Pastor E.A.Adeboye shared a story about the days he prayed for power. He spent a season in fasting and prayer asking God to give him power. One day, the Holy Spirit asked him to know If he has used the power he received when he got baptized in the Spirit. He was asked If he had been baptized in the Spirit of which he answerd "yes". Then the Holy Spirit told him he has it already.

Our opening text is commonly quoted in churches but not many understand the implication. I have known this scripture from my teenage years and it was a memory verse of some sort. Beyond knowing it off hand, it is loaded with vital details about what the Holy Spirit will do in the life of a believer- empowerment.

When you get baptized in the Spirit, what you'll receive is the power of the Spirit. The same power that made Peter preach and got three thousand saved will start operating in your life. That power is also a miracle working power. It is the power of the miraculous and overflow. Once you receive it, it opens you to endless supernatural possibilities.

Aside the evidence of speaking in other tongues which is the initial evidence of baptism with the Spirit, another evidence that follows is witnessing the gospel. The boldness to preach about the finished work of Christ comes upon the believer that is baptized with the Spirit.

Jesus rightly said it in the opening text that when the power comes, his disciples shall be witnesses of him in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and uttermost part of the earth. Jesus opened our eyes to a pattern of evangelism that the empowerment of the Spirit will drive us into.

Jerusalem was their immediate domain/town, Judea was their region or what some of us will call state. They spoke the same language and had the same culture. So, the pattern of witnessing starts with reaching out to people of same culture and language. As you receive the power, your heart will burn for souls starting from your vicinity and among your people.

Samaria is a different region to the North of Israel. They spoke the same language with those in Jerusalem&Judea but they had a distinct culture. Another pattern of witnessing here is reaching out to people of same language but different culture. Uttermost part of the earth in bible days refers to anywhere outside Israel where the language and culture is different. When we receive power, this is what we'll do.

Are you afraid to preach the gospel and share your faith with sinners? What you need is the baptism with the Holy Spirit. The only way the church can produce the kinds of result we read about in Acts of Apostles is to get believers baptized with the Spirit or else, we'll just be telling stories of exploits made by men of yore.