Acts 1:1-11
1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
No loopholes
This is the last conversation Jesus has with His followers. He tells them to leave specific dates and times up to God, and leaves them with a crucial message: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus instructs His followers to be His witnesses. There are no loopholes. There are no excuses. No, “Not me, I can’t, I don’t know what to say, I am going to mess it up.” Understanding that we can’t save people is exactly what we need. When you think, “I can’t,” you are right—but God can, and He wants to! Remembering this helps us get out of the way. The empowerment this text speaks of is available to us.
When we come into relationship with Jesus, each of us is given the gift of the Spirit of God. Empowerment of the Spirit of God is related to our willingness to surrender to Jesus. When we surrender, recognizing that we can’t do things on our own. We allow God to work in us. We must continually surrender and choose obedience to God. This is what it means to be a disciple.
The world is full of counterfeit witness. Some religions attempt to tell people how to get to heaven by lists of things they should and should not do. Many faith systems offer a complete reversal of the good news of Jesus Christ.
What does Jesus ask us to witness? It is a simple gospel: Jesus Christ is God who came in the flesh (Col. 2:9). He went to the cross, paying the penalty for sin (Col. 1:14), He atoned for our debt of sin by His death, He was buried, but on the third day God raised Him from the dead (1Cor. 15:4). 40 days later, Jesus ascended into heaven and there He sits, our great High Priest, interceding for us before almighty God (Rom. 8:34) and He is coming again (Matt. 16:27; 24:30–31). Anyone who trusts in the finished work of Jesus Christ is forgiven and given eternal life (Rom. 3:22–26). There is no ladder to climb, no requirement to do or say the right things. It is by grace and grace alone that we are saved (Eph. 2:8–9). That is the gospel of Jesus Christ, of which we are meant to bear witness. This is the good news!
We are instructed to be witnesses of the gospel, but that witness must be rooted in our lives as well. The very character of a person changes as they surrender to God. In the 1800’s, a man by the name of Sir Henry Stanley went in search of the great missionary Dr. David Livingston. He finally found him, and after spending some time with him, Stanley says this: “If I had been with him any longer, I would have been compelled to be Christian, and he never spoke to me about it at all.” When we are living lives surrendered to the Spirit of God, our lives will be in line with our witness.
This is an area of growth for the church. There are comments about the church everywhere you go, “The way they acted, the things they said, how they treated me, how they treated my family... I wouldn’t want to have anything to do with the church!” Far too often, our walk doesn’t match our talk. We are living on our own strength, not depending on the Spirit of God to transform us.
Acts 1 tells us that we have been given the Holy Spirit for a purpose: to be witnesses. The work of the Spirit accompanies the service of His people. “When you are before courts,” Jesus says, “Don’t worry about what you are going to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” The role of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world and to lead us into truth, but that all comes as we are actively living for Jesus in our world. When we are sharing the hope that we have with others, the Holy Spirit is at work in us, through us, and in the person we are talking to. When we are loving our neighbors and serving people, the Holy Spirit is at work in us.
We need to live authentically and courageously for Jesus in our world. First in our Jerusalem (our community), all the way to the ends of the earth. God wants to use you. He wants to work in you. We don’t have to live below the spiritual poverty line. If we're willing to be used by God, we can watch God do great things.
Reflection/Discussion Questions
1. Have you accepted a gospel that is all about Jesus’ work, not about earning salvation?
2. What keeps you from being a witness: Fear? Rejection or persecution? Not knowing what to say?
3. Are you living a life surrendered to God? Does your life accurately reflect Jesus to those around you?
Author Bio
Kelly loves sports and spending time in God’s creation. He is married with three children and has been pastoring for over 20 years in Canada and the US. He loves seeing Jesus transform people’s lives, both at home and around the globe through his involvement with Church Partnership Evangelism.
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Luke and Acts taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
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