The Great Commission which the disciples received coincided with a promise that they would receive the power to do this very demanding work. Without the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit it would be completely impossible for them to successfully act as disciples of Christ in a hostile world. The Lord Jesus explicitly prohibited them from starting with evangelisation before they were endued with the power of the Holy Spirit. He said, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:46-49).
It is important to understand the promise of power from on high in its right context, i.e spiritual equipment to enable us to work for the Lord. This does not refer to salvation as the disciples were already regenerated by the Holy Spirit and had received the peace of the forgiveness of sins. On the day when Jesus rose from the dead He appeared in their midst and said: “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:21-22). They were saved before the day of Pentecost, and were also commissioned to evangelise the world, but had not yet received the second work of grace by being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Why did the disciples have to wait for ten days after the ascension of Christ before the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them? This was a much needed time of humbling themselves in preparation for the important blessing which the Lord had promised to them.
The ten days of waiting on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a time of soul-searching and spiritual cleansing. When the Holy Spirit searches the lives, thoughts and desires of believers in the light of God’s Word, He often reveals to them many sins, impurities and materialism of which they should be cleansed. The Lord says that if we confess these sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). We should be clean channels through whom He can work.
This was also a time of denying and crucifying themselves (Luke 9:23). They had to realise that the flesh with its passions and desires must be crucified, and that they should be cleansed of all inclinations towards carnality and worldliness. Then only will the Holy Spirit take full control of their lives. What happens if the old nature (the flesh) of a believer is not crucified? “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Gal. 5:17). Put off the old man and surrender him to be crucified; then alone will you be able to walk in the Spirit and refrain from fulfilling the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). We should first be emptied of ourselves before we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. The flesh strives after sin, self-honouring, pride, wealth and many other things of the world. The Spirit cannot inculcate and promote godly characteristics in us as long as we have an uncrucified flesh. The disciples surrendered themselves fully and waited upon the Lord to endue them with the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness (Eph. 4:24).
During this time they denied themselves, emptied themselves and confessed that they could not do anything without the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. In their own power they would never be able to accomplish this big task. Before Pentecost the disciples naively thought they could remain true to the Lord Jesus on their own, but they seriously misjudged the situation. Peter was not even able to confess his faith in Jesus to a lowly servant girl, and denied the Lord three times in the same evening. But on the day of Pentecost he proclaimed the saving grace of the Lord Jesus with great boldness to thousands of people. What was responsible for the big change in his life? The power of the Holy Spirit.
Before Pentecost the disciples realised they would never be able to serve the Lord without a spiritual Guide and Teacher. For this reason the Holy Spirit has come, to guide them into all truth and declare to them the things which the Lord Jesus has spoken (John 16:13-14). The disciples did not only receive enlightened eyes of the mind to understand the Word of the Lord, but they also consciously experienced the presence of the Son and the Father in their hearts (John 14:23). The Holy Spirit thus comforted them and removed the sorrow which they experienced because of the physical absence of the Lord Jesus after His ascension.
The Holy Spirit also played a decisive role in giving the disciples victory over fear – fear of people and also fear for the attacks of Satan. The fear which they experienced during the events surrounding the persecuting and crucifixion of Christ had vanished and was replaced by great boldness. That enabled them to continue proclaiming Christ, even in the midst of severe threats, intimidation and persecution. This power also enabled them to prevail against the temptations and attacks of Satan. Paul referred to the power of the Holy Spirit when he said: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:10-11). The enabling power of God’s Spirit is indispensable to every Christian.
A further very important difference which the filling of the Holy Spirit made in the lives of the disciples was to separate them from the world and worldly desires, and to instil a longing in their hearts to their home in heaven. An active expectation of Christ’s second coming was inherently part of their existence. The Holy Spirit did not only guide them into the truth of the gospel message but also taught them about the things to come (John 16:13). In His last teaching to the disciples, the Lord Jesus said: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3). This promise motivated them not to decline in the expectation of their eternal home in heaven, but to keep on proclaiming the message of God’s kingdom. The Holy Spirit equips us for our work on earth and also prepares us to appear before the Lord Jesus holy and without blemish.
