But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Acts 1:8
You would be correct in thinking, “But haven’t we covered this somewhere else Ian? I seem to remember reading about this.” Yes, I began the process of looking at Acts 1:8 when I was still finishing off Luke. I told you that Luke and Acts go together. Read these Gems again. I have linked them to this Gem as related posts.
After you have read the above Gems, I hope you start to see more clearly that it is all about the extension of the Kingdom of God. Luke has not forgotten the Great Commission. It is so important he has written his second book about the outworking of it. God’s Kingdom is extending and the Book of Acts tracks the nature and progress of that early growth. This message is not meant just for Israel. This is the good news that the Kingdom of God is coming, that which was set on earth in its embryo format in the days of Adam before he sinned, is coming again. God has now dealt with the sin by sending the Messiah the first time, as God’s way to deal with the separation between God and His people. Now the message is for all mankind before the Messiah comes back as reigning King. So get the message out there guys. The rest of this book is all about the way that happened. So Luke in his thoroughness has given us a whole book on the beginnings of the Great Commission.
- What is our part in it?
- How does it happen?
- What should we do now?
Remember I told you that many see a link between Acts 1:8 and the way the book of Acts develops. It is like Acts is written under the headings:
- Jerusalem
- Judea
- Samaria
- Ends of the Earth
Take time to look at this classic missionary verse in the above contexts, before we move forward on it. I realise again I have given you a lot to read for those of you who are diligent and do all that suggest to you and put it into practice. So I will close this Gem at this point before we pull apart Acts 1:8 for analysis.
This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Matthew 24:14
It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge and my job to love and be His witness.
Anon
God didn’t put you here to make your name great, He put you here to make His name great!
Anon
Moses spent 40 years learning something, 40 years learning to be nothing and his final 40 years proving God to be everything.
D L Moody
Go prove God to be everything for someone today.
Ian Vail