A Biblical Vision, Part II: Mastering the New Testament Witness to Christ

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A B i b l i ca l Vi s i on, Par t I I : Mas ter i ng the New Tes tament Wi tnes s to Chr i s t

B. The Crucial Reason: to outline the propagation of Christ through the apostles throughout the earth

1. The central text: Acts 1.8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

2. The mention of the power of the Holy Spirit

a. Note the connection of the Holy Spirit and power with Mary’s birth, Luke 1.35 – And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; there fore the child to be born will be called holy – the Son of God.” b. The apostles shared the good news of Jesus to the world through the Holy Spirit’s power, Rom. 15.19 – by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God – so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ.

3. The mention of witness to the reality of Jesus of Nazareth

a. The apostles were to be eyewitnesses of the Christ event , as defined by Peter’s standard recorded in Acts 1, Acts 1.21-22 – So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, [22] beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us – one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.