Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence…But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me.
—Acts 1:5, 8
Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
—Luke 24:49
The disciples had heard from John about the baptism of the Spirit. Jesus had spoken to them of the Father’s giving of the Spirit to those who ask Him. And on the last night He had spoken of the Spirit dwelling in them. This coming of the Holy Spirit was connected in their minds with the work they would have to do and the power for it.
Our Lord summed up all His teaching in the promise, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me.” This must have been what the disciples were looking for: a divine power for the new work of being the witnesses of a crucified and risen Jesus.
I wish that the church understood this today! All prayers for the guiding influence of the Holy Spirit in God’s people are to have this as their aim: power to witness for Christ and do effective service in conquering the world for Him.
We want to get possession of the power and use it. God wants the power to get possession of us and use us. If we give up ourselves to the power to rule in us, the power will give itself to us, to rule through us. Unconditional submission and obedience to the power in our inner life is the one condition of our being clothed with it.
God gives the Spirit to the obedient. Power belongs to God and remains His forever. If you want His power to work in you, surrender to His guidance even in the least things.
Let us not be content with praying for God to visit and to bless the unsaved or with our own efforts to do the best we can for them. Rather, let each believer give himself completely to live as a witness for Jesus. Let us plead with God to show His people what it means to be Christ’s representatives just as He was the Father’s representative. Let us believe that the Spirit of power is within us. The Father will, as we wait on Him, fill us with the power of the Spirit.