I'll Be Back

I’ll Be Back

Acts 1:9-15

Good morning,

When we think about famous promises from people who said they would return as they were leaving, what comes to mind?

General Douglas MacArthur pledged during World War II… "I Shall Return" as he was leaving the Philippines.

One promise to return came from the 1984 film, the Terminator when the character promised, “I’ll be back”.

But the most important and famous promise of a return comes from Jesus Christ our LORD in the Gospel of John.

John 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

John 14:2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. NKJV

Please open your Bibles to Acts 1, as continue in that study.

Last week we learned how Jesus told the Disciples, “To wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me.” Jesus gave the promise before He took the Cross.

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. NKJV

A few days after the Resurrection, Jesus told His Disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit and once they received the Holy Spirit, the New Testament church began.

At the moment someone receives new life in Christ through faith they receive the Holy Spirit Who comes to live inside of them and also provides supernatural power to live for the Lord!

What are His followers to be doing while we wait for Him?

Acts 1:8 But 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." NKJV

The power promised in Acts 1:8 is from the Greek, dynamis from which we get our English word dynamite or dynamic.

Once we claim to be followers of Christ, we are witnesses, whether we want to be or not by our association to Jesus.

Jim Cymbala said, "Without the Spirit, we're left to struggle with our self-effort, riddled by moral weakness and sinful tendencies. But when the Spirit comes, we have joy, hope, and power."

Today, we will read about the miracle from the 40th day after Jesus was raised from the dead, when He ascended into heaven.

I. Mission complete.

Read Acts 1:9-11

The Ascension of Jesus Christ is important for many reasons including that it signified the completion of His earthly ministry.

The Ascension of Christ proves Jesus’ supreme authority over creation.

As Jesus returned to His former glory in heaven, He began His role as mediator and intercessor for humanity, and now He is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Romans 8:34 Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. NKJV

Luke wrote Acts and Luke, and he said about this event…

Luke 24:50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.

Luke 24:51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.

Luke 24:52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, NKJV

As Jesus was blessing His followers, He was taken up to a cloud right before their very eyes. Some commentators believe the cloud that received Jesus was the Shekinah glory of God.

In the Book of Exodus as the LORD was giving the instructions for the Tabernacle, He promised His children His presence.

The LORD blessed the Children of Israel with the presence of His Shekinah Glory hovering over the Ark of the Covenant in the “Holy of Holies” of the Tabernacle.

Jesus was taken into heaven as the Disciples looked on, which brought back to their memory what Jesus had promised in John 14, “I go and prepare a place for you”.

Then notice that two men, (probably angels), asked the Disciples, “Why do you stand gazing up into heaven?”

G. Campbell Morgan thought the two men could have been Moses and Elijah who had previously appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.

But, whoever these two men were, they asked the Disciples why they were hanging around looking up at the clouds.

After the Ascension, the Disciples knew the next step was to return to Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father, which we discussed last week.