which they are to be clothed, before He points them to the
battlefield. Waiting times are not wasted times. Over-eagerness to
rush into work, especially into conspicuous and perilous work, is
sure to end in defeat. Till we feel the power coming into us, we had
better be still.

The promise of this great gift, the nature of which they but dimly
knew, set the Apostles' expectations on tiptoe, and they seem to have
thought that their reception of it was in some way the herald of the
establishment of the Messianic kingdom. So it was, but in a very
different fashion from their dream. They had not learned so much from
the forty days' instructions concerning the kingdom as to be free
from their old Jewish notions, which colour their question, 'Wilt
Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?' They believed
that Jesus could establish His kingdom when He would. They were
right, and also wrong,--right, for He is King; wrong, for its
establishment is not to be effected by a single act of power, but by
the slow process of preaching the gospel.

Our Lord does not deal with their misconceptions which could only be
cured by time and events; but He lays down great principles, which we
need as much as the Eleven did. The 'times and seasons,' the long
stretches of days, and the critical epoch-making moments, are known
to God only; our business is, not to speculate curiously about these,
but to do the plain duty which is incumbent on the Church at all
times. The perpetual office of Christ's people to be His witnesses,
their equipment for that function (namely, the power of the Holy
Spirit coming on them), and the sphere of their work (namely, in
ever-widening circles, Jerusalem, Samaria, and the whole world), are
laid down, not for the first hearers only, but for all ages and for