Power

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 

How were the disciples, who were uneducated and untrained men, able to preach so powerfully? The answer lies in our text. In Christ’s final words to them, before He ascended from the Mount of Olives, He promised, ‘You shall receive power when the Holy Ghost has come upon you.’ Everything Christ promised them came true. Chapter 2 describes it, ‘When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.’ This was the Divine empowerment of which Christ had spoken. These uneducated and untrained men were suddenly enabled to preach with such power that 3,000 souls were saved. On the second recorded occasion that Peter preached, after the healing of the lame man at the Temple, 5,000 souls were saved. The rest of the Book of Acts details for us the remarkable works of God through the power of His Holy Spirit. The spread of the Gospel and the conversion of the lost is still by the power of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of Christ. If it was left to the power of man it would come to nothing. Christ is still building His Church, person by person, as the Holy Spirit empowered witness goes forth. Jesus saves. 

Our Glorious, Living God, 
we rejoice in the Holy Spirit, 
and His powerful, saving work. 
We praise You that He draws souls  
out of darkness unto Christ. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning