Witnesses

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to end of the earth. 

Acts 1:8 

Acts is a book of beginnings. The first account Luke records is that of Christ’s ascension. This brings His earthly ministry to a close and paves the way for the beginning of the Apostolic era. Our text contains the last recorded words of Christ to His disciples. He tells them what is going to occur in the next phase of their lives. He says they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. He goes on to say that they will be witnesses to Him in four areas. Their first place of witness would be local, in Jerusalem. Their witness of Christ would extend to Judea, the surrounding area, occupied primarily by their fellow Israelites. He extends their prospects to Samaria, people who were ethnically and religiously different from them. He expands their vision to the whole world, ‘the end of the earth,’ as He puts it. This has remained the pattern of true followers of Christ since then. We begin by making much of Christ as we live in our private lives in a particular locality. We go into our own national group to point others to Christ as we have opportunity. Our travels may take us to other groups who are different than we are. Christ is for them as much as for us. Christ is the answer for people everywhere. We still point others to Him.  

Our Holy and Wise God, 
we rejoice that You have given us Christ. 
We praise You for having the privilege 
of making Him known everywhere.