At the start of Acts, Jesus tells the disciples what to do as they wait to receive his power. His instructions are as true today as they were when he first spoke them. We can receive the power of God at work in our lives; let us learn from Jesus’ key principles as we look at the beginning of the book of Acts.
Acts 1:1-11
(ESV)
1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on,he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Wait
Firstly we must wait as Jesus told the disciples to do. Our obedience in waiting shows that we have faith in “the promise of the Father” and we are acknowledging that it is not good enough to do things in our own strength. But what does waiting look like for us? It will look different for everyone but if you have not found your own way of doing it; try finding a quiet place on your own and then ask the Holy Spirit to come, and just wait on him. You might want to hold your hands out in front of you as if you were about to receive something, as an outward sign of what you are asking. Try to wait beyond the point you are comfortable with, focus your mind on God and see how he responds.
Receive
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you”. It’s amazing to think that the power of God, the same power that defeated death through Jesus, is available to us! You may not always feel anything, as some do, but this God given power is much more than a sensation. It’s an infilling of the presence of God empowering us to live out a life full of God’s presence. When we are empowered by the Holy Spirit we receive strength to stand for him, gifts to enable us and boldness to live out our faith.
Witness
With that power Jesus calls us to be a witness to all people. A witness in a court of law is called to testify with knowledge relevant to an event or matter of interest. As Christians, we have knowledge relevant to everyone that through Jesus we have access to the eternal, all-powerful, loving creator, sustainer, saviour of the universe and are called to share that. It is always the power of God in us that makes the difference to others, not any clever arguments we come up with ourselves. Christian witness has more to it than that however, as we will continue to find out in Acts. Receiving God’s power leads us to live different lives, radically loving people and acting with integrity, as well as being used by God to do extraordinary things that show his power.
This process of being filled with the Holy Spirit and receiving power is not just a one off thing. As we continue to try and walk with God, we must continually come before him and wait for him, and receive his power. In doing that we are opening our life up to extraordinary things!
Every Study will finish with a #MyActs section. Use these ideas to get practical with all that we are learning from Acts. Use #MyActs on twitter to join the community of people learning this stuff together.
So #MyActs for this fortnight:
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Spend some time on your own waiting on God (try a couple of times a week)
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Pray that you will persevere in waiting on him
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Encourage someone else to read this and do the same
If you have any questions about this session or on Acts in general email luke@onelifeonline.org.uk