Michael Green writes, “He can give the power we need, and only he. Power for being witnesses to Jesus – is that not needed? Are not many Christians tongue-tied at the thought of speaking to anyone else about their Lord, while others find it second-nature? The difference lies in the Holy Spirit, and whether or not he has been asked to take over. Power to cast out fear – is that not needed? Are many Christians not only speechless about Jesus, but crippled by fear and inhibitions about launching out in the service of the good news? The perfect love which the Spirit gives casts out fear. Indeed, love is about the only power in the world which is stronger than fear … I have no doubt that Peter was terrified when he found himself in the earliest days of the church dragged before a full meeting of the Jewish Sanhedrin, with all the hatchetmen of the high priest’s family gathered with them, to defend his preaching and healing in the name of the man they had
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