What Are You Relying On?

Today we begin the book of Acts, which is also known as, "the acts of the apostles".  As the first couple verses reveal, the writer is Luke, who traveled with Paul on his first two mission trips.  If you look at the first three verses of this book and then compare them with the first three verses of the book of Luke, you will see that they are identical.  Acts is the first book after the four gospels.  It's gets really exciting now as we see the apostles doing the same things Jesus did while he was on earth.  To do these same things they would need something Jesus had promised to them before he left. 

Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven

1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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.”

If you remember from John's gospel, Jesus said, "It is good for me to go, becasue I go will send the Holy Spirit who will live in you and guide you into all truth."  The Jews believed in a water baptism, as sign of cleansing and repentance, but the baptism of the Spirit was something very different.  What would the Holy Spirit enable them to do?

1. The Holy Spirit, was the Spirit of Jesus sent from the Father and the Son.  We often say it is the "Spirit of Christ".  The Holy Spirit is separate and is a person of the Trinity, but is also intimately connected with the Father and the Son.  There is nothing the Holy Spirit does apart from the will of the Father and the Son. Literally the Holy Spirit is Christ living in us.  This why John calls the experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit, like being "born again", or "born of the Spirit".  This will explain the difference we still see in the apostles in the stories ahead.

2. They would receive "power" when the Holy Spirit came "upon" them.  The word for "power" her is dynamite.  This power would change the disciples from the inside out.  They would go from cowering in the fear of being associated with Jesus to preaching His name to thousands fearlessly and casting out demons and healing those who were sick.  

3. They would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the ends of the earth.  Despite being persecuted and in some cases killed, the disciples witnessed to the resurrection of Jesus and that he was truly the Son of God.  From these 12 men the gospel would be preached to the ends of the earth.  You and I are Christians today because of these men.  It would be interesting to see what apostle you are spiritually related to.  They were faithful until death and it was the Holy Spirit who empowered everything they did and kept them in true faith.   

We are going to hear a lot about the power of the Holy Spirit in Acts.  I sometimes wonder why we teach so little about the Holy Spirit, when the Spirit is the key to everything we do, as we seek to be faith witnesses for Jesus.  As the famous Old Testament passages says, "Not by might or power, but by my Spirit says the Lord." Zechariah 4:6

So let me ask you a question, "Are you living in the power of the Holy Spirit, or your own power?" Far too often I rely on myself too much and God too little. I live in my own power, rather than his power.  Today is a good reminder to all of us that if we want to live lives that make a spiritual impact on the world around us, we need to rely on the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, which lives in you!   



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