When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? (7) And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. (8) But 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 Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
This meeting, which was by the Lord's appointment, (see Matthew 28:16) and which it should seem, was not the same as that spoken of verse 5 (Acts 1:5); was the last farewell between Jesus and his Apostles, before his ascension. Everything in it, became interesting. The question which the Apostles put to Christ, plainly shews that their minds, notwithstanding our Lord's death, and resurrection, were still warped, with the same Jewish ideas, of an earthly kingdom. And I beg the Reader to notice this, the rather because it serves to confirm the blessed truth, that it is the office work of God the Holy Ghost, to guide into all truth, John 16:13. Hence the Lord Jesus waved the question, by directing their minds to the expectation of the Spirit's coming, which he had just before said, would be not many days hence. And what a blessed promise the Lord Jesus closed up the whole conversation with, when he finished his parting discourse; in the assurance, of what should be the immediate result of the Holy Ghost's coming: Ye shall be witnesses unto me! Reader! though this gracious promise of Christ had a special respect to the Lord's Apostles, the ministers of his word, when God the Spirit had ordained them to the work: yet do not overlook the part, which all his people take in the same thing, when they have received also the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Every regenerated child of God, is a witness for God; not only to his Being as God, but to his being a God in Christ: and to all his Covenant offices, as they relate to the Church of God, in all ages. You and I are Christ's witnesses, if so be the Lord the Spirit hath regenerated us from the Adam-nature of a fallen state, and brought us from darkness to light, and from the power of sin and Satan, to the living God. We then can, and do, witness to the whole mission of Christ: and have the witness in ourselves, that Christ hath finished redemption-work, and is returned to glory; because, God the Holy Ghost is come down, and we know it agreeably to our Lord's most sure promise, before his ascension, Titus 3:3-7; John 16:7.