Monday, January 23, 2012

Last Words Ought To Be Listened To

People often save their most important instructions, their most profound thoughts, their deepest concerns, and their most heartfelt expressions for last . . .
The Holy Spirit did not miss the opportunity to record the last words of Jesus before He left this earth. And as we might expect, those words are deeply significant. In both the Gospel of Matthew and the books of Acts, we read our Lord's parting instructions to His disciples - and to all who follow Him - before He was taken up from sight.
Think of it! We have a written record of the very words the Son of God uttered before ascending to the right hand of His Father in heaven. And these are the words - perhaps more than any others - that Jesus wanted to echo in His disciples' ears as He left them.
He didn't say: "Organise a political action committee."
He didn't say: "Remember to work for justice and visualise world peace."
He didn't say: "Be tolerant of one another," "Save the whales," Celebrate diversity," or "Commit random acts of kindness."
He didn't say: "Arm yourselves and take dominion over Rome."
What He did say was as clear as bright sunlight on a cloudless morning. There was nothing obscure or hazy about His final instructions.
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 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 1:6-8)
- David Jeremiah in "Jesus' Final Warning"

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