2008-10-26 Ronnie Stevens Acts 1:8

"The Progression of the Gospel in the World"

A Christian will be a witness.  He or she may be a good witness or a bad witness, but he will be a witness.  A witness take the likeness of his or her teacher and belongs to him. THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL IN THE WORLD

ACTS 1:8

I. We will inevitably be one kind of witness or another.

The greatest witness for Jesus is likeness to Jesus.
Luke 6:40

II. We may understand the passage in either of two senses:

A. We shall be witnesses who belong to Jesus.

B. We shall be witnesses to Jesus.

• To a Person = His Identity
• To a Life = His Ministry
• To a Sacrifice = Our Extremity

The unyielding redemptive power of love
John 3:16

III. Acts 1:8 and Matthew 26:31-32

IV. As God's creative power is over everything,
so God's redemptive purpose is offered to everyone.

A. The Jewish Disposition toward the Gentiles
John 4:9; Luke 9:54

B. God's Saving Purpose made plain all along
Matthew 1; Luke 4:28-29

V. The Christian Vocation to Go and to Send
Acts 1:8