Last Sunday evening the book of Acts 1 left us waiting—“waiting for the promise of the Father”—the promise of the Holy Spirit coming and filling the hearts of all believers. The promise that was made that day was a promise for us as well and still rings true. The moment we become a believer, the HS comes and takes up residence in your heart and in your life. And here’s a bold statement, “If you have never felt the moving of the HS in your life, then maybe you aren’t a believer yet.” Think about that one.
Acts 1:6 finds over 500 disciples standing in some remote spot, probably on the top of a mountain. READ v. 6-7. So one of the disciples asks Jesus was He now going to restore the kingdom to Israel? You see, they were probably wondering if this was the reason Jesus called them all together. But you see, the disciples were still thinking in terms of an earthly, physical Messiah, of a physical and material rule and reign for themselves and their nation.
So Jesus rebukes the question. “It is not for you to know. The Father has set the times by His own authority.”
And already we learn something from this. We, as believers, are not supposed to be focused on prophecy and the setting of dates. We aren’t supposed to be craving our release from this world so that we can have a heavenly position of authority. What we are supposed to do is to look for Jesus’ return and long for heaven.
But even this—even the love of Jesus’ return—isn’t supposed to get in the way of our task—the task that Jesus discusses in the next point. What is the task? It’s the task of witnessing. Believers are simply to focus on witnessing, upon sharing the gospel of salvation with the world.
READ v. 8. Here Jesus assigns the task. Note three things:
1. The believer is equipped with the power of the HS. Yes, they were going to receive power, but not the earthly power the disciples were thinking of. Their power was going to be spiritual and supernatural. It was going to be the very power of God Himself.
And here is what we need to realize. God’s very own Spirit will come to dwell in the heart and life of the believer. No greater power could ever be possessed by anyone. So here it is in a nutshell. The believer is given a task by God to carry out on earth. The believer doesn’t have the power to carry out the task. The power of God, of His Spirit is needed. So Jesus promises, “You will receive power when the HS comes on you.” The major purpose for the coming of the HS is to equip the believer to carry out his task for God.
Each one of us needs to remember that whenever we are involved in working for the Lord, whatever it is, it is NOT OUR ministry. It is God’s ministry that He is working through us. And the only way we can accomplish it is to be empowered by the HS of God.
2. The second thing we note here is that the believer’s task is witnessing for God. Sure, Christ promised heaven where we will revel in the love and fellowship with one another and with God. But now is not the time for that. NOW is the time for witnessing, being witnesses to Christ.
Note the word “you” in verse 8. (READ v. 8 emphasizing “YOU.”) It is the believer who is to witness.
Note the words “my witnesses.” Christ is the message, not a man’s ideas, not even the idea of religion.
The word “witness” comes from the Greek word that we get our word “martyr” from. The believer is to be so committed to reaching men that he is ready to die as a martyr if need be.
3. The third thing we need to note is the believer’s method he is to follow in his witness and for the spread of the gospel.
a. The believer is to witness where he is (Jerusalem) and move progressively outward (Judea and Samaria) until he is having a part in reaching the ends of the earth. So that tells us that as a believer, we are to go as far as we can personally go, to give as sacrificially as we can for others to go, and to use and support every means we can to reach the world.
Where is YOUR Jerusalem? That is where you are now in your life. We are to witness where we are first. See to it that Christ is well known throughout your home and community before moving on. Once Christ is well known, then we move out from where we are.
Where is your Judea? Our Judea might be to reach out into other communities and areas and cities and states. Our Samaria might be to reach areas where people reject Christ strongly. There was bitter hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans. Yet Christ tells His witnesses to carry the message of salvation even to their enemies. The uttermost parts of the earth for us would be the third world countries, people groups and cultures that have NEVER heard of Jesus.
What a difference world evangelism would experience if each believer would simply do what Christ says.
READ v. 9. Jesus ascends to heaven before the disciples’ very eyes. Jesus ascended in a somewhat slow and dramatic way. Why did he ascend this way? Why didn’t he just vanish in an instant? Several reasons:
1. He NEEDED to dramatize and enforce His final departure. Since His resurrection, He had been appearing and disappearing spontaneously, at will. i.e. when he suddenly appeared behind locked doors to the disciples, or to the two on the road to Emmaeus. This departure was to be final. He would never return again, not as He had been doing. So this departure had to be different; it needed to be impressed and enforced in the minds and consciences of the disciples once and for all.
