Scripture Reference
Acts 1:8
King James Version (KJV)
8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
What This Passage Teaches
Power Is Promised Before the Task
“But ye shall receive power.” Before Christ sends them out, He tells them what they will be given. They had already been commanded not to depart from Jerusalem, but to “wait for the promise of the Father” (verse 4). The work was never meant to begin in their own strength.
The Power Is the Holy Ghost
“After that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” The power promised here is not talent, training, or force of personality. It is God the Holy Ghost coming upon His people. What the church is able to do in witness, it is able to do because He has come.
Witnesses unto Christ Himself
“And ye shall be witnesses unto me.” A witness does not invent a case; he testifies to what he has seen and knows. The subject is Christ — His death, burial, and resurrection — not the witness, and not his opinions about religion.
Beginning Where They Stood
“Both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria.” The witness begins in the very city where Christ was crucified, then moves through the surrounding region, and then to Samaria — a people these disciples would naturally have avoided. Obedience starts at home and does not stop at the boundaries of preference.
Unto the Uttermost Part of the Earth
“And unto the uttermost part of the earth.” No boundary is left. This is not a list of stages to be completed and set aside, but a widening circle with no edge short of the whole earth.
Why It Matters
Acts 1:8 answers the question that the Great Commission naturally raises: how could ordinary people be expected to carry such a charge? They were not sent in their own strength. The command to go is paired with the promise of the Holy Ghost, and the promise comes first.
It also removes the excuse of distance. The witness begins where a believer already stands — the household, the workplace, the neighbourhood — and moves outward from there. No one has to travel far to begin obeying it, and no one may stay at home and call it finished.
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