ACTS 1:1-11
• This passage at the beginning of the Book of Acts shows Jesus and many followers gathered as He is about to leave this earth.
Lynne is one of those people that thinks of things at the last moment. You may spend 2 hours with her and she may say very little but as you are leaving, as the door itself is shutting you will hear in the distance a last word or instruction. Usually half of the sentence before the door shut so the other was lost in the shutting. One last important word before you go.
• We discover here what is on the mind of the disciples as they know they are at the last opportunity to find an answer. We also discover what is on the mind of Jesus as He wants to make sure they know what they need to know to be the church they need to be.
• If you drive through the Dallas area you might see from time to time what looks like a new shopping mall having been built. You soon realize that it is actually a church building the size of a mall that many come to for a service on the weekend. There is the appearance that Christianity might be growing in this country but the opposite is true.
a. Less people are gathering in larger places which demand less accountability and more anonymity.
b. One man I read stated:
The church in America is declining in almost every important area.
1> Baptisms down 2/3 in thirty years.
2> Real income is down.
3> Attendance in church and Sunday School is down.
What can we do to reverse this?
a) Pray about it? Few come to prayer meeting, which lasts one hour.
b) Make plans for growth? Some of the most unpopular words in church ...life: Evangelism. Discipleship. Stewardship. Missions.
Walter Martin says it's a tragedy, but the average Christian can be taken apart by a 90-day wonder out of the Jehovah's Witnesses in about 30 minutes.
“We in the Church are so worried about fitting in. We are so worried about relating. We are so worried about being cool that we have forgotten what it is to make a stand for what is true.
My fear is that instead of the church turning the world upside down, the world is turning the church upside down.” Greg Laurie
C.S.Lewis: "How little people know who think that holiness is dull.
When one meets the real thing...it is irrestible.
If even 10% of the world's population had it, the whole world would be converted and happy before a year's end
• Jesus was concerned the church would not lose a sense of what would make it successful.
HIS LAST DAYS ON EARTH: 3 After His suffering, He showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
• We see that this moment follows a series of amazing events that came after the crucifixion. Jesus gave many CONVINCING PROOFS over a period of 40 days and spoke about the KINGDOM.
• Those who were seeing these proofs and hearing these truths had one specific question on their mind. Jesus wanted to make sure they understood what to expect so that they would not miss it.
4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
• There is something that is so important for your success that you don’t want to do anything, go anywhere without making sure that this particular item is how it should be in the life of the church.
Imagine a kid heading off to college, passing a new car parked in the driveway with a bow on it, and getting on a passing bus headed to the university. His time at school is spent with long hard walks, limited freedom to move about, lack of ability to connect with others he would like to reach out to. What caused his time at school to be harder than it had to be? He is trying to do it without the FATHER’S GIFT that he didn’t take time to discover.
• What is the Father’s gift to the church that Jesus said is worth waiting for?
How many of us go though our Baptist lives without making sure we are gifted up, filled with the Spirit, clothed in the armor of God, prayed up, promised up and prepared to do the work of the Kingdom?
• Part of living the Christian life is waiting, no leaving until we go in His power.
HIS LAST ANSWER ON EARTH: 6 So when they met together, they asked Him, "Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
• The disciples had a question burning in their minds. Before You go are You going to start the Kingdom You have been talking about?
Three problems: First is impatience that is unwilling to wait for God’s plan to unfold. Second is curiosity from prying into things that belong to God alone. Third is to fold their hands looking at the clouds instead of working in the harvest fields.
Luke 22:29-30, “And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” They knew that one day they would reign with Christ in his kingdom on the earth. That was a settled fact about which they had no doubts. It wasn’t if but when the kingdom would be restored to Israel.
7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
Suppose that on the first day of the semester the teacher tells the class that there will be four major tests and a few unscheduled pop quizzes. One student then raises his hand and asks, “Teacher, are you going to give us a pop quiz next Thursday?” “It’s not for you to know the times and dates of my pop quizzes,” the teacher replies. “As the one in authority over this class, I alone know the dates.” Jesus says, “It’s not for you to know the times or dates,” it can only mean that the kingdom is coming but no one can ever be sure of the date in advance.
The phrase “times or dates” involves two different Greek words. The first refers to duration of times and the second refers to both length and kinds of times—such as “hard times.” We can’t know the time in general or specific relating to his return. Those things the Father has reserved for himself. In the Greek it’s even stronger than that.
