Power From On High

Today’s Bible readings are Judges 9:22-10:18, Luke 24:13-53, Psalm 100:1-5, & Proverbs 14:11-12

Luke 24:49

⁴⁹ “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

As Jesus was preparing to depart from His disciples, He shared with them the message that He believed they would need to know. Of all the things that He could have spoken to them about, we see that He spoke to them about the Holy Spirit, specifically, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

These people were already saved. They already had the Holy Spirit living in them. They received the Spirit when He breathed on them & caused them to become born again. This is what we read about happening in John’s gospel:

John 20:22

²² Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Yet, we see that Jesus stresses to this people that there is another event that He desires for them to experience. It is important enough that Jesus didn’t want them to try to fulfill the mission without it. Jesus had just declared what the mission of the church would be:

Luke 24:45-48

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. ⁴⁷ It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of all these things.

First He tells them that the message He has taught them, the things they have witnessed, & the truth He has given them, will be preached to all nations. He goes on to tell them that they are the witnesses that will take this message to the nations. But then He tells them to WAIT.

Jesus wanted them to be baptized in the Holy Spirit before they started out on the mission. He knew what they would be up against. He didn’t want them to be unarmed. He didn’t want them to fail. He didn’t want them to get overly discouraged. So He told them to wait until they were clothed with power from on high!!!

That power would:

1.      Enable them to be powerful witnesses.

2.      Equip them with supernatural ability & gifts (tongues included) to fulfill their mission.

3.      Help them understand truths that they had never fully understood.

4.      Open their eyes to new insight & revelations.

5.      Give them boldness to stand against the opposition.

6.      Fill them with a loving, fiery zeal to proclaim the message.

7.      Give them a loving & living faith.

As we later read through the book of Acts, we will see all of these in motion. It is the proof of the power that was given when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. We will also see how the power from on high made them accomplish what they never could have accomplished otherwise.

The early church was hungry for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It was fresh in their minds because Jesus told them directly. They didn’t have years of people teaching against the gift. They didn’t have other denominations denouncing it, as well as tongues. They were open & hungry for it. They pursued it. The desired it. They received it.

I pray that there is a holy hunger rekindled in our churches today for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I pray that people will once again be just as open to the gift, & promise, as the early church was. I am convinced that GOD NEVER CHANGES. If He wanted the early church to be baptized in the Holy Spirit & speaking in tongues, He still wants if for us today. If they needed the power, so do we. And just maybe, if we would be pen to the power, we too could see the results that the early church saw. Let it be so I Jesus name!

Pastor Richard Schlotter