So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 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 1:6-8 NLT)
Jesus knew the apostles had the wrong idea about the kingdom. They thought that now that he was resurrected, he would set up the kingdom, the one they wanted.
Of course, the one they wanted was an earthly kingdom. Jesus would be king, they would all be generals and get to boss people around. Things would be great in this new kingdom. Israel would once again be the great nation it had been under King David a thousand years before with the Romans respecting and fearing them. They would once again walk large on the face of the world.
The only problem was that it was not what God had in mind. It was a very large pipe dream in the minds of the Jews. It was what they wanted: the return of their autonomy as a nation and the return of God’s favor on them.
But God had something different in mind. He wanted them to be witnesses of his power in a different way than they thought. They would see his power work through the present world, not the fantasy world they envisioned. They would see an internal power in lives and actions.
That is the thing with God. We witness what he wants, not what we want. And we do so in his time.
Yes, he cares about what we care about. But he does not order his will to give in to our desires. He does what he wants when he wants to.
Ephesians 1:11 says he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. And Philippians 2:13 says that he empowers us to do what he wants. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Ultimately, although he works through us, it is he who does what is done. It is his strength and his will, it is his design and his power that gets things accomplished.
We witness him and we witness his power in the way he wants.
The apostles found this out pretty quickly. Ten days later, the whole thing was made apparent to them. And what a witness they became.
The book of Acts was written to show that witness. Read it with us.
If you need a study book, call or email the Firm Foundation church office and tell them. Do it through Facebook if needed. It will be a great study.
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