Receiving The Kingdom

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

The kingdom of God is the divine rule in human hearts, lives and situations. While the disciples were still thinking of the messianic kingdom in terms of political power, Jesus corrected their misconception (Acts 1:7). He declared that the kingdom of God is currently spiritual in character, international in its membership, and gradual in its expansion.

The kingdom of God was a prominent theme in all of Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels. Jesus taught about the kingdom of God through the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:18-19). Here in Acts 1, He was about to transfer that power and responsibility to His disciples by baptizing them in the same Holy Spirit that had anointed His ministry. The disciples were not to attempt ministry without the empowering of the Spirit. Jesus then makes three points about the Holy Spirit:

1. The Holy Spirit is a Person and He brings with Him a power that will enable you to be a witness.
2. The Holy Spirit’s power has to be “received”; it is not an automatic experience. As surely as the Holy Spirit dwells within each believer, so surely will He fill and overflow each who receives Him in childlike faith.
3. When the Holy Spirit fills you, you will know it. Jesus said this and His disciples found it to be true on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 1:5; 2:1-4). You don’t have to claim the Spirit by faith alone. When He comes, you will experience Him in a tangible way. You will know that He has “come upon you.”

Jesus makes it clear that the ultimate purpose of the empowering of the Holy Spirit is so that you can fulfill the Great Commission-by being an effective witness for Christ. You need God’s supernatural power to minister effectively, to heal the sick, cast out demons and work miracles and wonders. But more than that, the Holy Spirit has also come to convince you to go.

As you obey that call to go, He will give you:

1. the power to find the lost;
2. the authority to boldly declare Jesus as the Son of God;
3. the endurance to be strong in times of weakness and suffering; and
4. the power to establish His Church-locally and worldwide. The intended borders of expansions are clear: Jerusalem (local), Judea (national), Samaria (crosscultural), and “the end of the earth” (global).