But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere... to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8
We will look at the power of the Holy Spirit (briefly) in three ways: the outward and visible displays of it, the inward and spiritual manifestations of it, and the future and expected works of it. 1. The outward and visible displays of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit demonstrated His power by the works of attestation which means witnessing. After Jesus ascended into heaven the Holy Spirit descended down to earth to remain here with us. One of the most talked about ways was the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came like a rushing, mighty wind upon all of them and they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire. The coming of the Spirit is marked by audible (wind) and visible (fire). The Holy Spirit has the omnipotent power of God.
2. The inward power of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit has power over our heart and soul. This is something that must be felt with the heart. We can minister to others, and maybe even get their undivided attention, but we can never change anyone's heart and will never be able to convert their soul. This can only happen with the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can cause an unwilling sinner with a heart of stone into a willing person who now runs after God with a heart of flesh that has been softened.
3. The future and expected works of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit will remain with us forever always working in us because His work is never done. We can expect and look forward to the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit. The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. When God tells Jesus it is time to return and He says: "Rise Up" the resurrection of the dead will happen by the power of the Holy Spirit. We will forever be changed.
Okay, now let's get to the witnessing part of the disciples. Before they could leave Jerusalem they were told to wait until they received a gift from the Father which was the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowered the disciples with boldness to preach the gospel and power to perform healing miracles. They were given the opportunity to witness about so many miraculous events after walking with Jesus. They also had so much ground to cover if they were going to reach the ends of the earth.
I love the reaction of a ripple effect! Witnessing about the gospel and all the miraculous events in the Bible performed by Jesus started with the disciples and rippled down to us which makes this our responsibility too. It is so beautiful how this ripple effect continues to this day and keeps going. We need to continue this and reach as many people as we can, but in order to accomplish this we must all do our part. Every person we reach in turn tells another and so on and so forth until we reach the ends of the earth. Actually, we have even more to tell about because we have the opportunity to include how our tests have become our testimony and how our lives have been changed.
One thing I want you to remember when witnessing to others is sometimes we are only meant to plant the seed. We might not ever see that person grow and bloom by being watered by others. So, if you only plant a seed this is huge in the eyes of God. Besides, we can only do so much. We know the Holy Spirit is the One who has the power to change someone's heart and convert a soul.