Acts 1:4-5, 8 — 4-5 …“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” • Jesus knew that the mighty baptism with the Holy Spirit would be necessary for the proper fulfilling of His worldwide commission to the Church. Again, the writer Luke emphasized Christ’s charge that they not leave Jerusalem until they had this life-changing experience. All believers today should take this seriously to heart. 8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” • Great Commission ministry is Holy Spirit ministry. Even Jesus Himself said of his own ministry, for example in the casting out of demons, that He did it “by the Spirit of God” (Matthew 12:28). • The Christian Church’s ministry is one of divinely-given power, not one of human skills and man’s wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). This power was given to those early believers (and to us today!) at Pentecost, when they received the baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4), with the evidence of speaking in tongues. We need that same heaven-sent power today to accomplish Christ’s call. • And He has called us not just “to witness,” but to “be [His] witnesses” in all the world.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 02:53:38 +0000
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