Acts 1:1-26
No one is more powerful than Jesus Christ. Can you imagine anyone else saying they had power to lay down their life, and take it again? John 10:18. He surely demonstrated that He is the Son of God with power, when He rose again from the dead. Romans 1:4.
The apostles knew the reality of His resurrection, because "He presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days...." Acts 1:3. They were eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ.
To this unlikely bunch He said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Acts 1:8. These are the same men who a few days earlier had forsaken Him, when He was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane. They had fled from the scene like frightened rabbits. After three years of training with Jesus it appeared that they had flunked the course. Nevertheless, these men were to receive power for witnessing.
They had something else on their minds, asking, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" Bible prophecy has become of major interest to many Christians today. But Jesus answered, "It's not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority." Acts 1:6, 7.
After Jesus told them that they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit, He ascended to heaven. "And while the apostles looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?'" Acts 1:10, 11. It wasn't time to stand around. The world was waiting for their witness to begin in Jerusalem and extend to the ends of the earth.
To their credit the apostles returned to Jerusalem to wait for the Promise of the Father. They didn't begin to prepare a series of sermons to preach. They understood their role as witnesses. The witness is not the prosecutor. He is not the judge, either. He simply bears witness to what he has seen and heard. 1 John 4:14.
"These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers." Acts 1:14. God answered their prayers, and the Spirit of God came upon them and empowered them.
Those of us living today have never seen the resurrected Christ. However, we believe the testimony of the apostles, the eyewitnesses, as recorded in the Word of God. Being born again, we also have received the power of the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses wherever we are.
Lord, keep us from laboring for the wind. Thank You for sending Your Son and Your Spirit into the world. Use us as Your witnesses for Your glory. In Jesus' name. Amen!
