INTRODUCTION
Have you ever heard someone say, “I love Jesus,” or “I admire Jesus
- but I don’t like organized religion?" It makes me want to say, “What
do you like - disorganized religion?” They may not say that they hate the
church, but they do think that the church is weak and outdated.
The following statements are on the jacket cover of a recent book, “The
Second Coming of the Church:”
“Today’s church is incapable of responding to the present moral
crisis. It must reinvent itself or face virtual oblivion by mid-21st
century.”
With all due respect to the author there are many problems with these statements.
 Is it the church’s
job to respond to the present moral crisis?
How can the
church reinvent itself when it didn’t invent itself to begin with?
Who did invent the church and just what is its job?
There is no better place to find the answer to these questions than
in the book that we are beginning to study today.
The book of Acts is the action book of the New Testament.
It traces the
birth, infancy and young adulthood of the church.
It is an exciting
account of the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the early church
members.
Acts 1:1-2 (NKJV)
1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus
began both to do and teach, 2until the day in which He was taken
up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles
whom He had chosen,
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The writer here is Luke,
the physician who accompanied Paul on his journeys. The "former account”
is the Gospel according to Luke in which we are told of the birth, life,
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Book of Acts serves as a bridge
between the Gospels and the books of Paul and picks up where the Gospels
leave off.
We could never understand the New Testament if we didn’t have this book.
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At the end of the Gospels we find a handful of Jews gathered in Jerusalem
talking about a kingdom to come to Israel.
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In the book of Romans we find an apostle (Paul), who is not even mentioned
in the Gospels and who was not one of the twelve, writing to a band of
Christians in the capital city of Rome, talking about going to the ends
of the earth.
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The book of Acts, sandwiched in between these two, tells us how
this happened and why this change occurred.
The Gospel according to Luke records what Jesus “began both to do and teach”
in His human body. (Acts 1:1)
The Book of Acts describes the continuation of what Jesus continued
to do and teach through His spiritual body, the church. It is an unfinished
book that has continued to be written down through church history and continues
to be written even today in 2003!
The narrative in the first fourteen verses of chapter 1 introduces us
to some major themes that run throughout the Book of Acts. The first of
these is the Resurrection of Jesus:
Acts 1:3-4 (NKJV)
3to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering
by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking
of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded
them not to depart from Jerusalem ...
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I am stopping in the middle of a sentence to show you how Luke stresses
for us the great and central fact of Christian faith: Jesus alive!
There is nothing else like it in all of religion -
Jesus alive, risen
from the dead!
From the very first, enemies of Christianity have asserted that the
post-resurrection appearances of Jesus were really nothing but hallucinations.
They charge that they occurred only in the imagination of these disciples
and that Jesus was not really there.
Luke gives us three categories of proofs that Jesus was alive:
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He appeared to them during forty days.
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1
Cor. 15:5-8 (NKJV): Jesus was seen one time by over 500 people. It’s
impossible for 500 people to have the same hallucination at the same time!
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He spoke to them: "speaking of the kingdom of God."
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Why, says Luke, we even remember his subject matter. He talked to us about
“things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”
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“He ate with us."
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The words, "assembled together" has a marginal reference which gives eating
as the actual Greek word used as reflected by the NIV and other translations.
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They saw the food disappear.
This marvelous fact of the resurrection of Jesus is the bedrock upon which
all Christian faith ultimately rests. Anytime you are troubled with doubts,
or are under attack for your faith, come right back to this fundamental
fact. The Apostle Paul holds it up for us and says, in effect, to the enemies
of Christianity, "Look, if you want to destroy our faith then disprove
this fact. It all rests on this: 'And if Christ be not raised, your faith
is in vain.'" (1
Cor. 15:17; KJV).
The fact of Jesus’ resurrection re-energized His followers and was a
dominant theme of their teaching and preaching.
That should be a dominant theme in our teaching and preaching today
as well. It is something that we can proclaim boldly because “He showed
Himself to be alive by many convincing proofs.”
The problem
with the unbeliever today is not with the facts but with his own unbelief.
The problem
is not with the mind. The problem is with the will and heart.
Acts 1:4-8 (NKJV)
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them
not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father,
"which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5for John
truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit
not many days from now." 6Therefore, when they had come
together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore
the kingdom to Israel?" 7And He said to them, "It is not
for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
8But 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."
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These verses are Jesus’ final instructions to His disciples. They introduce
another major theme of the Book of Acts -- the work of the Holy Spirit
in the lives of believers.
