The resurrection had occurred. Jesus had appeared to His disciples for 40 days. Now, He was about to ascend to the right hand of the Father. The disciples present Jesus with a dumb question: "Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" They hadn't quite gotten the point yet. Jesus answered: "It is not for you to know the
times and seasons, which the Father has put in His own power." In other words, what God is going to do now is none of your business, you have to leave "Father things to the Father." Jesus wasn't being a smart-aleck here. He wanted them to know that instead of trying to do something about that which they could do nothing about, they should do what the Father willed them to do. What was that? Let's look at verse 8: "But you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." What were they to do after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus? They were to be His witnesses to the entire world. And the book of Acts tells us a portion of how they went about this. What we need to understand is that this was not just the marching orders for those disciples but all who would become followers of Jesus Christ. We are to be witnesses where we are - in our own "Jerusalems." We are to make sure that the witness is sent out in concentric circles to the rest of the world. A church that is not a missionary church, in every sense of the word, is a dying church. Our main post-resurrection task is to be witnesses. Worship is important. Fellowship is important. Choirs are important. Congregational singing is important. But we must realize that as important as these things are, they are not our main task. We need to tell others about Jesus and give so that those whom God has called to go to other places can tell others about Jesus. Are you a witness? Is your church a witnessing church? Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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