10-09-23-ENG.

"You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. "

Acts 1:8 
ARE YOU A WITNESS?

Read It: Acts 1:8; 2:1-4
Here's a final truth to think about in relation to the Holy Spirit's power: The Spirit leads us to a powerful proclamation. Verse 8 actually begins with a very strong contrasting word. Why? Because as we saw on Wednesday, the disciples were looking for the kingdom dom to be established at that moment. They wanted the kingdom to come because Jesus had said that with the kingdom would come power (Matthew 6:13). Jesus told the disciples that He was not going to give them an earthly, political kingdom at that time, but He was going to give them kingdom power, because the power of the kingdom is the Holy Spirit. Notice that Jesus did not simply say, "You are going to witness for Me." He said, "You shall be My witnesses" (my emphasis). The emphasis was upon becoming something, not just doing something. If you get the being right, the doing will follow One of the ways you know the Holy Spirit is taking over is that you are being Christian when nobody is telling you to be Christian. You are representing Jesus when nobody is telling you to represent Jesus. You are taking a stand for Christ when nobody is telling you to, because you have become His witness. If you can go day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out, and never bring up the name of Jesus Christ to anyone; if you can go year in and year out without Jesus Christ radiating out from your life, then your problem is not that the church needs to come up with an evangelistic program. Your problem is that the Holy Spirit doesn't have you yet, because when the Holy Spirit gets you, a transformation occurs. Look at Peter. When the Holy Spirit got him on the Day of Pentecost, the people thought he and the others were drunk (2:13). Not so, Peter said. Then he explained that it was the outpouring of the Spirit (v 17). Has anyone ever accused you of being so full of the Holy Spirit that they couldn't explain your behavior in ordinary terms? That's a charge a lot more of us Christians need to get stuck with a lot more often. Think About It You don't need more power if you have the Holy Spirit. You just need to turn the Spirit loose.