Jesus had previously told His disciples to go into all the world and
make disciples. Re-energized by His resurrection, Jesus knew that they
would be tempted to try to begin fulfilling that commission immediately.
But, He tells them to wait in Jerusalem for “the promise of the Father”--
the baptism of the Holy Spirit. "It is absolutely essential," Jesus says
to these men, "so don't try anything without it.
Do we have to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit today?
We’ll study this in greater detail in the weeks to come but the answer
is “No.” These followers of Jesus lived in a very specific period of time
between the Ascension of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Today, the Holy Spirit is given immediately when anyone believes in Jesus.
Notice in v. 6 that the disciples did not ask, “What do you mean by
the baptism of the Holy Spirit?” Rather they asked, “Lord , will you at
this restore the kingdom to Israel?”
This was a legitimate question.
Sin had been
dealt with.
Jesus had risen
from the dead.
Jesus is God
and could easily wipe out the Roman Empire.
Everything
that needs to be done has been done - why not have the thousand year reign
right now?
In v. 7 Jesus basically says “no” - this is not the end of the world.
Don’t spend
a lot of energy on times and seasons - you can’t figure it out.
”But I really
want to know!”
Sorry, these
are things that only God the Father knows.
The disciples were anticipating positions of power in Christ’s Kingdom.
Jesus tells
them that the political kingdom they wanted would be delayed but power
would not.
They would
shortly receive power with the coming of the Holy Spirit.
What kind of power?
It is resurrection
power - it is the power of a risen Lord.
It is transforming
power - it changes lives from within - not from without.
It is not demonstrative
or spectacular - it is a quiet power.
But, though it is quiet, it is irresistible.
There is no
way to oppose it - no way to stop it.
Every obstacle
thrown in its path is turned into an opportunity to advance.
This is what
you receive when the Holy Spirit comes.
The natural result of receiving that power would be that they would
be witnesses of Jesus.
The words “shall
be” are in the indicative, not the imperative.
This isn’t
a command but a simple statement of fact:
After
you are filled with the Holy Spirit you will be witnesses of Jesus.
The focus of this verse is not that we go out and witness. The idea
is that our life will be a witness to others of Jesus.
Let me explain by giving you this example: Sir Henry Stanley said this
of David Livingstone after discovering and spending time with him in Central
Africa: “If I had been with him any longer I would have been compelled
to be a Christian, and He never spoke to me about it at all.” Livingstone’s
witness went far beyond words - he lived what he believed and so should
we. We don’t do this by trying harder - we need the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit in our lives.
In the last part of v. 8 we see another of the major themes of the Book
of Acts namely -- after the Holy Spirit comes, the message of salvation
through Jesus Christ will not be restricted to one group of people but
will be universal.
It will begin
in Jerusalem, then go to Judea and Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts
of the earth.
It will includes
all classes, all races, both sexes, slaves or free - it makes no difference.
Acts 1:9-11 (NKJV)
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched,
He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10And
while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two
men stood by them in white apparel, 11who also said, "Men of
Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was
taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him
go into heaven."
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According to Luke
24:50-51 (NKJV) as Jesus was blessing them He was taken up from them
in a cloud and these guys just stood there staring like deer in headlights
- probably with their mouths open. I can’t blame them for that - I would
do the same thing!
Why didn’t Jesus just disappear?
I think He
wanted them to know that this was it.
He wouldn’t
be appearing to them any more like He had done over the past 40 days.
He was ascending
to heaven to sit at His Heavenly Father’s right hand.
Jesus had told them in John
16:7 (NKJV) , “…It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do
not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will
send Him to you.” They would soon see that promise fulfilled.
One more thing - the angels tell those disciples, and us, that though
Jesus has gone away, He will return. “This same Jesus will return just
like you saw Him leave.” The Scriptures clearly teach that Jesus going
to return to this earth again, physically, visibly and to the Mount
of Olives. (Rev.
1:7; Zech.
14:3-4; NKJV)
That hope of Christ’s return runs like a thread throughout the whole
Book of Acts.
Acts 1:12-14 (NKJV)
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called
Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. 13And
when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were
staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew
and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas
the son of James. 14These all continued with one accord in prayer
and supplication,with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with
His brothers.
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The disciples followed Jesus’ instructions and went back to Jerusalem to
wait. What did they do while they were waiting? They prayed.
Prayer is always
an essential part of the life of the people of God.
Throughout
the Book of Acts we see the place of prayer in the life of the early church. |