2. Secondly, this was the last time Jesus would have to confirm His claims while on earth. He wanted the disciples to have additional confirmation that He was exactly whom He claimed to be.
3. Another reason it was so dramatic is that Jesus needed to dramatize and enforce His return to earth, that it will take place exactly like He said. We’ll cover verses 10-11 in just a moment that explain this.
4. He needed to dramatize and enforce that the disciples were not to be standing around “looking intently up into the sky.” They were to get to the business at hand. They were to return to the upper room and wait for the HS to come upon them and then move out witnessing to a world lost and in desperate need.
READ 10-11. Here is the prophecy of Jesus’ return. Note God had two men appear, standing by the disciples. They were dressed in white clothing which is the color of angels’ clothing. They say three things about Jesus’ return.
1. This “same Jesus” will return just as He left. He won’t return in some strange way, in a way where He might not be recognized and missed. As Rev. 1:7 says, “He will return to earth in the clouds of heaven and every eye shall see Him.”
Note exactly what Scripture says about how Christ ascended.
- Acts 1:9 says a cloud hid Him.
- Luke 24:51 says He was taken up into heaven.
- Acts 1:2; 1:11; 1 Tim. 3:16 says He was taken up.
The point is this: it’s as though the cloud hid and took Him. The cloud was apparently the Shekinah glory—the same glory that filled the temple in Isaiah’s writings. Christ had said that He would return to earth in the clouds of heaven. Seeing such a dramatic ascension confirmed for the disciples and for us that Jesus’ promise of returning to earth will take place just as He said.
2. The second thing said about Jesus’ return is that this “same Jesus” is the One who will come back. He won’t be different, either in Person or in attitude. He will be the same.
- He will be the same Jesus, the same Lord and Savior, the same One who came to earth to save men.
- He will be the same Jesus in attitude, still loving and caring for those who follow Him.
- He will be the same Jesus who promised to return and receive believers unto Himself that they may be with Him where He is.
3. The third thing said about Jesus’ return is that this same Jesus who will return is the One who ascended into heaven. The Jesus in heaven is the same Jesus the disciples knew—the One who was their Lord and Savior; the One who came to earth to be their close companion; their Advocate, their Mediator, their Representative before God. So when He returns, He will be coming back to receive all believers unto Himself. He will be coming back that we may all be where He is. “In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you. I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto Myself that where I am there you may be also.”
As we said last Sunday, those who count on Jesus to return need to work until He comes back. It’s unacceptable to gaze into the sky when Jesus has called us to go the ends of the earth. We are witnesses, not stargazers.
Could we be in danger of cultivating a nostalgia for heaven? Could we be gazing intently after Jesus, hoping for a heaven on earth which allows us to bypass the messiness of a serving and suffering church? If we are not careful, we can become apathetic, uncaring, and even lazy when it comes to heaven. We might say, “I don’t care about any of this stuff down here. My home is in heaven. Jesus is preparing my mansion right now.”
A while back the Wall Street Journal had an article about “dumpster diving” in Germany. As prices of food rises, those who we might consider financially secure have taken to collecting others trash to furnish their homes. I thought: “That’s pitiful.”
Then I was reminded of 1Corinthians 15. Paul says, “If the Christian faith is not true, then we are to be pitied more than any other people.” We are wasting our lives, unless the resurrection and return of Jesus is a reality. The work we are doing for the Kingdom of God should cause others to look at us and say, “That’s pitiful. He is wasting time and money and talent and—his life — unless, Jesus really is coming back.” UNLESS JESUS IS COMING BACK. I close with this story:
A young lady busied herself getting ready for a blind date. He had promised dinner at an exclusive downtown restaurant with live music and dancing. Wanting to make a good first impression she had taken the day off work. She cleaned her apartment; she went out that afternoon to have her hair done and get a manicure. When she got home she put on her best dress and was ready for her date’s arrival. The time came and went, but he did not knock.
After waiting over an hour she realized that she had been stood up. She took off her dress, let down her hair, put on her pajamas, gathered all her favorite junk food and plopped down to watch TV with her dog. Sometime later there was a knock at the door; it was her date.
He looked at her surprised and said, “What! I gave you two extra hours and you’re still not ready to go?” Jesus has given us a few hours more than we expected, but he is coming. Does your life reveal that you are ready for his return, or is your profession not matched by your practice? Are you practicing what you preach?
