The last time we were in this text together we discussed the fact that Jesus promises two gifts that will accompany the baptism of the Holy Spirit: the first believers would be clothed with power and they would become witnesses. We saw three very specific points about being clothed in the power of God: The power of God does not meet our expectations it fulfills God’s plans; the power of God flows from intimacy and the power of God always works toward redemption. This means that power, much like worship is from God and must always be used for God, while there can be beautiful personal benefits of being clothed in power the purpose must always be seen clearly as bringing God glory and leading men to redemption. Today we add to our understanding of the power of God our calling and gifting to become witnesses. The baptism of the Holy Spirit did not just bring power it also created witnesses, this means that true witnesses are not those that set out to do for God they are those that are so filled with God that they set out to follow, to yield, to trust and to obey. In Acts 2:32, in the first sermon preached with the power and witness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit Peter declared of himself and those first 120 believers “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.” In Acts 5:32, when Peter and the apostles were on trial by the Sanhedrin, the same group that had ordered Jesus’ arrest and death, they said “And we are His (Jesus’) witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” So now we see that part of the reason that those baptized in the Holy Spirit become witnesses is that the Holy Spirit Himself is a witness, the work He does in us is His work meaning, just as we follow Jesus to become like Him in character, we follow the Holy Spirit to become like Him in witness and in power. Finally, in Revelation 1:5 Jesus Himself is referred to as “the faithful witness”. The work of witnessing is not working for Jesus it is the work of Jesus: Jesus was a witness to the Father, the Holy Spirit is a witness to Jesus and we are a witness to the full, united work of the Godhead. This means that witnessing is not simply sharing a story it is walking in the character, the heart and the truth of the One that we are witnesses to. There are three specific points I want us to see today about being witnesses. We are going to use the three witnesses listed in the verses I have just read: the first believers, the Holy Spirit and Jesus and we are going to see that a witness is one who is sent from where they are, one who is devoted to the one who sent them and one who is content to live for the glory and the good of another. My contention today is that we are not witnesses when we simply tell Jesus’ story, we become witnesses when Jesus’ story becomes the center, the purpose and the love of our lives.