THE WINDOW
Bible Teaching Ministry of
CEDAR LODGE BAPTIST CHURCH
Thomasville, NC
a fellowship of faith, family and friendships
July 18, 2004
1The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. 3To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. 4Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
The Ascension
9And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
The Upper Room
12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. 14These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
15At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together), and said, 16“Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17“For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.” 18(Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. 19And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20“For it is written in the book of Psalms,
‘LET HIS HOMESTEAD BE MADE DESOLATE,
AND LET NO ONE DWELL IN IT’;
and,
‘LET ANOTHER MAN TAKE HIS OFFICE.’
21“Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— 22beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” 23So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. 24And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen 25to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles. Acts 1:1-26 (NASB)
Some two thousand years ago the disciples of Jesus stood on the Mount of Ascension and witnessed the dawning of a new kingdom. The course of history had been altered forever. Jesus, the God-man, the Eternal One, who had entered time, had charted a whole new course for their lives. Jesus talked about living in a new kingdom in a new way. And He gave them a new work to do!
As we begin studying that portion of God’s Word we call "The Acts of the Apostles", it is appropriate to see the context and purpose of Dr. Luke for setting down these words.
Introduction to the Kingdom
In verse 1, Luke the beloved physician refers to a previous letter of his to someone named Theophilus. I have a dear friend who tells “ugly jokes” on himself. Elwood says, “My parents almost named me Theophilus. When I was born I was so ugly that when the doctor handed me to my mother she took one look at me and said, that’s the-awfullest lookin’ baby I’ve ever seen.
The name means "lover of God". Luke could have been writing to a person, or simply addressing his treatise to all the people who love the Lord. In either case, his former book bears his name as the Gospel of Luke. The gospel account dealt with the earthly ministry of Jesus. In the text before us Luke picks up with what we have as the only written record of the first thirty years of the early church (from the time of the resurrection to the imprisonment of Paul in Rome. What is this Kingdom?
In verses 2 and 3 we find that Jesus said much in the forty days after His resurrection about the Kingdom of God. Much of what he shared with them was instruction, or commandments about how they were to carry out His mission in the days ahead.
What is the Kingdom? The Lord’s Prayer tells us precisely, "...Thy KINGDOM come, Thy WILL BE DONE in earth, as it is in heaven." The Kingdom of God is extant wherever, and IN whom-ever is presently doing His will.
Note, if you will, how there is one word in verse 3 that is the major stumbling-block for those who still have not accepted the free gift of God’s grace for salvation - "PROOF"! I have never met a skeptic who didn’t say "prove it". Yet, it is one of the most well documented facts of history that Jesus rose from the dead, and walked the earth for forty days. And, beloved, if the dead man never got up and walked, we have no hope, and no joy, and certainly no business spending all this time, energy and money on proclaiming a false kingdom.
But in First Corinthians 15:1-8 there are no less than eight specific people (or groups) to whom Jesus appeared after His resurrection. And these were no midnight visions, no trances, or New Age séances. Jesus ate and drank with these men; they felt the wounds in His flesh. He sat with them in the light of day; He talked and taught and traveled with them. This was no apparition, or disembodied spirit. This was the living Son of God, raised from the dead, announcing with His own presence that the Kingdom of God was upon us!
And this is the chief end of the book of Acts – to show the growth of the Kingdom of God from Jerusalem in a small band of 120 disciples to the uttermost parts of the world. It is still an unfinished story…the gospel is still being spread, and the kingdom is still advancing. Today we want to talk about the building materials of that kingdom as an overview of studying this magnificent book. We want to look at two REALITIES that are the building blocks of God’s kingdom, His orders, and the mortar which holds the blocks together, our obedience.
The Building Blocks of the Kingdom: His Orders
Notice again Acts 1:6-8; it is there we find the orders:
6So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (NASB)
I believe there are four “orders” to be seen here:
1. Recognize we have a job
"Man, this is getting good." I can just hear the disciples, as they drooled and dreamed of powerful cabinet positions in the new kingdom. Promise and power from on high were theirs, and what else, Lord? Imagine their surprise when Jesus said, "None of your business, fellas. You just do what I’ve told you, and leave the driving to us."
Why were the disciples still clinging to the ancient shrine of a national independence and kingdom for Israel? Well, we ALL find it hard to let go of our private, lucrative agendas. The disciples had stuck with Jesus, all the way to Jerusalem. Sure there was that brief time when they had to leave him to the Romans and the cross. But three years of faithful self-denial ought to count for something. Didn’t Jesus and His Father in heaven know that the time was right for Israel’s new kingdom?
