Acts of the Apostles Quotes
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And [Jesus] said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 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 Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:7-8 KJV)
Context
Acts of the Apostles takes place after Jesus has died, been buried, and risen again, and it focuses mainly on—you guessed it—the acts of his apostles. But, lucky for us, J.C. does make a final cameo appearance in this sequel to the greatest story ever told. (Kind of like Obi Wan's Force Ghost showing up to give Luke Skywalker advice in The Empire Strikes Back, if you're a Star Wars fan.)
Jesus gives one final farewell speech to his followers before ascending into Heaven for good. He tells them that he's gonna come back one day and fix all the problems in the world. The apostles would like to know when this big event is gonna happen. Should they set an alarm on their phones or something?
But Jesus rebuffs them a bit. He tells them that they don't get to know all the ins and outs of his triumphant return, but they do get to enjoy all kinds of awesome perks on Earth while he's away. His followers will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and they get to travel around the world spreading the news about what Jesus has said.
This last thought is actually the perfect transition…because that's exactly what the disciples spend the rest of this book doing. Some of them even make it to Rome pre-Nero fiddling and burning it down.
And spoiler alert: they're actually pretty darn successful.
Where you've heard it
You'll probably hear this in connection to various ministries or evangelizing in general. Folks who are out to convert others are keen to think of themselves as being sent by Jesus himself.
In fact, it makes for a pretty catchy name for an organization. Check it out:
Additional Notable References:
- Uttermost Sports is a Christian ministry that tries to spread the word of God through the universal language of athletics.
- Uttermost is also the name of a furniture company who aims to sell affordable household goods worldwide.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Religion usually isn't a polite dinner party topic, and bringing up evangelizing will probably make a few folks start to head for the punch bowl. Just know your audience, is all we're saying.