The church that wants to please the Lord needs to look frequently into the pages of this marvelous, exciting book!
The Lord promised that the “Gates of hell” should not prevail against His church, and the Book of Acts reveals that to be true.
Illus: J. B. Phillips says this about those exciting Christians, "The great difference between present-day Christianity and that of which we read in these letters is that to us it is primarily a performance, to them it was real experience ... To these men it is quite plainly the invasion of their lives by a new quality of life altogether. They do not hesitate to describe this as Christ "living in" them."
The book is called "Acts" because it very vividly describes the ACTS of those tremendous Christians.
Illus: We often hear of hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and other catastrophes referred to as "acts of God," and they are, but the book of "Acts" is filled with God's working through and with people.
There are times when the lifestyles of people are completely altered due to an "act of God", such as an earthquake, or a hurricane, or a flood. In the Book of Acts, we find that through coming to know Christ as their Savior and Lord, sinner's live’s were completely altered.
Illus: Dr. Jerry Falwell says, "Acts continues the life of Christ as He lives through His church: the Acts depicts the actual birth, development, and feeding of that church."
For example: In Acts we see...
I. THE PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION
Look at Acts 1:1-7, we read, “The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”
In the Book of Acts, Luke was writing to his good friend, Theophilus, about the Lord Jesus.
He wasted no time letting him know that the Savior he was writing about was no myth.
Luke wanted him to know that the Christian faith was not in some dead man, who had claimed to be something he was not.
Notice, concerning the reality of the resurrection, he said there were “Many infallible proofs”.
The Lord knew it would not be fair to ask these disciples to represent him, unless they knew for sure He was who He said he was. The Lord Jesus presented Himself alive on ten different occasions to the disciples, after His resurrection. They: SAW HIM, TALKED TO HIM AND EVEN ATE WITH HIM.
Luke tells us there were "many infallible proofs" of the things Jesus had said and had done, during the forty days on earth after the resurrection, and before His ascension.
Illus: When I think of proof, I think of the defense lawyer in a robbery case, who was cross-examining a witness. He asked, "When did the robbery take place?" The witness on the stand said, "I think...” The lawyer interrupted, "We do not care what you think, sir, we want to know what you know." The witness said, "If you don't want to know what I think, then I might as well leave the stand: I can't talk without thinking, I am not a lawyer.”
Luke gives us some things to really think about. Let us at what he has for us to think about in these verses:
A. THE PERSON
Look at verses 1-2. We read, “The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen.”
Luke said he had systematically written down many of the things "...that Jesus began both to do, and teach, until the day in which he was taken up…”
Illus: Many women keep a diary. Something we need to understand about these women, is, there are two books that we do not argue with, the Bible and a woman’s diary. These women sometime will go to their husbands and say, "Do you know what we were doing ten years ago at two O’clock on this date?" The husband might say “No, tell me” and all of a sudden she tells him in great detail exactly what they were doing.
Luke says, “The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up.” We humans cannot recall everything we have been exposed to, so we depend on notes and diaries to keep the facts straight for us.
The only problem with this system, is that we keep forgetting where we put the notes and the diaries.
Illus: A written document is one of the main evidences used in a court of law to convict or exonerate a person.
Luke was an intelligent physician, and he knew the importance of recording things.
He recognized all the things that Christ did were important. He had systematically written them down, and told Theophilus he had recorded, "all that Jesus both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up”.
He wrote this to Theophilus. We looked at THE PERSON, but now let us look at-
B. THE PROOF
Luke told Theophilus that Christ did something that it is impossible for man to do, He rose from the dead!
If Christ had claimed to be the Savior, and died, and just stayed dead, He would have been an impostor. But, when He rose from that grave, and walked and talked among men for forty days, the proof became infallible.
Luke said Christ was, "...seen of them forty days...”
Illus: You can go into any court in this country with written documents, and many witnesses, and win your case.
When Luke was writing this to Theophilus, there were many still living, that Christ had appeared to during those post resurrection days. They could, and would confirm everything Luke said. There, were "many infallible proofs.”
