IMPORTANT PRECAUTIONS CONCERNING CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
Part 1
Acts 1:6-11
Just before He ascended, Jesus had one final conversation with His Disciples. The intent of this conversation was to prepare them for the future. He told them about the upcoming arrival of the Holy Spirit and He explained to them that they would be empowered to be His witnesses in “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria” and even to “the uttermost parts of the earth”.
Jesus had chosen these men for a specific mission, soon that mission would commence. By this time these men have already been empowered and sent out on a few different short term missions, but now it was time for them to go out and reach the world in Jesus’ name. They have been involved in the ministry for some time, but there was no way that they could know what the future held for them.
Our church has been in existence for 110 years; and God has used this ministry for His glory during that time; but God is not finished with us yet! There is a future ministry for Stockdale Baptist Church and I pray that our best days are ahead of us. For us to be the Church that God would have us to be, we must operate in a way that pleases Him. Fortunately for us, we have the Book of Acts as an instruction manual for how Christ’s Church should operate. In the first few verses of the first chapter of Acts we find much information that is vital for our success. In Jesus’ final conversation with the Apostles we find certain precautions and certain preparations that we must consider concerning our future ministry. I invite you to join me in Acts 1:6-11 as we examine some “Important Precautions Concerning Christian Ministry”.
As we consider our selected text, we find certain things that we must not allow to deter us from our God given mission in this world. We will see that:
i. We Must Not Be Distracted By The Unknown
ii. We Must Not Forget The Source Of Our Power
iii. We Must Not Neglect Our Responsibility
iv. We Must Not Lose Our Focus
- Let’s begin with the fact that:
I. WE MUST NOT BE DISTRACTED BY THE UNKNOWN
v6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
The Disciples were clearly interested in the establishment of the Lord’s Kingdom. Added to this is the fact that Jesus has referenced the arrival of the Holy Spirit; Certainly they remembered that Joel had prophesied about of the outpouring of the Spirit in connection with the Messiah’s glorious reign (Joel 2:28 "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.)
These men must have thought that Jesus would soon set up His Kingdom; especially since He had said that the Spirit would be given “not many days from now.” With all these things in mind, the Disciples said "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" These men were not wrong in their anticipation concerning the establishment of God’s Kingdom. In fact, we should also long for the day when our King rules and reigns over all the earth. Jesus did not answer their question the way they wanted Him to. He did not give them a specific timeline, rather He said: “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.”
Rather than focusing on the future, Jesus turned their attention to what they should do in the present. He simply declared that God had a plan for the Kingdom and there will come a day when it is established, but those details are under God’s control and He has not chosen to reveal it.
Like the Disciples, there are times when we get distracted by the future. The Bible has much to say about the end times, God’s Kingdom and eternity. These truths are fascinating and they are important, if they weren’t God would not have told us about them. There is nothing wrong with studying prophecy and anticipating the return of Christ and the establishment of His Kingdom. However, we cannot spend our days gazing into the clouds and looking for the signs of Christ’s return. We cannot neglect our calling.
Before He ascended, Jesus instructed His followers as to what to do until He returns. God has a perfect plan for the establishment of His Kingdom; He is in control and that is all we need to know. If we are to be the church that God would have us to be, it is important for us to believe in the things that the Bible says about the future, but not to the point of getting distracted in the present. We can trust that God’s divine timeline is far greater than anything we could ever think or imagine.
Jesus sought to shift His Disciples focus from the future Kingdom to their present task; in doing so, He declared that they were to be His witnesses on the earth. He assured them that they would not be alone as they carried out this task.
In the Great Commission He said “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 that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20)
Jesus promised to be with them as they were witnesses of Him; and here in Acts 1, He assures them that the Holy Spirit would “come upon them”. In the same way, you and I possess the Holy Spirit of God. If we are to be successful in our future ministry, we must depend on His power. This leads us to the second precaution concerning our future ministry.
