Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
For me it is peculiar that the verse says after, not when. You shall receive power AFTER.
Power
Strong’s Concordance says,δύναμις
dunamis
doo'-nam-is
From G1410; force (literally or figuratively); specifically miraculous power (usually by implication a miracle itself): - ability, abundance, meaning, might (-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle (-s), power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work
You shall receive power to WITNESS!
Look what Strong’s says about the Witness!
μάρτυς
martus
mar'-toos
Of uncertain affinity; a witness (literally [judicially] or figuratively [generally]); by analogy a “martyr”: - martyr, record, witness.
Martus, the same root word for Matyr.
So we could say, you shall receive power to DIE after the Holy Spirit shall come upon you.
Power to Die!
The man I used to be really needed to die. The world did not need or had no benefit from Daddy William before Christ.
Gal 5:24 “And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”
God will take us in any condition, but He will never ever leave us in the same condition. The old man was crucified with Christ and now the life we live by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings to us the benefit of the death of Jesus, by allowing us to die with Him. If we die with Him, we can also live in Him.
Php 3:10 “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;”
This is immediate as we are saved. But there is also a process of dying. The potential of the dumnamis is given with the Holy Spirit, but the power comes after. When our positional standing with God becomes our experiential walk with Him.
Let’s look even at the life of Jesus!
Jesus was our example. Some things He did were merely for the example for us to follow. For example the Baptism of John is the baptism unto repentance. Jesus had nothing to repent of, but yet He was baptized by John.
Mar 1:9 “And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
All three of these things are our portion in Christ. This was an example given to us that we can follow in the footsteps of the Master, our Teacher, our Example.
Every believer can and should have water baptism, an open Heaven, the Holy Spirit come and abide and the voice from heaven saying, this is my believed son or daughter, in whom I am well pleased.
Photo from kingjamesbibleonline.org
AFTER
Now we even see the after in the life of Jesus!
No miracles up to the age of 30
This day in the above text, the Holy Spirit came bodily like a dove and stayed. Still yet no miracles!
What happens immediately after the water baptism and Jesus receiving the Holy Spirit?
Mar 1:12 “And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.”
You see this is what happens to us also! We give our lives to Jesus and. We expect everything to go smoothly, but then everything starts to fall apart.
The Holy Spirit is now in the process of breaking us free from the old life, old man, old habits, so He can empower us to do exploits, to be a witness in both Judea, Samaria and the whole world.
You may say at this point. Jesus had the power! But look He received the Holy Spirit, but we will see He did not receive the POWER until AFTER!
There are 3 main ways sin comes into our lives!
1Jn 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life.
If you look at each temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, they fit in these categories.
So many in the Body are promoted too early. Before they have an experiential walk of holiness and righteousness. Then the temptations come and disgrace is brought to the cross.
Man of God. Don’t touch the three “G”s. The Glory, the Gold, or the Girls.
After!
Jesus is baptized by John.
The Holy Spirit descends like a dove and rests on Him
The voice comes from heaven.
Jesus is drove into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit
40 days tempted of the devil.
The Word that became flesh, battled and won over temptation by using the Word.
Look at this next verse.
Luk 4:13 “And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
Jesus Begins His Ministry And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee”
This is the first time we hear of the Power of the Holy Spirit in the Life and ministry of Jesus!
Still not convinced?
Let’s look at this scripture right of of the mouth of Jesus!
Luk 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
He says the Spiirt is upon Him to anoint Him! But look what He says next!
Luk 4:21 “And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
This day it is fulfilled. Not 40 days earlier when He received the Holy Spirit, but on this day, 40 days later.
God wants to give us the same power. Dunamis, dynamite, dynamic, devil chasing, blind eye opening, set the captive free power.
I asked the Lord one time why many in His Church are not experiencing the Abundant Life promised in John 10:10.
He said,
To have abundant life, one must first die abundantly!
Take this anaology.
When we receive the Holy Spirit, it is like putting batteries in a flashlight (torch). But the light does not come on until the switch is thrown. As we by the Spirit of God crucify the flesh, this is what turns on the switch of the Power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We were meant to change our world! It is only when the reality of the character of Christ is revealed experientially in our lives, can we truly affect the world at full potential.
True holiness is not outward religion of following rules. True holiness is when the Work of the cross becomes real in our lives. We become a new creature, The new man that we are on the inside, starts to show on the outside.
God bless!
Thank you for reading. Any comments are welcome as long as they are done with respect. I will return the same.
Daddy William
