If we want to be useful in the service of our Lord and be a blessing for others, then we need to be equipped with godly power. Before His ascension, Jesus told His disciples: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). All Christians who have not fully laid themselves on the altar of the Lord and dedicated their all to Him still need to experience this equipping of power from on high.
Christ placed great emphasis on the importance of the Holy Spirit, although he said little about the Holy Spirit until shortly before the time of his suffering and death. In John 14, Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit for the first time: “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). Here, Jesus plainly states that He will ask the Father to send His followers another Helper, namely the Spirit of truth, to always remain with them. It was the Spirit of truth that protected the apostles and the church from heresy. This Spirit will also protect from error those of us in our time who submit to His leading and have totally dedicated ourselves to God. Those who are filled with the Holy Spirit and led by Him will be kept from all extreme and unbiblical ways and protected from heresy.
When Jesus was physically present with the disciples, their understanding was limited, as John 16:12 explains: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” But in John 14:26, Jesus tells them that “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” The time that Jesus would be on earth was now almost up, and so He committed His mission on earth to those whom He had chosen and personally prepared for this work. This includes every blood-washed child of God today as well. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:12-14). The people of God must continue the work that Jesus began. What a great responsibility!
When carefully studying the New Testament, we see that Jesus never commissioned anyone to preach the gospel without first experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit, except when He sent out the twelve and also the seventy before Pentecost. To these He also gave special power and authority for their mission (see Luke 9:1-2 and Luke 10:17-20). It is vitally important that we are filled with the Holy Spirit and led by Him if we wish to be useful in the service of the Lord and effective for His glory.
If we compare the lives of the apostles before and after Pentecost, we see the big difference that receiving the Holy Spirit made for them. When the enemies of Jesus came with a multitude to apprehend Jesus, Peter pulled out a sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. This was in opposition to the direct teaching of Jesus, and proved that Peter was not yet ready for the service of the Lord. He made use of human weapons, a method Jesus did not endorse. After Pentecost, when Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, he was able to preach with heavenly power.
In Luke 22:24, we read that there was rivalry among the disciples, as they debated which of them should be considered the greatest. In Matthew 20:24, we see a similar situation, and we read: “When the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.” There is no room for such rivalry in a sanctified heart. The “old man” must be crucified and buried.
In Galatians 5, the works of the flesh are listed, and it is emphasized “that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21). We see that after the apostles were sanctified, these carnal works were no longer seen. Jesus had commanded them to stay in Jerusalem until they were filled with power from on high. They obeyed, and on the day of Pentecost, they received power from above. They were baptized with the Holy Spirit and sanctified for service as effective witnesses for their Lord.
The important question for all God’s children is: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:2). Let us consider the loving words of the Lord Jesus, who said in Luke 11:13, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
W. H. Tiesel
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