Verses four, five and eight: Jesus commanded the apostles to remain in Jerusalem since, following His ascension to the Father, He would no longer be with them. Not having His Holy Spirit, they could not minister for Him in power. However, He promised that at a future date He would send the Spirit to them as John the Baptist had promised. Without the infilling of His and the Father’s Spirit, they would minister solely in their own power. In verse 8 He tells them that at a future date they would receive the power they would need to be His witnesses throughout the entire world. This promise came true on the Day of Pentecost when they were “baptized” in the Holy Spirit.

A universally overlooked and ultimately important truth relative to the preaching of the gospel involves the subject of the gospel. Unfortunately, religious man has changed the focus of the ministry from the Kingdom of Go to the person of Jesus Christ, a change for which there is no Scriptural backing. Jesus Hmself spoke to this issue in one of His final statements to the apostles. In Matthew 24:14 we find Him preparing them (and His ministers today) for the work they would be doing by telling them exactly what was to be the subject of their ministry: “… this gospel of the kingdom (of God) shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations, and then the end will come.” Recall in 1:3 He had spoken to them over a 40 day period about “the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” When He walked the earth He “went about preaching the Kingdom of God.” Note in Matthew 24:14 that they (and their ministerial descendants) were to preach and teach the “the gospel of the kingdom” until He returned (“the end”). Note in Acts 1:8 that those He calls His “witnesses” those He calls to preach and teach His “witness” (Word). And in that Jesus Christ is called both His “faithful Witness” (Rev. 1:5) and “the Word” (Jn. 1:1-4), to reject one of His Words is to reject both Himself and His Father Who gave Him the Words He spoke and arranged to be recorded in the Holy Bible (Jn. 12:44-50).

Another Truth must be noted here. No one will enter the Kingdom of God who does not approach the Holy Bible as does Its Author–as one single, inseparable entity. Note that He always refers to His Holy Bible as the “Word”–singular, not Words. To Him, it is all or nothing–to reject one Word is to reject every Word between Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 22:21. One must assume even those passages one does not understand to be God’s Truth because Jesus said they were (Jn. 17:17). A favorite argument heard within professing Christendom is that the Old Testament is not relevant to the New Testament Church. Wrong. As several postings have proven Scripturally, both are essential for salvation. There should not be a separation between the Old and New Testaments–the New is simply the extension of the Old, both having the same God. See Jesus Christ: God, Man or Godman?

Verses six and seven: In verse six we find the apostles asking Jesus a question. Those who reject the Old Testament have refused to accept both the apostle’s question and Jesus’ answer. The Q and A session played out in this manner: “Lord, will You at this time restore again the kingdom to (of) Israel?” The apostles were asking Jesus if He was going to do what the Old Testament prophets proclaimed He would do (2 Pet. 1:21)–restore the Kingdom of Israel to the dominant status she enjoyed when David was her king. The apostles knew that God had promised to “rebuild the tabernacle of David” at a future date (Acts 15:14-16). Unknown to them at that point, the kingdom would include those Gentiles who would embrace the Biblical God and His way of life.

That this was and continues to be God’s plan is born out in verse 7 where Jesus told the apostles that it was not for them to know when the Father would raise up and restore the Israelite Kingdom. Note that He did not deny that Israel’s restoration would take place; he simply answered their question–no human, including Himself, knew when the restoration of Israel would take place. The Old Testament is rife with references (assurances) about God’s calling Israel back to Himself along with those Gentiles who embrace Him by believing and obeying His Word. See White Fields. L.J.