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, NKJV)
The apostles did not teach the gospel by their own authority. It was not their power that persuaded sinners of salvation in Jesus Christ; it was the power of the gospel they preached. But, they did indeed have to work and sacrifice in order for that gospel to spread from Jerusalem, through Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. In today’s verse, Jesus promised the apostles miraculous powers in order to confirm the truth of their message. He kept that promise on Pentecost, when His apostles were invested with miraculous “power from on high” (Lk. 24:49; Acts 2:1-4). As they preached, “the Lord worked with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs” (Mk. 16:20; Heb. 2:3-4). Today, God’s power to save is not through miracles, but through the power of the “word of the truth of the gospel” that convicts sinners and converts them to the Lord (Rom. 1:16-17; Col. 1:5-6). If you want God’s power in you life, then believe and obey the gospel of His Son. It has the power to save you from sin and give you a sure hope of heaven.
Sword Tips 