You Shall Have Power Killen 4/27/2025

Acts 1:4-8  nkjv4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 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.”

❓ When did you receive the Holy Spirit?  How does the Holy Spirit give you power to be His witness (Not gifts and talents but power you don't have?)❓

⭐  One thing we see here is that the disciples were all called to go out to the world to share Christ and be witnesses to His power!

• v8b) and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

💥  But before they were to go, it was imperative for them to “WAIT” until they had received power from on high.    ➤ One of the defining factors in the true disciple of Christ today is having this “power from on high!

• Luke 24:49: Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” ⭐ It was what Jesus told them while He was with them.
• John 16:7) But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
• Joel 2:28-29) And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. / Even on My menservants and maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

👉   Why this power? ( According to these verses) The power seemed to affect these areas!1.   They didn’t understand their purpose.  They argued who would be the greatest when He came into His kingdom. 

• They needed the power to give up what they wanted to do to become what He wanted them to be!

2.   v7) They would have tried to change the world through the wrong power. A   Politics v7) they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”3. They would have worked to rebuild the wrong kingdom!  “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

4. They would have confessed to knowing the times and seasons that no man can know.

• Predict the things God says they can’t predict.
• Prophesy about things that He has not told them.  

5.  They would have had no power to be His witnesses to CHANGE Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and all the rest of the world. (Changing those areas will change the world!) Judaism, Christianity, Islam.

⭐   How do we get this power?1.   They were where they were supposed to be! v4)4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;A.   The right:1.   Crowd. Assembled together. The right people. A.   Those of like mind and wanting the same thing.

• Not Ego ➢  Praying  ➢  Obeying

👉   People that believed what He said and waited for it to happen.👉   People today say being filled with power from on high doesn’t happen.

2.   The right place.4)  He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;1.  I don’t believe it was necessarily something magical about Jerusalem itself, but just that they needed to receive this “Helper” - Comforter - Teacher - and Guide.

• It was going to be the key to their being able to do what God called them to do.

Acts 16:6-7 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.Acts 20:23 Except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

➢   Do you know how impatient they must have gotten?➢   How they had to make their own plans (My own plans were good!  Just not God’s.) 2.  A place where God can do His work to prepare you.

• Not where we prepare ourselves.

STRANGE:💥 I thought I was ready when I wasn’t.💥 I thought I wasn’t ready when I was!

3.   God’s timing!  The right time and season! v7) 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.➢   Messes up our schedule!   ✔ Has God ever messed up your plans!? ✔ Asked you to do something when you didn’t have time to do it? Or asked you to stop in the middle of doing something, to do what He wanted you to do?➢   Takes away our ability to control things➢   God works all things together for our good.  Like putting me in the right place for Stephanie Nance.

4.  Being a witness! v8) What power does the Holy Spirit give us? A.   Experience: takes us from just teaching others what we have learned to what we have experienced, seen and heard. 

• The activity of the living God.

B.   Change: We become witnesses where we live first!

• Hardest places.  Among our own kin and house! Jerusalem

C.  A Story: Having a story to tell!  Tell it!   

• When you have discovered He is alive, you want to tell those how you discovered Him!
  • My story still doesn’t make sense, but it is my story.

1.   I give testimony of what I have seen and heard and handled myself.To convenience, persuade, give truth, expose darkness by the light of the truth.To Be a Witness:  Legal terms: a witness is a person who can provide testimony or evidence about an event. They are called upon to share their firsthand knowledge of the case, which can help build a case or help jurors understand the truth about something or what happened. Essentially, a witness is someone who has seen, heard, or experienced something relevant to a  matter and is able to share that information to help others know the truth.