The promised enduement with power from on high transformed the faltering and fearful disciples into determined, committed and Spirit-filled Christians who proclaimed the gospel of the cross fearlessly, even in the midst of the greatest opposition. They realised it was in their interest that Jesus had ascended to heaven so that the promise of the fullness of the Spirit could be fulfilled to them. After this, Jesus could communicate with each of His disciples, wherever he or she was in the world. Jesus Christ was living in His disciples and He endued them with spiritual power to witness with authority of His saving grace. Christ multiplied Himself in this way to address the unsaved world in different places at the same time through His disciples. They represented Him.
Depending on each disciple’s level of dedication, there was no limit to what the Lord could do through them. If they were clean vessels, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, they would achieve much in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus even said that they would do greater things as He did during His earthly ministry because He was going to His Father and would pour out the Holy Spirit upon them (John 14:12). That indeed happened, as 3000 people were saved on the day of Pentecost. Evangelisation of this extent never happened during the time of Jesus on earth. Why not? Jesus Christ had not yet paid the ransom for the sins of the world, the Holy Spirit was not yet poured out in His Pentecostal fullness, and knowledge of the doctrine of salvation was very limited before the crucifixion of Christ.
The gospel message first had to be intensively proclaimed by Spirit-filled disciples, also in the languages of the peoples to whom they preached. Initially, the Lord gave certain disciples the supernatural ability to preach the gospel in other tongues, thereby clearly demonstrating that the gospel was meant for all nations. After this initial stage, the gift of tongues ceased and Bibles had to be systematically translated by knowledgeable people. Evangelists also had to learn the languages of their target communities.
The same principle also applies to the signs and wonders performed by the early disciples as vindicating signs of the message that they proclaimed. An agnostic and hostile world was convinced by these visible manifestations that God was with the disciples. After this purpose was achieved and the Christian faith was established, signs and wonders markedly abated. Later generations had the Bible, as well as a multitude of witnesses, who testified of its truth. They had to live by faith, without sensational signs and wonders. In any way, signs, wonders and speaking in tongues were not included in the promise of Pentecost, which clearly implies that no one can biblically expect these gifts. The Lord Jesus only said: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me” (Acts 1:8).
From the history of the early Christian church it is evident that not all believers were filled with the Holy Spirit. They themselves were responsible for this lack of unction because they didn’t humble themselves and take up the cross of self-denial. Such disciples were still dominated by the flesh and could therefore not be filled with and fully used by the Holy Spirit. Because of this serious deficiency in the lives of many disciples the instruction was given that only Spirit-filled elders and deacons were to be appointed in the early church: “Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business” (Acts 6:3).
This standard should still be applied today, but in most cases it is not done. The revivalist, Charles Finney, said in his book, Power from on High:
“We need the enduement of power from on high. Christ had previously informed the disciples that without Him they could do nothing. When He gave them the commission to convert the world, He added, ‘But tarry ye in Jerusalem till ye be endued with power from on high. Ye shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Behold, I send upon you the promise of My Father.’ This enduement with power is an indispensable condition of performing the work which Christ has set before us.
“How shall we get it? Christ expressly promised it to the whole church, and to every individual whose duty it is to labour for the conversion of the world. He admonished the first disciples not to undertake the work until they had received this enduement of power from on high. Both the promise and the admonition apply equally to all Christians of every age and nation. No one has, at any time, any right to expect success without it.
“The example of the first disciples teaches us how to secure this enduement. They first consecrated themselves to this work, and continued in prayer and supplication until the Holy Ghost fell upon them. The text informs us that it is infinitely easy to obtain the Holy Spirit, or this enduement of power. The Father is more willing to give the Holy Spirit than we are to give good gifts to our children (Luke 11:13).