• There is that which we cannot know but there is also that which we cannot not know.
• Zechariah 4:6 “Not by might, nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord.”
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
• One of the most important verses for the church to understand and build it’s future upon. POWER TO TELL THE WORLD
1) Don’t try this without God’s power
2) God’s power only comes through God’s Spirit upon us
3) God’s power is for the purpose of making us successful witnesses
4) There is no limit to where God’s power will take us to witness.
• How do we often define these different destinations of witness:
1) Jerusalem? Our local area
2) Judea? Our state or nation?
3) Samaria? Nearby missions like Mexico/Canada or those around us we might not normally reach out to like those in Arkansas.
4) Ends of the Earth: Far off foreign mission fields.
JOHN 16:7-11 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin,& of righteousness, & of judgment: 9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 "of righteousness, because I go to My Father & you see Me no more; 11"of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
Bible teacher A. J. Gordon, @ a conference a walk looking across a field -at a house
Beside house He saw what looked like a man at a well furiously pumping a hand pump to get water
Gordon watched in amazement at the speed & the tireless pumping as the man just went on and on- Up and down without ever slowing or stopping
This was a Remarkable sight so Gordon decided to head over there for a closer look - But as He moved closer – He saw not a man / But a wooden figure that looked like a man
And that Arm that was pumping so rapidly – was ATTACHED TO THE handle on the well pump
The Water that was flowing wasn’t because the Man was pumping the water / but the water was pumping the Man !!!
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
• There is something about those ‘LAST WORDS’ that help us to never forget them. Father’s last words I remember to Lynne and I, ‘Don’t ever lose your faith’.
THEIR FIRST DAY AS THE CHURCH: 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
First, there is a lesson here about humility. There are some things in life we don’t know because we haven’t learned them yet. But there are many other things we don’t know because we can’t know them because they belong only to God.
Deuteronomy 29:29 reminds us that “the secret things belong to the Lord our God.”
When I was younger, I felt it my duty to always answer every question anyone asked me, whether or not I knew the answer. I find the older I get that I realize I don’t have to know everything and that is a good thing because it just demonstrates the greatness of my God compared to myself.
Second, God’s timetable and ours are not the same. Most of us are in a hurry. God isn’t. God plans from the standpoint of eternity. One day with the Lord is like a thousand years and a thousand years is a like a day (2 Peter 3:8). It’s been 2000 years since Christ promised to return and some people wonder what’s gone wrong. But to God 2000 years is like two days on his eternal calendar.
Third, the true secret of contentment. Contentment comes when you realize that you have everything you need right now. If you needed anything else, God would give it to you. If you aren’t content right now, it’s not God’s fault because he’s given you everything you need for this very moment. If you truly needed anything else, he would give it to you. The fact that you don’t have it must mean that you don’t need it. But you can rest assured that if you need something else tomorrow, he will be pleased to give it to you. When Jesus answered the disciples, He was telling them, “You know everything you need to know about the future. If you needed to know more, I would tell you.”
Fourth, God’s will. When Jesus answered in verse 7, that wasn’t the entire answer. He said in v: 8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Our job is to tell the world about Jesus. His job is to come back at the right time.
This is a great truth for everyone who wants to know God’s will for the future. Do what you know to be God’s will today and tomorrow will take care of itself..
5 Core values are magnified over and again in this passage and in the book of Acts.
1. They had a belief in the imminent return of Jesus Christ.
2. They were dependant upon the Holy Spirit.
3. They had a heart to reach the lost.
4. They were committed to preaching the gospel.
5. They were in Unity amidst their diversity.
Vance Havner said, "We are not going to move this world by criticism of it nor conformity to it, but by the combustion within it of lives ignited by the Spirit of God."
We need to get back to this dependency that the early church had upon the Holy Spirit. Lives surrendered and dependant
Jesus returns to heaven after Resurrection and is talking to the Angel Gabrial – people were rough on you weren’t they – yes – Didn’t get what you came to do – No
How are you going to reach them – What your plan
See those 12 men – that is my plan – those guys – Plan B
The Plan of Jesus for reaching the world is through – ordinary pp like you and me
Misfits, uneducated, un articulate, dysfunctional
