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6 When the apostles were all together, they asked Jesus, "Lord, are you now going to give the kingdom back to Israel?" 7 Jesus said to them, "The Father is the only One who has the authority to decide dates and times. These things are not for you to know. 8 But when the Holy Spirit comes to you, you will receive power. You will be my witnesses—in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world." ~ Acts 1:6-8
Today, we return to our study of the book of Acts. The disciples lives at this point were turned upside down. Whereas for the past number of years they were practically with the Lord Jesus every minutes of every day, now they were seeing Him periodically. Undoubtedly, the disciples lived on pens and needles anticipating when the Lord would appear to them again. And, don't you know, they were anxious everyday that He did not show up. In a strange way the Lord Jesus' "absence" was key for the coming of the Holy Spirit. The disciples were so used to God's physical presence they had to be prepared for His presence in a different way.
The Holy Spirit is not a bonus feature of Christianity. He is essential. The Holy Spirit is a person who lives in the believer. He is God in us. The Holy Spirit is the believer's Comforter, Teacher, Guide, and Empowerer. We were never meant to live the Christian life alone. The Holy Spirit leads us daily into a more intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus. The role of the Holy Spirit is to bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ and to draw our attention to Him as our friend, our Lord and our Savior. God has given the Holy Spirit the role of sanctifying the believer into usefulness for His kingdom while on this earth.
In v.6 of today's passage we read, "When the apostles were all together, they asked Jesus, 'Lord, are you now going to give the kingdom back to Israel?'"
The disciples were relentless at asking the Lord Jesus if He was about to restore the physical kingdom to Israel. Their theology, yet again, betrayed them. This just highlights the utter need for us to continually refine our understanding of God and His culture. This is only done as we learn to walk in the Spirit through His Word. We were "born again" by the entrance of God's Holy Spirit into our lives. It was then that we entered into a process know as "sanctification." This process will last until we take our final breath on this earth. It is a process whereby God is inculcating His culture into our souls. Sanctification is the process whereby God is instilling His way of thinking into us. With the change of thinking, we will choose His way of living.
The disciples' problem was they thought God's kingdom was like the kingdoms of this world where might is right. This is not a biblical understanding of God's kingdom. God's kingdom refers to our right relationship with Him through the finished work of His Son on the cross. And, as we learn throughout the epistles beginning with Romans all of the way through the book of the Revelation the kingdom of God applies to all who discover the Lord Jesus as their Savior, both Jew and Gentile. The application of God's kingdom will eventually bring an end of the kingdom of the self life which is the product of this world and of Satan. Through His kingdom applied by the Holy Spirit we are being saved from ourselves.
Now, the "kingdom of Israel," spoken of by many Old Testament prophets is yet to come. In the Old Testament, there are hundreds of passages that describe a kingdom to be given again to Israel, identified with the eternal kingdom promised to David and his descendants. It will be realized during "the kingdom age" or the Millennium which will take place after the Rapture of the Church. It will be during that 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth that all of the promises God has ever made specifically to Israel for their possession of the land of Israel and the reign of the Messiah over the nations will be fulfilled.
In v.7-8 of today's passage we read, "7 Jesus said to them, 'The Father is the only One who has the authority to decide dates and times. These things are not for you to know. 8 But when the Holy Spirit comes to you, you will receive power. You will be my witnesses—in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world.'"
The disciples were anxious for the beginning of what they thought God's kingdom would look like. They didn't realize it but God had all whole different plan in mind. So the Lord Jesus told them it was not for them to know times or seasons which the Father knows and determines. It was at that moment the Lord Jesus highlighted the fact that with the coming of the Holy Spirit believers will have access to a new power. The word "power" is the word from which we get our English word "dynomite" which will translate into the ability to be God's witnesses or martyrs. We get our word "martyrs" from the word translated "witnesses" here. God's ways are so different than ours.
The Lord told those early followers they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and then, into all of the world. The message we gain from the book of Acts is how the powerful message of the gospel goes out into ever widening circles. When we became believers we all experienced this effect of coming to know the Lord for ourselves. It started with us getting saved, then we told our families, our friends, and then the circle widened.
The book of Acts records events that took place among the believers in Israel during a 30 year period. Thirty years of church history are included in this book. From AD 33 to AD 63, about 30 years the events of this book took place. In this book there are recorded 30 miracles, that's an average of about a miracle a year. Although the God of the Bible is a God of miracles, we must never get caught up with the miracle when the design of the miracle is that we are to be caught up with the Miracle Maker.
Once born again each believer has the potential to experience the power of God in such a way that we will be able to point others to the Lord Jesus. We limit the power of God in and through us when we slip back into independence. As long as we are aware that we need the Lord His power in unlimited. The problem we face with God's power is that it isn't always what we expect it to be. When we live our lives as if everything depends on us, we will miss the power of God. This is when the Lord has to raise our quality of faith to the level where we will stand only upon what He says. Our victory was won at the cross and that victory is Jesus overcoming us. He overcomes us by strengthening us with the power of His Spirit within us. This happens when we are convinced a little bit more today that He is the source of any victory we enjoy. The normal Christian life is lived when we tap into God's divine ability. The surrendered life is an active, daily dying to self. When we are willing to die to our own agendas, God’s power is unleashed in and through our lives.
We cower away from God's definition of things, especially His definition of His power. Like the disciples, we have a skewed understanding of God's power. Peter reminds us "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life." God's goal in giving us His power is that we may enjoy godly lives. This means we will be known as those who love unconditionally, those who forgive, those who are actively turning our backs on the self life. And, God never leads us to godliness without His strength to do it. With God’s power at work in us, we will be able to do what we simply cannot do in our own human strength.
