PASTOR'S FOCUS: You Are His Witness
In Acts 1:8, Jesus unites an unusual characteristic to the identity He ascribes to us as His disciples:
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses …”
Did you catch it? Jesus combined the characteristic of being a witness with the receiving of power from the Holy Spirit. The way in which Jesus combines them makes it clear that this power from the Holy Spirit is what gives us the ability to be His witnesses.
Now why would anyone need power to be a witness? More than that, why would anyone need Divine, supernatural, Holy Spirit power to be a witness?
The definition of a witness is simply someone with firsthand experience or direct knowledge of anything. It is this firsthand experience or knowledge that gives a witness the ability to attest to the truth or falsehood of something being claimed: they can give authoritative evidence.
So, what is it to which we are witnesses? Jesus said we are His witnesses. We are the evidence that Jesus is who He claims to be. Continue...