We looked at THE PERSON, THE PROOF, but also let us look at-
C. THE PROMISE
Look at verses 4-5. We read, “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”
Luke told Theophilus that after Christ's ascension, they would be, “…baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”
Before that time, they knew only of the water baptism of John the Baptist. Now Jesus had promised they would soon be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
This is the promise He made to them, and in Acts chapter two it was fulfilled.
We looked at THE PROMISE, but also let us look at-
D. THE PRECEDENCE
Look at verses 6-7, we read, “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”
Luke told Theophilus how the disciples asked, “Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?”
His answer was, “It is not for you to know…”.
We can only guess at exactly why they asked, though the events happening in Israel give us a hint.
If we, today, had our way, we would like to know everything. Why?
• Many would use that knowledge to acquire everything they could acquire. Then, having acquired everything, they would not feel they needed to trust the Lord for anything.
• Many would use that knowledge to prepare for the Lord's coming.
In any event, the Lord said, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons...." He had something better...
II. THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION
God had promised that He would send the Holy Spirit. Why?
A. THE PLAN
Look at verse 8. We read, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Here Luke told Theophilus what was going to happen. Once Jesus ascended to Heaven, His people would be filled with the Holy Spirit, and be witnesses unto Him.
Illus: There is a great debate among Christians, as to just what the evidence of being filled with the Holy Ghost is. Some say it is when the Spirit fills a person, and the overflow is so great, he shouts all over the church. Some say, no, being filled with the Holy Spirit is marked by a Christian speaking in unknown tongues.
Verse 8, clarifies what it means to be filled with Holy Spirit of God. God’s Word says, “…Ye shall receive power…and ye shall be witnesses unto me…”
For those who believe the Word of God, that ends the debate. God’s Word says “…YE SHALL RECEIVE….and YE SHALL BE WITNESSES UNTO ME…”
That is the evidence of the Holy Spirit of God.
Illus: What happens when a person first get saved? God saves them, and fills them with the Holy Spirit, and they go everywhere sharing the gospel with their family members and friends.
But as times goes by, if we aren’t careful, the fullness of the Spirit in our life gets squeezed out. Soon we go everywhere talking about the same thing the lost world talks about.
Illus: During the “Persian Gulf War”, a particular detailed plan was developed to enable the allies to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. When that plan was executed, the soldiers of Iraq were driven out.
If we are going to be victorious in the spiritual war we are involved in, we had better recognize that it does not come BY MIGHT, NOR BY POWER, BUT BY GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT.
Illus: The failure of Bible colleges and churches across this nation, is due to the fact we are not teaching Christians that they can only be effective, as the Holy Spirit empowers them.
We have replaced the Holy Spirit of God in our churches today, with programs, dramas, entertainment, and donuts. It is not wrong to have these things, but it is certainly wrong, when we use these things to replace the Holy Spirit in our churches.
God’s plan has always been to work through the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN OUR CHURCHES.
We looked at THE PLAN, but let us look also at-
B. THE PARTING
Look at verse 9. We read, “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.”
Luke told Theophilus, that after the Lord gave them their instructions, He was "...taken up. " He referred to the Lord's ascension three times in this chapter:
Verse 9, ",,.he was taken up ......”
Verse 11, "...Jesus, which is taken”
Verse 22, "...that he was taken up...”
He mentioned it three times, because he wanted to make sure that Theophilus understood the truth of His resurrection, and His ascension into heaven.
We looked at THE PARTING, but also let us look at-
C. THE PREPAREDNESS
Look at Verses 10-11. We read, ”And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
Luke told Theophilus that Jesus had done everything He had been asked of the Father to do, and now the prepared Savior returned to heaven, to wait until the time He is to return for His prepared people.
If we truly believe that He will return as He said He would, we will be about His work!
Conclusion:
I. THE PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION.
A. THE PERSON
B. THE PROOFS
C. THE PROMISE
D. THE PRECEDENCE
II. THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION.
A. THE PLAN
B. THE PARTING
C. THE PREPAREDNESS
