Acts 1:7-8 (NASB)
He said to them, "It is not for you to
know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you
will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My
witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the
remotest part of the earth."
Jesus teaches three very important truths
in these two verses…….
1.
No one knows when Jesus will return to earth except God the Father.
How many people in human history since
Jesus’ ascension have predicted and convinced gullible and foolish people to
believe them about when Jesus is coming back?
Before the end of each millennium (999 and 1999) people thought the new
millennium meant the end of the age. In
500 AD Church father Hippolytus predicted the world
would end based on his analysis of the dimensions of Noah's Ark. In 1501
Christopher Columbus allowed 155 years for all mankind to be converted to
Christianity, after which the world would end.
In 1835 Joseph Smith, father of Mormonism, prophesied that the coming of
the Lord was 56 years away. People
thought Hitler was the antichrist and the end of the word was happening. I personally heard Hal Lindsey (author of The
Late Great Planet Earth) saying that the world would end in 1988, a
generation after the rebirth of Israel in 1948.
In 1993, Harold Camping predicted on Larry King Live that the world
would end in 1994 and when he was proved to be wrong, he predicted wrongly
twice that the world would end in 2011.
Today people are predicting that the end will occur in 2012. All of these predictions and prophecies, and
so many more unmentioned, were wrong. No
one knows when Jesus will return to earth except God the Father.
2. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit
has come upon you.
The disciples had asked for
knowledge about the end of the age, but instead Jesus promised them power. The word Jesus used for power was “dunamis”
that can be translated as “power”, “strength”, “ability”, and “able to perform
miracles”. Such power was shown in Acts
2:1-4, 10 days after Jesus’ ascension and 50 days after His resurrection. Power was manifested like wind (2:2) and fire
(2:3), two natural forces than no one can deny their power if left uninhibited. Spiritually, the power given to the disciples
and to all who are filled with the Holy Spirit was and is the power to preach
the gospel as Peter immediately started doing for the remainder of Acts 2. The power of the Holy Spirit also enables
those filled with the Spirit to have one or more spiritual gifts listed in
Romans 12:6-8 and I Corinthians 12:8-10 and to possess the fruit of the Spirit
listed in Galatians 5:22-23. Such power
and abilities are not part of the life of an unbeliever.
3. You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.
This is part of the Great
Commission Jesus left with His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20. He left responsibility for making disciples
of all men to His disciples and to all of us who believe in Him. The word Jesus used for witnesses was “martus”
that has two meanings, one being a willing testifier about who Jesus is; the
other being a willing person to die for his/her faith (the word “martyr” comes
from the word Jesus used for witness).
All followers of Jesus are expected to be witnesses for Him and to be
willing to die, if necessary, for Him.
All followers of Jesus are to be witnesses for Him locally (Jerusalem),
nationally (Judea), internationally (Samaria), and everywhere (remotest part of
the earth). This is not just for some
followers of Jesus, but all followers.
What have you learned from
these three truths of Jesus in Acts 1:7-8 that you can share with someone else
today?
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