Acts 1:8, Becoming a Witness
Wade E Taylor

“You shall receive power, after ….”  Acts 1:8a

The “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” is received at the time of salvation, in which we are “grafted” by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ, and through “regeneration,” we are made a specific member of His body.

“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”  I Corinthians 12:13

“Now you are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”  I Corinthians 12:27

The Baptism in Matthew 3:11, “He shall baptize you,” is the “Baptism of Jesus - in the Holy Spirit.”

“I indeed baptize you with water to repentance: but He that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”  Matthew 3:11

The word “baptize” is an untranslated Greek word which means “to immerse.”  Thus, our self-life is buried, and we come up from being immersed (water baptism) with the Holy Spirit in total control of our entire being - “judicially.”

“Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”  Romans 6:3-4

“Even so we also should walk in newness of life.”  Now, it must be worked out in our lives, “experientially.”

The purpose of this Baptism in the Holy Spirit is to receive the enabling power (dunamis) for the experiential outworking of our identity to Jesus, in which we become a “witness,” or a sample of His life for others to see.  This is not something that we are empowered to do (power for service), rather, it is given that we ourselves will become this witness – “you shall be witnesses.”

“But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth.”  Acts 1:8

The words “dynamite” and “dynamo” are derived from the Greek word for “power” – “dunamin.”  Dynamite produces one big bang, and all is over.  A dynamo produces a constant, ongoing flow of power.

This Baptism is not intended to be a one-time intense experience (dynamite) that when received, we record the date, relax, and rejoice that “we have it.”  Rather, it is intended to be the beginning of the enabling, ongoing, power of God flowing into our lives (dynamo).

The Greek word for “witness” is martyr.  We die to our self-life, that His life might find expression through us.  Thus, we receive the enabling power to become an expression of the life of Jesus.

When Moses went up into the Mount, the children of Israel said, “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do” (Exodus 19:8).  This was a tremendous statement, but they utterly failed.  The Old Testament is a testimony that good intentions cannot fulfill the law of God.  Something more is needed.

Ezekiel 36:26-27a reveals a new covenant in which the ability to obey is given by the Lord (cause you to walk).

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you ... and cause you to walk in My statutes ….”

The “Baptism in the Holy Spirit” is the fulfillment of this promise – “you shall receive power.”  It is this power that will “cause,” or, enable us to walk in obedience to His statutes.  The “power” in Acts 1:8 and the “cause” in Ezekiel 36:27 are one and the same in intent and purpose.

The intended purpose of this Baptism in the Holy Spirit is that we ourselves are this witness.  Thus, the Baptism is to empower us to “become” this witness - not to “do” witnessing.  I so die to my self-life, that I become the extension of the life of Jesus.

Ministry is what I do.  The Lord is going much deeper than saying that we will receive power to serve.  Rather, Jesus is saying that we ourselves are to become the substance and expression of His presence in the earth, after He is taken up from the earth.  This experience of our being “immersed” in the power of the Holy Spirit will enable us to become this witness.  This is the “Baptism in the Holy Spirit.”

If I am “doing” witnessing, I am telling another something about the Lord.  But if I am “being” a witness, I am demonstrating what Jesus would both say and do, if He were present in that situation.  When Philip said, “Show us the Father,” Jesus’ reply was, “You have been with Me all this time, and you have not seen the Father?” (John 14:8-9).  Jesus was not saying that He was the Father, but rather,

“My life is so one with the Father, that I am doing exactly what He would do, if He were here.  Therefore, when you see Me, you are seeing the Father.”

We will serve better through the power of the Holy Spirit being imparted within us, but there is more. We are to be a “witness” (be a sample) of Jesus Christ.  Through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, I should be able to say,

“What I am saying and doing is a reflection of Jesus; Thus, as  you see me, you are seeing Him.”

The King James translation gives the correct rendering of this verse, “You shall receive power after.”  We have received the “Baptism,” or the immersion in the Holy Spirit.  Now the power is potentially available to us, but there is something more that is required of us (after), before we can experience this power.  When we rightly respond, the power will become ours.

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:31

This “strength,” or “power” is received after we spend time “waiting” in His presence.  Thus, the word “after” in Acts 1:8 tells us that we receive this power - after we wait in His presence.

This is the secret -  As we wait upon the Lord in His presence, the power of God flows into us.  Only then will we be able to witness, or function in what we have received.  Our strength will run down and we will fail, as Israel did.  But “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.”  The word “renew” is to exchange our weakness for His power, or strength.

In Hosea 4:6a, the Scripture says,

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

All too often, in a church service, we are called to the altar to make a new consecration.  Then we are left there, until another speaker comes to lead us in making yet another consecration.  The result is that we never go further in our spiritual development.

The time has come when we must go beyond this cycle of repentance and consecration.  We are to come into an active on-going relationship with the Lord in order to become His witness in the world.  The enabling power that is available to us - as a result of our being baptized in the Holy Spirit, will help to make this possible.

“Draw me, we will run after You: the King has brought me into His chambers.”  Song of Solomon 1:4a

There are three steps that will lead us into this active relationship with the Lord.

The first is spiritual hunger – “Draw me.”

This hunger will bring me into the experience of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, as I cry out for the Lord Himself.  It will further result in many “re-fillings” of His dunamis (enabling power) as I hunger in His presence, desiring to receive more from Him.

The second is my consecration – “We will run after You.”

“We will run.”  In the totality of my being, I will act upon that which I have received from the Lord.  In all that I do, I will remain in a listening attitude so I will be available to respond to His beckoning call, and, I will spend time waiting upon Him in His presence.

The third is the result of my responding to His manifest presence – “The King has brought me into His chamber.”

Here, I commune with the Lord in fellowship with His Word.  I give expression to the Lord in worship, and I move with Him in a cooperative relationship in the outworking of His purposes.

I avoid all those things that could lessen my sensitivity to His presence, or could hinder my coming into His presence.  I will be careful to maintain a right attitude toward others, so the Lord will feel “welcomed and comfortable” when He communes with me, within His chamber.

“Jesus answered and said to him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.”  John 14:23

The ultimate purpose of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is to so move within us, in power, that Jesus will be able to reveal Himself through us, in every part and aspect of our being.

Now we are ready to “be” a witness (sample) of Him; revealing and making Him known unto the uttermost parts of the earth.