YOU WILL RECEIVE POWER

YOU ARE ALREADY EQUIPPED 

 

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He made the disciples a promise, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  He promised them power, but what is power?  Synonyms for power include authority, control, influence, supremacy, command, clout, and rule. 

Most people, if not all, love power!  It enables one to take charge, dictate to others what they should or should not do, lording it over them.  While some love power, because of the good they could accomplish by directing others to do the right thing, others love it because they love being in the spotlight.  

God never gives us things, including power, just for the sake of giving; He gives for a reason. Jesus told the disciples what they needed power for, and that was to be witnesses.  In other words without power they could not fulfill their mission of soul-winning.  Jesus already knew who their adversary was, Satan.  They needed power, because the devil was not going to sit back with arms folded while they raided his kingdom.  They needed to overcome all that he was going to throw at them.  They’d have to be able to cast out demons, preach the gospel without fear, and preach even in the face of persecution.  They needed to be able to rejoice even when persecuted.   

Before they received power, they were cowards.  They scattered when Jesus was arrested; Peter denied knowing Him thrice.  After they received power, things changed; they preached without fear.  They were able to say to the Sanhedrin, the authorities that tried to stop them from preaching, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God” (Acts 4:19).  When they were jailed, they did not plea - bargain with their captors; they sang and prayed.  What a difference power makes in the life of a believer! 

The mission has not changed; it has been passed on to us, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20a).  He promised them power for this mission, and it was fulfilled at Pentecost!  You might be thinking, “What about us?  We need the anointing of the Holy Spirit as well”, and you are right, but the Holy Spirit came to indwell us at conversion, so we don’t have to wait for the fulfillment of this promise.  I believe we are already equipped to witness right from the very first day we believed.  We have it already; let us go and win souls.

 

Although we are already equipped, we need to be constantly in prayer, because the devil will not give up his fight against the gospel until he is thrown into hell.  We need to thwart his plans against us, and against the preaching of the Word by prayer and leading godly lives.