“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

There have been many religious movements through the ages that failed to stand the test of time or failed to spread to the ends of the earth. They came into existence, flourished for a time, and then either vanished from the face of the earth or stalled in their missionary endeavors. They gathered adherents by promising the final and ultimate key to life and reality, but later they somehow lost the spiritual dynamic that originally propelled them forward.

Christianity, in contrast, is different. Just before the start of the Christian Church, which began at Pentecost, Jesus proclaimed the prophecy of our verse for today. Jesus stated that the Christian Church would survive and spread over the whole earth. Unlike the prophetic claims of other religions, Jesus’ prophecy has come true.

In our own day, we have seen and are seeing the spread of the Church to the ends of the earth. This fulfillment of prophecy is one of the great pieces of evidence in defense of the truth of the Christian faith.

Why has this happened? What is different about Christianity? No doubt there are many reasons, not the least of which is that the Christian faith is true. But our verse for today gives us an important one: Christianity has survived and thrived because of the power of the Holy Spirit.

The disciples of Jesus and the millions of those who came after them have been propelled forward through time by the Spirit of God. They received the Holy Spirit, various gifts of the Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit—and these have empowered and enabled them to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. Indeed, they became successful witnesses despite the sometimes fierce and destructive opposition of the religious alternatives.

The alternatives lack something. They lack the dynamic spiritual power of the Holy Spirit. Instead, they are motivated by “deceptive spirits” and, as a result, they teach things “that come from demons,” (1 Timothy 4:1) and lead only to misery.

Although false religions may seem dynamic and powerful for a time, they will never succeed in the ultimate sense—they cannot save the soul from death. Only the ministry of Jesus shows the way, the truth, and the LIFE.

By John Huisman, friend of Bible League International