August 22: BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

“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 the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8

Just before our risen Savior ascended into heaven, He made this very personal statement to His followers, saying that each one should become a living witness, pointing people toward salvation in Jesus. When the Lord said, “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth,” He covered all the territory of the world. No place (or person) was left out!

At the time, there were still three-and-a-half years left of the 490 years especially for the Jews – or seventy weeks [of years] prophesied in Daniel (see Daniel 9:24-27). For Christ’s disciples to be witnesses to [Him] in Jerusalem meant that they were to carry the Good News to the Jews first (Matthew 10:6; 15:24; Luke 24:25-27; Acts 26:23; Romans 1:16; 2:10), in fulfillment of the allotted time given them, as a nation, to recognize their Messiah. The end of that period was distinctly marked when the Jews collectively rejected the Lord (see Acts 7:57), yet the invitation to be saved continues on; it goes out to every individual until that window closes (at death or just before Jesus returns).

We must remember that the Holy Spirit’s power not only equips God’s people to be witnesses, but first holds out the gift of repentance to each one of us. This beautiful gift is tied with a ribbon of forgiveness; once opened, the forgiven soul is called to a new path – one of restoration and righteousness (see Psalm 23:3).

A study that leads us to be faithful witnesses for Christ in a world gone crazy might begin with the end in mind. That is, at the end of this world in its fallen condition, there will be only two groups: the saved and the lost. Jesus expressed this idea in the parable of the wheat and the tares: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants said… ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said… ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest…” (Matthew 13:24-30a) Jesus is making us aware that an enemy has been at work among God’s people to sow corruption. We have all been exposed. It is incumbent upon us to discern lifesaving truth from deadly error, and to overcome every false teaching with true doctrine from God (John 7:17). We have an intercessor who intercedes for us according to the will of God, as revealed in His word (see Romans 8:27, 34; Hebrews 7:25).

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. . . . To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, just as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. Romans 12:1-2, Revelation 3:21