You Shall Receive Power

The book of Acts records that Jesus appeared many times to His apostles during the time between His resurrection and ascension forty days later. Finally He gathers them together and tells them to wait in Jerusalem for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth" .

I believe it is possible that what we call "the church" had already begun prior to Pentecost. Jesus had gone to the cross, suffered and died in our place, and had become the Father ordained solution for mankind's separation from God. Man needed to appropriate what Jesus had done by having a rebirth of his spirit. Perhaps Jesus still had to ascend to the Father and take His rightful place in Heaven to be glorified by the Father, and then the Father would send the Spirit of Christ by the Holy Spirit to regenerate the hearts of men. And perhaps this didn't happen until Pentecost. The point to be made here is that "the church" consists of all who have a reborn spirit and are thus part of God's family. But there is also an empowerment that the Holy Spirit brings to the soul of man to help him both witness to the kingdom of God, and to live a life directed by the Holy Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit came in Acts 2 it was said that a noise like a violent, rushing wind filled the whole house where the disciples were waiting and that tongues as of fire rested on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit was leading them. Peter, who weeks earlier had denied Christ three times, is filled with boldness and stands in front of a large crowd of Jews from around the empire, saying that "God has made Him both Lord and Christ - this Jesus whom you crucified." At this point realize that even the best preaching cannot change the heart unless the words spoken are delivered to the spirit of man by the Holy Spirit. And Acts records that after Peter's talk there were added (to the church, by being born again through faith) about three thousand souls. Then in the months after; "And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles."

By the 6th chapter of Acts the church had grown large enough that the apostles, wanting to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word, had the believing community select seven men "full of the Spirit and of wisdom" to be in charge of food distribution and elderly care for the community. The apostles commissioned them by the laying on of hands. Two of those , Stephen and Philip, who were not apostles, later on became well known as evangelists. "And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people". Some Jewish leaders tried to debate him but were unable to cope with "the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking". The leaders bring Stephen before the High Priest and Acts 7 records the defense which Stephen makes. This time, unlike with Peter, their spiritual ears were not open to receive the word carried by the Holy Spirit, and they stonned Stephen, making him the first maryter for Christ.

The empowerment of the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost was not only the bringing of the Spirit of Christ for our salvation. It was not just a gift of wonder working power given to the apostles to jump start the church and to write the New Testement scriptures. The Spirit was sent to empower all believers with the grace and power to live lives holy and pleasing before God. And to empower all believers to be able to go out into the world to lead others into His kingdom. Many Christians live without that empowerment because the community around them have erected barriers, whether by ignorance or design, to the expectation that the Holy Spirit can move in power in each believer's heart today.