SORRY ABOUT THE INCONVENIENCE

Before Jesus ascended back into heaven He gave some final words to His disciples that also apply to us as followers of Jesus today.  He said in Acts 1:8,

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”

The word “power” in the original language is where we get our English word “dynamite.”  We are talking some serious power here.  Jesus promised that we would receive dynamic power through the gift of the Holy Spirit as He comes to indwell each of us who have put our faith in Christ.  As Jesus’ words go on in Acts 1:8 we learn that there is one primary purpose for this dynamic power.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be My witnesses.”

According to Jesus, the result of this Spirit-given power is so that we could be dynamic witnesses of Jesus.  So tell me, how many Christians do you know of today that are dynamic witnesses for Jesus?  Strange, isn’t it?  We all as believers have the Spirit within us which means we all have within us the power to be a dynamic witness for Christ.  Yet, few of us ever even share our faith.

What is more interesting is this.  The word “witnesses” in the original language comes from a root word where we get our word “martyr.”  So what was Jesus saying?  He seems to be saying that through the Holy Spirit we as followers of Jesus will have the power to be such dynamic witnesses for Jesus that we would even be willing to lay down our lives and die for the message of Jesus Christ.

We have the power within us through the Holy Spirit to die for the message of Jesus but we won’t speak out on His behalf and share His Gospel.

We have the power within us through the Holy Spirit to die for the message of Jesus but we don’t in anyway want to be inconvenienced in order to advance the Gospel.

We have the power within us through the Holy Spirit to die for the message of Jesus but we aren’t even remotely open to considering change if it will advance the Gospel.

We have the power within us through the Holy Spirit to die for the message of Jesus but we won’t go outside of our own personal comfort zones for the sake of the Gospel.

We have the power within us through the Holy Spirit to die for the message of Jesus but we won’t take any risks for the sake of the Gospel.

By the way, those first disciples who heard Jesus speak those words before He ascended into heaven – not only were they dynamic witnesses of Jesus, but most of them also became martyrs for their faith – just like Jesus said the Spirit would give them to power to do.

Talk about an inconvenience!