, as a missionary in 1945, a Mohammedan challenged him to prove Jesus Christ is the Son of God and rose from the dead—Osborn could not do it. No miracles happened in his ministry. He preached, but no evidence appeared
• In 1947, God showed Osborn “the power of His works”—so he might no more be a “reproach among the heathen,” neither in India, America, nor any other country
• Since then, thee author has led thousands of Muslims to Jesus Christ in a single meeting because the Holy Ghost working in him gave evidence to what he preached by miracles

The purpose, then, of receiving the power of the Holy Ghost is to evangelize; to win lost souls to Christ… heathen souls… those who are ignorant of the Gospel, wherever they may be.

A Convincing Soul-Winner

• Just before Jesus was taken up and a cloud received Him out of their sight, He left one final truth freshly impressed upon His disciples (Acts 1:9)
• Jesus said: “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: And ye shall be witnesses unto me… unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8)
• Three words deserve particular attention: POWER, WITNESS, and UTTERMOST
• Power from the Greek “dynamis” (English “dynamite” derives from it)
• Means “power in action, as when put forth in performing miracles… ability, mighty works.”
• Describes miracle-energy and supernatural force
• Witness translated from the Greek word “martyr” (original meaning: witness)
• So many witnesses laid down their lives that “martyr” gradually came to mean “one who bears witness by his death.”
• Denotes one who “can or does aver (vouch for, guarantee, verify, prove) what he has seen or heard or knows.”
• A witness furnishes evidence, proof—one who demonstrates, substantiates, or verifies his testimony with an exhibition of evidence
• Uttermost means “inner, hidden, remote, last part or frontier.”
• Paul called it “the regions beyond”—still further, yet unreached. 
• In substance, Jesus said:
• You shall receive virtue, miracle ability, supernatural energy after the Holy Ghost comes upon you for a specific purpose
• This power enables you to give absolute evidence—miraculous proof of My resurrection (Acts 1:22, 2:32, 3:15, 4:33)
• This power working in you will actually demonstrate and exhibit proof of your testimony, as with documented credentials
• You will exhibit this supernatural evidence in your own cities, your country, AND unto the inner and hidden parts of the earth—even to theq remote and last frontiers of civilization
• When Jesus said “Ye shall receive power,” the purpose was to enable men to produce convincing evidence of the resurrection everywhere—even “unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
• When David said “He hath shewed His people… power,” the purpose was to “give them the heritage of the heathen.”
• The purpose of power in both cases: to give witness unto “the uttermost part” and to inherit “the heathen,” the unsaved
• In other words: to reach the lost at home and abroad; to “turn them from darkness to light; from the power of Satan unto God” (Acts 26:18)
• The purpose of receiving the power of the Holy Ghost is to evangelize—to win lost souls to Christ—heathen souls, those ignorant of the Gospel, wherever they may be
• When a person is baptized, God energizes that person with Divine power
• God equips him with virtue to witness to the unregenerate with miraculous evidence
• God endues him with the same “virtue” that flowed from Jesus Christ into the woman who touched His garment—her sickness instantly cured
• The baptism in the Holy Ghost, which the disciples received on the day of Pentecost, is the key to world evangelism
• All that followed in the Book of Acts was the outcome of that experience
• The outpouring of the Holy Ghost in anyone’s life is the only authority enabling him to command the attention and respect of the unsaved—the unregenerate—the heathen
• An endowment of Holy Ghost power enables believers to win them… to possess them
• Now, “have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” (Acts 19:2)
• Has He, the Holy Ghost, working in you, made you a convincing soul-winner?
• Can you say with Paul: Nothing else counts, except “that I might finish… the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify (with evidence) the Gospel of the grace of God?” (Acts 20:24)
• This is the purpose of Pentecost—that believers might witness with evidence to the “uttermost part of the earth” and be no longer “a reproach among the heathen”—the unsaved
• The hour has come when believers must use the power given to them to liberate men and women from Satan’s bondage and effectively witness to a billion lost souls for Christ. 
• A young Indonesian preacher challenged by Osborn’s campaigns set himself to fasting and prayer for three weeks
• At the end, God spoke to him in a loud, audible voice: “Use the power I have given thee.”
• With these words came the realization that the Holy Ghost within him was there to convince and liberate the heathen millions of his own country
• He launched out and soon preached to five and ten thousand souls daily
• His succeeding campaign brought twenty to forty thousand nightly
• Moving to another great island, as many as a hundred thousand assembled daily to hear this native preacher using the power God had given him
• God’s Words to You Today:
• “Use the power God has given you.” Use it to do what Jesus did and what He said you should do
• This is the purpose of a Pentecostal experience—of a Spirit-filled life

——

• Jesus’ outline in sending His disciples to take the Gospel to every creature, Jesus outlined the ministry that would convince people:
• “These signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:17-18)
• This is the ministry that will turn the lost to Christ
• The heathen, or unconverted, demand this kind of ministry
• The human mind demands evidence before making a decision
• People demand men like Stephen, “full of faith and power” who will do “great signs and miracles among the people.”
• Spirit-empowered believers must respond to the cry of this generation
• They will not hear spiritual modernists
• Medical missions cannot meet the challenge
• Educational systems cannot do it
• Social development will not satisfy humanity’s craving
• Communism is not the answer
• Only the power of the living Christ, proclaimed in demonstration of the Holy Ghost, can meet every need of humanity

You now know Pentecost’s true purpose. Stop settling for religious routine. Ask God to fill you with the power of the Holy Ghost. Then go—lay hands on the sick, cast out demons, and witness with evidence. A billion souls are waiting for you.

Finally, here is a question we’d love you to answer.

Have you settled for a “tongues-only” experience when God wants to make you a walking miracle that convinces unbelievers?

We would love to hear from you. Please leave your answer and comment in the comment box below.

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