“There is a great difference between the peace and the power of the Holy Spirit in the soul. The disciples were Christians before the day of Pentecost, and, as such, they had a measure of the Holy Spirit. They must have had the peace of having sins forgiven, and of a justified state, but they had not the enduement of power necessary to the accomplishment of the work assigned to them. They had the peace which Christ had given them, but not the power which He had promised.
“This may be true of all Christians, and right here is, I think, the great mistake of the church, and of the ministry. They rest in conversion, and do not seek until they obtain this enduement of power from on high. Hence so many professors have no power with either God or man. They prevail with neither. They cling to a hope in Christ, and even enter the ministry, overlooking the admonition to wait until they are endued with the power of the Holy Spirit. Let anyone lay all upon the altar and prove God herewith, and he shall find that God will open the windows of heaven, and pour him out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
“To the honour of God alone I will say a little of my own experience in this matter. I was powerfully converted on the morning of the 10th of October. In the evening of the same day, and on the morning of the following day, I received overwhelming baptisms of the Holy Ghost, that went through me, as it seemed to me, body and soul. I immediately found myself endued with such power from on high that a few words dropped here and there to individuals were the means of their immediate conversion. My words seemed to fasten like barbed arrows in the souls of men. They cut like a sword. They broke the heart like a hammer. Multitudes can attest to this. Oftentimes a word dropped, without my remembering it, would fasten conviction, and often result in almost immediate conversions.
“Sometimes I would find myself, in a great measure, empty of this power. I would go out and visit, and find that I made no saving impression. I would exhort and pray, with the same result. I would then set apart a day for private fasting and prayer, fearing that this power had departed from me, and would inquire anxiously after the reason of this apparent emptiness. After humbling myself, and crying out for help, the power would return to me with all its freshness. This has been the experience of my life.
“The want of an enduement of power from on high should be deemed a disqualification for a pastor, a deacon or elder, a Sunday school superintendent, a professor in a Christian college, and especially for a professor in a theological seminary. Is this statement too harsh? Suppose any of the apostles had failed, through apathy, selfishness, unbelief, indolence, or ignorance, to obtain this enduement of power, would that not have disqualified them to work for Christ?
“Shall the church of God be burdened with teachers and leaders who lack this fundamental qualification, when their failing to possess it must be their own fault? They are inexcusable. With such a command to convert the world ringing in our ears; with such an injunction to wait in constant, wrestling prayer till we receive the power; with such a promise made by such a Saviour of all the help we need from Christ Himself, what excuse can we offer for being powerless in this great work? What an awful responsibility rests upon the whole church, upon every Christian!
“There is a need of a great reformation in the church on this particular point. The churches should wake up to the facts in the case, and take a firm stand in regard to the qualifications of ministers and church officers. They should refuse to ordain a pastor if they are not well satisfied with his qualifications for the office. Whatever else he may have to recommend him, if his record does not show that he has this enduement of power to win souls to Christ, they should deem him unqualified to serve as pastor.
“The churches should hold the theological seminaries to strict account in this matter; and until they do, I fear that the seminaries will never wake up to their responsibility. A seminary that aims mainly at the culture of the intellect, and sends out learned men who lack the enduement of power from on high, is a snare and a stumbling-block to the church of Christ. What really matters is the heart culture of theological candidates: What do they know of the power of Christ to save from sin, what do they know of the power of prayer, and to what extent are they endued with power from on high to win souls to Christ? Oh! that it were different and we were all agreed, now and forever, to hold fast to the promise of Christ, and never think ourselves or anybody else to be fit for the great work of the church till we have received the rich enduement of the power of God through His Holy Spirit.
“I beg the churches, I beg the seminaries, to receive a word of exhortation from an old man, who has had some experience in these things, and one whose heart mourns and is weighed down in view of the shortcomings of the church, the ministers, and the seminaries, on this subject. Brethren, I beseech you to more thoroughly consider this matter, to wake up and lay it to heart, and rest not till this subject of the enduement of power from on high is brought forward into its proper place, and takes that prominent and practical position in view of the whole church that Christ designed it should” (end of quotation from Finney’s book).