What did Jesus say before he ascended into heaven?

"But the eleven disciples went into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw Him they worshipped Him, but some doubted. And Jesus coming up spoke to them, saying, "All power has been given me in heaven and upon earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have enjoined you. And behold I am with you all the days, until the completion of the age" (verses 16-20).

"Go ye, therefore, and disciple all the nations, baptizing them unto the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always,even unto the consummation of the age."

217 The Lord addresses them on the ground of the place which now belonged to Him, which He will fully take in power hereafter, which belonged to the risen Lord, being His in right of the new place into which He had entered as man. "All power is given to me in heaven and in earth." All is not accomplished, all things not yet put under His feet, but it is His place as the risen Man who has glorified God and accomplished the work given Him to do. Hence He sends them forth beyond the limits of the King of Israel in Zion, that had been set forth fully in chapter 10, then and on to the future. Here connected with the remnant of the Jews, associating them as brethren with Himself, having accomplished redemption, they were to disciple the nations, baptizing them (not to Jehovah, not to Messiah or the Son of David, but) to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that in which the one God of Israel was fully and completely revealed; teaching them to observe that which they had learned from Him on the earth; and He would be with them to the end of the age. It is thus before the millennium, not the mystery of the church, nor the future gathering of all things. The former was revealed and confided to Paul, the latter to come in when the age was finished. Not the mission from Bethany (which the Acts follow throughout), not starting from Jerusalem nor beginning it as that did; but accepting the poor of the flock as brethren to Christ; they were to bring in, disciple all the nations on the footing of their relationship with Him as thus risen.

"And He said to them, These are the words which I spake to you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said to them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead on the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of My Father to you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." (Luke 24:44-49)

'They therefore being come together asked Him, saying, Lord, dost Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And He said to them, It is not yours to know times or seasons which the Father set in His own authority. But ye shall receive power at the coming of the Holy Spirit upon you, and ye shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. And having said these things, as they were looking, He was taken up, and a cloud withdrew Him from their eyes. And while they were gazing into heaven as He went on, behold, two men stood by them in white garments who also said, Men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? This Jesus that was received up from you into heaven shall so come in the manner in which ye beheld Him going into heaven' (vers. 6-11).

As in the Gospel (Luke 19:11, et al.), the Lord corrects the hasty expectations of the disciples: the kingdom was not immediately to appear. The passover was to be fulfilled in it when it would assume a different shape (Luke 22:16). The Christian form of the kingdom however is not here spoken of, because the question was about restoring it at that time to Israel. Now the Lord does not at all contradict such a restoration in its season, but the salvation of Israel and the restoration of the kingdom to the chosen people clearly belonged to the ways of God of which prophecy treats; and He lets them know that times and seasons the Father placed in His own authority. Another vista He opens out to them as that immediately before them: 'But ye shall receive power at the coming of the Holy Spirit upon you; and ye shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.'

These words explain the situation with divine precision and unspeakable grace. It is not yet to be the displayed kingdom which belongs to the age and world to come. Now it is a question of testimony in the power of the Holy Ghost, with Whose mission and presence it is bound up. They were to be witnesses of Christ, not yet reigning with Him, but His witnesses, as rejected yet risen, despised of men, especially of the Jews and Jerusalem, but on the point of being exalted of God in heaven, and witnesses of Him — for all is of grace — both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Compare with this beginning of the Acts the end of Luke's Gospel, where the risen Saviour commands that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem: 'And ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.' It is not baptism here, but vital blessing, repentance to life and remission of sins sealed with the Holy Ghost. All has its place and propriety, but the better thing it was the lot of the beloved physician to indite under the inspiring energy of God, Who was (in honour of His Son's person and work) giving life and liberty with the Spirit's seal to all that believe the gospel: its source the grace of God, its righteous foundation the cross of Christ, its character of life His resurrection; its formative object His heavenly glory; and its power the Holy Ghost sent from above.

It is still more remarkable that our Lord Himself gave an epitome of the book as recorded in the compass of two verses. When His disciples asked when He would restore the kingdom of Israel, He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8). These words were spoken by the Lord Jesus just before His ascension to glory; the last recorded words He spoke on earth.

To that well-known spot, a retreat for "the poor of the flock," as at "the backside of the desert" (Ex. 3), the fold of those whom He loved in Judea (John 11:3), the Lord now leads forth His disciples. And there, while blessing them, He is parted from them, and carried up into heaven. He lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And as soon as He had done so, and sealed to them this further fruit of His resurrection, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven, where He sits, as "the Man Christ Jesus," till we all come to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; till all be brought in to form the new man, the fulness of Him Who filleth all in all.

When the Lord is risen from the dead, and the kingdom is ready to be proclaimed, He says, "All authority" — not power — "is given unto Me, in heaven and in earth: go ye, and disciple all nations." It is plain He would not say "Make children of God": this was within His own power only. "Disciple" was the suited word in reference to the kingdom; and this brings us to the commission.

But now, since our Lord has accomplished the mighty work of redemption, is risen from the dead and ascended into glory, and has bestowed the Holy Spirit indwelling believers, enduing them with power from on high, everything is changed. No longer are they forbidden to go to the Gentiles, but the instructions our risen Lord before He ascended gave to His disciples were, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations [Gentiles]” (Matt. 28:19). “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). “That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name among all nations [Gentiles], beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47).

"That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among (or to) all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47). These words fell from the lips of the Lord Jesus, when He met His disciples in the upper room at Jerusalem on the day He rose from the dead.

To preach repentance was nothing new. John the Baptist had preached it (Matt. 3:2), and the Lord likewise (Mark 1:15). Where failure has come in on man's part as concerning his duty to God, repentance is a needed exercise ere God can allow the guilty one to enjoy His favour and goodness. Hence to all the nations was repentance to be preached, beginning at Jerusalem.