THE *POWER* of THE HOLY SPIRIT - Wilkerson
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
by David Wilkerson
Those who were headed for the Upper Room loved Jesus dearly.
They were compassionate, self-sacrificing, soul-loving. But they
were not yet qualified to be His witnesses. It takes more than a
love for Jesus and a compassion for souls to qualify you as His witness.
They had been taught in the school of Christ. They had healed
the sick, cast out demons, and performed miracles. They had
seen Jesus clothed in His eternal glory on the Mount.
They had been nearby when He sweat drops of blood as He prayed
and then they had seen Him hanging on the cross. They had seen
Him resurrected, viewed the empty tomb, eaten with Him, and
talked with Him in His glorified body. They had even seen Him
ascend into heaven! Yet they still were not ready to witness of Him.
Why couldn´t Peter go to those milling crowds in Jerusalem and
immediately testify to His resurrection? Hadn´t he witnessed that
event firsthand? It seems he could have preached, "Jesus is alive!
He ascended into heaven! Repent!"
Peter makes a powerful statement to the chief priests: "And we
are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Spirit,
whom God hath given to them that obey him" (Acts 5:32).
Through the words of the Holy Spirit speaking through Peter, the
priests "were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them"
(Acts 5:33). The Holy Spirit also had spoken through Peter on
the day of Pentecost, and all who heard "were pricked in their
heart" (Acts 2:37).
Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, preached to the religious
leaders: "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears,
ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do
ye. . . . When they heard these things, they were cut to the
heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth" (Acts 7:51, 54).
When you emerge from seeking God, full of the Holy Spirit, you
will be able to stand with boldness before fellow workers, family,
anyone, and your witness will provoke one of two reactions. They
will either cry out, "What must I do to be saved?" or they will want
to kill you! You will speak a word that cuts to the heart. The
difference is found in the power of the Holy Spirit.
-Source-
http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/21608
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