THE KING’S BUSINESS
847
(Acts 2:38), but alas'! a large portion o f the church is not in a normal state but in the state o f the church in Ephesus before Paul came down and found a group o f believers who had not as yet received the -Holy Ghost (Acts 18:25, R. V .; 19:l-7>. But j f our Lord Jesus would not permit these disciples who were so well equipped intellectually for their work, whom He Himself had instructed for more than three years, and who had been eye witnesses o f His miracles and His death and resurrec tion, and were shortly to be eye witnesses o f His ascension, to undertake the work o f witnessing for Him, until they had defin itely received “the promise o f the Father,” had been baptized in the Holy Spirit, had been “ endued with power from on high,” what daring presumption it is upon the part o f any man today to undertake the work o f witnessing for his Lord until He has been definitely endued with power from on high. Monday, September 25 . , Acts 1 : 6 - 8 . The mention o f the “promise o f the Father” by our Lord stems to have sug gested to the disciples the restoration of Israel, so they ask Him if-H e is about to restore the kingdom to Israel. They recog nized the fact that it was He and He alone who was to restore the kingdom to Israel. Our Lord’s answer clearly implies that the kingdom is sometime to be restored to Israel (cf. Isa. 1:25-27; 9 :7 ; Jer. 23 :5, 6 ; 33:15- 26; Ezi 36:23-28 ; 37:24-28; Hos. 3:4, 5; Joel' 3:16-21; Amos 9:11-15), but in the most emphatic way our Lord tells them that God has reserved the knowledge o f times and seasons to Himself (v. 7. Note carefully Revised Version, cf. Matt. 24:36; - Mark 13 :32). How vain it is then for any man to try to figure out the time o f our Lord’s return or the events connected there with (cf. Deut. 29:29). The attempt is something more than vain, it is presump tuous in the highest degree. Any one who tries to- set a date for the return o f our Lord and the restoration o f the kingdom to Israel is attempting to do the very thing
which the Lord in the most solemn and stern terms has bidden him not to do. God has seen fit to set times and seasons “within His own authority,” and the one therefore who attempts to set dates is a grave sin ner against God, and is by that fact thor oughly discredited as a teacher. Jesus turns their attention from the vain attempt to discover “times and seasons” which the Father hath set within His own authority, to their own present duty o f witnessing for Him. When they should receive the king dom He does not disclose: when they should receive power for testimony He does disclose. This power would be theirs when the Holy Ghost had come upon them. Then they 1 would have power and not until then. The Authorized Version puts it, “ Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you.” The Revised Version puts it, “Ye shall receive power when the Hbly Ghost is come upon you,” Neither one is an exact rendering o f the Greek, that would be, “ Ye shall receive power, the Holy Ghost having come upon you.” -The thought o f the Greek construction is that the power should be the direct result o f the Holy Ghost coming upon them. As they were not to have power until the Holy .Ghost came upon them, how foolish it would have been for them to try to work for Christ until the Holy Ghost had come upon them, and how foolish' it is on our part for us to try to work for Him until we have sought and obtained the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The power o f the Holy Ghost was not merely for the purpose o f making them happy, but for the purpose o f making them “witnesses” (cf. ch. 2 :4 ; 4:8- 12, 31, 33; 5:32; 9:17, 20). The proof that one really has been baptized with the Holy Spirit is not that he has some ecstatic experience, but that he has a longing to witness for Christ and does witness for Christ with power. They were to begin their witnessing right where they were when the Holy Ghost was received, in Jerusalem. But while they were to begin in Jerusalem they were not to stop in Jerusalem, they were to go next to' the
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker