On Acts: Part 1

Acts 1:7-8 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the father has fixed by his own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

You will, you shall. I love it! They will be witnesses, according to Strong's, "in a legal sense, an historical sense, and in an ethical sense" as martyrs. This is not a suggestion, this is Christ, God telling them what is going to happen. "You will receive." According to Strong's, this is not just an I'm going to send you something in the mail type of verb, this is an active verb on the disciple's part, they are "a. to take with the hand, lay hold of, [this power] in order to use it. 1. to take up a thing to be carried, 2. to take upon one's self...c. to take what is one's own, to take to one's self. to make one's own." (#2983) They are going to be given God's power to make their own, in order that they might be his witnesses and glorify Him. They are given the power to be as Christ was and is. Strong's describes the ethical sense of being a witness as one who follows in the footsteps of Christ, those who die as he did for their faith, their knowledge, their truth.

Acts 1:14 "These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women." They were all talking to God. That along is "with" and comes from the word for union.

One of the things I've been thinking about as I've been reading Acts, is the idea that they were witnesses. They testified about the gospel in a very culturally relevant way. First, with the Holy Spirit they spoke in different languages, languages that were recognized by people in the crowd. The Holy Spirit allowed them to speak in this way directly to certain people who were present. Christ is personal. Christ, the power of God, was revealed to them in a language they could hardly misunderstand. It was an amazingly cool, powerful experience. It showed off the strength of the power the Holy Spirit could give. These people were on the whole ordinary people, fishermen, and instantaneously they were given the knowledge and the words to coherently speak another language and speak truth into the lives of specific members of that crowd. Peter's response to those who mocked God's power as drunkenness, was to testify to all he had seen. He shared the gospel in a way that those in Jerusalem, Jews and others familiar with Jewish custom, would understand it. He quoted the prophets and reminded the crowd of what even they had witnessed in Jerusalem recently. They too were witnesses to a degree.

Power and Gifts of Grace

Ephesians 3:20-21, 4:7 "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever, amen. ... grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift."

Ephesians 1:19-22 "That you may know... his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come."

The same power that raised Christ from the dead, works in us still, works in us as individuals! God is not weakened by use or by exponential growth in the numbers of the faithful. God cares just as much about us as individuals as he cares about defeating sin wholly, once and for all. There is no favoritism here, there is only a God that sees his creation, all, each and every one of his children, being destroyed and dying, and knowing that he is the only one that can bring them home, he moves, he acts, he saves them. Whenever God moves, he moves big, he moves awesomely. I can't even begin to imagine that strength. God is GREAT and he loves us.

"Two things you told me/That you are strong/And you love me" - Jon Foreman, Your Love is Strong