You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you

We will revisit Acts. This time, after re-reading Acts, I found that maybe I was not correct in my interpretation.

We need to be constantly growing and increasing our skills. Why am I, not the same as before? Because I am growing. Some people only increase in age, but not in wisdom.

Acts One talks about how you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Today, we constantly forget about this verse; there are many powerless Christians. Even now, many Christians waver from the gospel. They don't believe even the words that come from Jesus himself.

The book of Acts is a continuation of the Gospel of Luke

The gospel of Luke's main theme is: "Many Rise, Many Fall". In the book of Acts, many people continue to rise, and many fall as well. They fall on the rock of Jesus Christ. Why do they fall? They don't believe it.

The gospel of Luke is given to us by God. In the book of Acts, Luke takes his discretion when he writes about the acts of the apostles. In the latter part of Acts, Luke focuses on the ministry of Paul. Paul's gospel aligns with the original gospel that Jesus intended to bring to us. When the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus, he began to preach a powerful gospel. Likewise, Paul is preaching a powerful gospel to us as well. Paul wants us to imitate him because he imitates Jesus. If you cannot imitate Jesus, imitate Paul.

Since the Acts are a continuation of the gospel of God, don't change it. The theme of "Many Rise, Many Fall" is constantly referenced in Acts. However, I think that "Testimonies of Jesus" is a better theme.

The command of the Lord Jesus

The Acts of the Apostles start from the ascension of Christ into heaven. Jesus was meeting with the disciples, almost a group of 500 people, as he was talking to them before he left. Chapter One starts like this:

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 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. For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 1:1-5 NIV)

Being baptized with the Holy Spirit is a command that Jesus gave to us. Still, many churches quickly turn away hearing the words "Holy Spirit".

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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." (Acts 1:7-8 NIV)

Many people do not uphold this part of the gospel. They like to say that the works of the Holy Spirit are cultist, but, by not believing in the full gospel, they are the cults. The command of Jesus of so clear! What is so difficult?

If you have no power, what testimony are you giving? Testimony should be a testimony of Jesus' power! If you claim to have met Jesus and still live like a useless person, why should you have any credibility?

Being the testimony of Jesus is doing what Jesus did. Paul said that the power of the resurrection of Jesus is with us! If Jesus is driving out demons, we should too. And if he trains his disciples, we should too.

Jesus wants us to be his testimony. But without the Holy Spirit, how can we give any sort of testimony? Today, being a testimony of Jesus is to do what Jesus did. If you do a whole bunch of things that Jesus didn't do, aren't you just being a testimony of yourself? The most important thing is the Holy Spirit coming on you, granting you power, and being a witness.

Another important thing is that we have the likeness of God. This is the promise of the Lord Jesus. If you don't listen to him, how can you claim to be a Christian? God always gives us clear promises. If you are not baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, what are you doing?

Many people claim that if you believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit already lives in you. Then what was the purpose of waiting in Jerusalem for the baptism of the Holy Spirit? You need to have all parts of what Jesus said.

It is easy for people to be self-righteous

Self-righteous people are everywhere. Some people do things that they think God needs, but he doesn't. Self-righteousness doesn't begin in Acts, but it stems from Luke.

"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 you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 1:4-5 NIV)

After hearing this, you would think that the disciples would talk amongst themselves to try and understand what Jesus said. Not leaving Jerusalem, waiting for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Look, here are the disciples, who have been with Jesus for so many years, and are now receiving words from the resurrected Christ.

But they say:

"Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6 NIV)

How far did the topic change? Jesus never taught them or asked them about such things. But Jesus brought them back:

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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." (Acts 1:7-8 NIV)

After this, he was taken from them into heaven. Don't you think people are so self-righteous? Jesus didn't want to deal with them or listen to them anymore. Every time I talk with someone about something, they always change the topic.

Was the promise not simple and clear?

After Jesus went up into heaven, the disciples were looking intently up into the sky. Then they went to Jerusalem and into a house and started to pray earnestly together. After praying, Peter decided to speak up.

Peter said that the new apostle should be one that witnessed the resurrection. What do these things have in common? And if Jesus wanted to establish a new apostle, would he not have provided for one? They just like to do what they want. What does casting lots for a twelfth disciple have to do with being a witness to Jesus?

They chose Matthias, and in doing so, took the position of the apostle from Paul. Later, Peter stands and speaks about something completely unrelated.

In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as a guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was one of our numbers and shared in our ministry.” (With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms: “ ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, “ ‘May another take his place of leadership.’(Acts 1:15-20)

What is the purpose of mentioning all these things? What does it have to do with the promise that Jesus gave to us? Then, he created a lot for the twelfth disciple. He was concerned with numbers and facts rather than what Jesus said.

Luke deliberately wrote Acts to be a stumbling block to the readers.

So don't be self-righteous. Follow God's promise, not your ideas. Train disciples how Jesus did. Drive out demons as Jesus did. Don't concern yourself with and waste your time on superficial things.

I don't think that Peter imitated Jesus because he didn't do what Jesus wanted him to do. Why did the church end up doing so many things that Jesus never did? Because it all came from Peter.

Our God-given position is to be witnesses of his power

Juda's position was to betray Jesus. You don't want to have that position.

“For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms: “ ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, “ ‘May another take his place of leadership.’ (Acts 1:20 NIV)

So God's position is for us to be witnesses of his power. So when we preach we should do so with the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes to the Corinthians:

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. (1 Corinthians 2:4-5 NIV)

That was written by Paul to the Corinthian church, which was messed up by Peter and the others. We need to know that the proof of the Holy Spirit is to build up the power of God.

“We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4:10 NIV)

Ironically, Peter mentions the place of leadership being taken away. We need to uphold God's word and understand his will. Get rid of your self-righteousness. God's position for us is to be witnesses of his power. We are not just doing things like driving out demons and healing for no reason. We are simply imitating what God has done.

Even if there is only one person, I will imitate Jesus. As a result, I will see the power of God with us. My standards are worth nothing.

Whatever God says, we do. The Holy Spirit will come down on us and we will receive the power of God.

Summary: Follow the Holy Spirit

Following the Holy Spirit is following God, and following God is following the Holy Spirit. Some people think that they are not worthy of imitating God.

Why do you think that? In your life, imitate God. Don't leave everything until you are on your deathbed and be filled with regret about how you lived. If Jesus did something, imitate him! Don't try to change things just because you think you don't deserve to be like Jesus.