II. WE MUST NOT FORGET THE SOURCE OF OUR POWER
v8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
The Disciples are told that they were to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. Jesus also told them exactly where this was to take place. Their influence would begin locally and it would eventually spread to the rest of the known world. However, for them to be successful in this mission, they must first be indwelt with the Holy Spirit. The same is true for us. We will never be what God wants us to be apart from His Spirit living, working and moving in us.
A man may be highly talented, intensively trained, and widely experienced, but without spiritual power he is ineffective. On the other hand, a man may be uneducated, unattractive, and unrefined, yet let him be endued with the power of the Holy Spirit and the world will turn out to see him burn for God. (MacDonald, William. Believer's Bible Commentary (p. 2235). Thomas Nelson)
Recently these men had been hiding and fearful of the persecution that they would face in Jerusalem. They needed strength, they needed to be empowered, and they needed to be courageous and bold. They needed help, and Jesus declared that the “Helper” (the Holy Spirit) was about to come upon them and He would give them everything they needed to be fruitful witnesses of the Savior. The rest of Acts shows us the change that took place when the Holy Spirit took up residence within these men.
We have the same opportunity and privilege that these men had. If you are born again, the Holy Spirit dwells within you, and He will do for you what He did for them. We must never attempt to serve God on our own. If we try, we will surely fail. Our only hope of success is to serve Jesus with power that only the Holy Spirit can provide. If we will remember the source of our power, there is no limit to what we can accomplish for God. Just look at what He did with 12 men who were submissive to the direction of His Spirit! Like the Lord’s Apostles, as we prepare for our future ministry, we must not be distracted by the unknown and we must not forget the source of our power.
- There are two more precautions that we must take concerning our future ministry. We will consider them in more detail next time, but I would like to quickly review them before we close. Verse 8 shows us that:
III. WE MUST NOT NEGLECT OUR RESPONSIBILITY
v8b and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
It was not enough for the Apostles to possess the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit had to possess them as well. They had to be obedient to the Great Commission that the Lord had given them. All of the amazing things that we will read about in the Book of Acts, happened because men and women were filled with the Holy Spirit. God was going to use these men to spread the Gospel in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.
The work that Jesus began with these men back then continues with us today. We should be doing all that we can to reach people for Christ. Our call is not different than theirs, the locations may be different by the responsibility remains the same. We have the Holy Spirit, we possess His power and we should be submissive and obedient to His direction and never neglect our responsibility to be witnesses of the Savior.
- As we resolve to carry out our responsibility to be witnesses of Christ in this world, there is one final precaution we must take is:
IV. WE MUST NOT LOSE OUR FOCUS
Simply put, we must never forget why we do what we do. After commissioning His Disciples, Jesus was taken up into Heaven. A cloud received Him and He ascended to Heaven and sat down on His throne. Soon, these men would be filled with His Spirit and they would perform many wonders. The miracles that they had seen Jesus perform, they would perform themselves. The Apostles never lost their focus, their ministry was not about them, it was about Him. These faithful followers of Christ spent the rest of their lives serving the Lord. In fact, all but John gave their lives for the cause of Christ and John suffered much as a result of his testimony. Through it all, the Apostles never lost their focus; their ministry was all about Jesus.
As we prepare for our future ministry, we must never lose sight of why we do what we do, and everything we do must be for Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit. This passage closes with a promise that this same Jesus who ascended to Heaven, will one day return the very same way. When He comes He will establish His Kingdom and He will rule and reign throughout eternity.
Those who are saved have the assurance that we will be with Him. Those who do not belong to Him are in danger of eternal condemnation. For this reason I implore you to repent and believe in Him while there is time. If you do belong to Him, there is much hope found in these few verses. You have the assurance that He will return someday.You also have the promise of His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will indwell, lead and empower you to serve the Lord until He comes. I am thankful for what God has done through this ministry in the past, and I am excited to see what He will do in the future.
- As we prepare for our future ministry, there are some precautions we must take:
We Must Not Be Distracted By The Unknown
We Must Not Forget The Source Of Our Power
We Must Not Neglect Our Responsibility
We Must Not Lose Our Focus
These are some “Important Precautions Concerning Christian Ministry”
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