The disciples had to learn what we also must know...The church’s job is proclamation of the gospel, not prediction of the future. We don’t have to know what God’s timetable is to do what He’s commissioned us to do. He can still read a calendar.
This is known as “keeping your eye on the ball”. We need to recognize that we have a job, and that job is to be His witness. But, keeping your eye on the ball isn’t an end in itself…it is one thing to know you have a job to do, it is altogether different to do the job you’re ordered to do. You keep your eye on the ball so you can do a better job of swinging…the task is to hit the ball, not just observe it – eventually the pitcher will strike you out that way!
When I was ten one of the high school teachers ran the summer recreation program. “Jumping Joe” Gulizio was our pal…and a tough English teacher. I liked baseball, so I hung around when summer recreation was in progress. Mr. Gulizio was “hands on”. He told us about hitting, but he got out there and pitched to us. He always said, “Keep your eye on the ball, Brownworth.” It finally got through to me; he sent one pitch and it got in the way of my bat. I hit a hard line drive that almost took Jumpin’ Joe’s head off. He looked at me and said in a low growl…”Well, you CAN keep your eye on the ball, can’t you?” I just grinned. That grin cost me several afternoons in detention when I finally landed in his 7th grade English course. Jumpin’ Joe had a great memory!
2. Receive power by waiting on God.
8but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you
In the book of Acts there are only six references to the "filling" of the Holy Spirit. In each of them, there is a connection with bold witnessing to Christ. The disciples were given advance notice that for the task set before them, God was going to do a major overhaul on their courage. They were going to receive the mightiest power for witness (the ONLY power for true witness), God’s Holy Spirit, resident in their actions and words. They were to receive the tremendous compelling desire to share the message of Good News in the home, synagogues, in the market place, and on the sidewalks.
Isaiah wrote (40:31) that waiting upon the Lord is the way to receive strength. Waiting for the empowerment of God’s Spirit is how we would do much better at serving Him. In the early church all the leaders were men of Spirit.[1] The first deacons were men “full of the Spirit” . Stephen was the first chairman of deacons, and he testified powerfully, full of the Spirit[2]; in fact it was so powerful the effect caused Stephen to be stoned. Men filled with the Spirit of God changed history in Christ’s name. They were not uncommon men; they just were filled with an uncommon Power of God’s Holy Spirit.
I ordered a cell phone for my Dad. It came in the mail. It was dead as a hammer. It won’t work until the right sym (whatever that is) is placed within to activate it. Christians are like that; we may be saved, but without receiving the power we need from God’s Spirit, we are like de-activated phones, destined to be put on a shelf somewhere. It’s the saved-to-sit syndrome. We are like that, and we can be better than that. We can pray for God’s Spirit to give us the same kind of power; He’s the same God He was yesterday…and forever!
3. Realize the Results are in God’s hands.
Jesus’ way is different from the ways of men. He said, "Wait for power from on high". It is more like us, especially impetuous men like Peter, to want to forge ahead like bulls in a china shop. But Jesus instructed them to wait.
We like doing things our way. It would be so much more effective to do it His way. We are like that in our church evangelistic programs. We think, "Get a ’name-brand’ preacher, one that can really win people, get decisions; that’ll do it!" That may sound like sound thinking, but there’s only one thing wrong - that isn’t the way Jesus said to do it.
My friends, if you had Billy Graham in this pulpit, winning 500 converts a week, this church would see 26,000 baptisms a year. Wunderbar!" you say. But what if the 125 of us, each one of us here today were to win just one person this year, spending the whole year discipling that person to maturity, so that that person would win another the following year, while we continue doing the same? If that process were kept up for twenty years we would witness over 131 million people coming to Christ. In the same time, Billy Graham winning 500 a week from this pulpit would only see 1/2 million decisions. Which is better?
4. Remember that He is Coming Back!
9And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” (NASB)
Sometimes we get a little complacent with our position; we forget that we have a Master, not a religion. We should be remembering, and let it motivate us, that Jesus is not expecting us to just “hang-out”, have a good time and go to the Mall until He returns. Remembering His return means being enthusiastic to get the job done before He shows up in the glorious appearing.
What do you need to motivate you? Do you need movies like “The Passion of Christ”? Do you need a pep talk from the pastor? Do you need a guilt trip? I would say to you that the thought of His coming back should be enough to place the enthusiasm of being Christ’s witness in your mind every day. What’s enthusiasm? It is the heart for the job; it’s what gets the job done in spite of fear, lack of education or natural abilities. The stinger on the end of a Bumblebee is only 1/16th of an inch long – the rest of what you feel when he hits you is…ENTHUSIASM!
The Mortar that Holds the Blocks Together: Our Obedience
12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. 14These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
What I like best about that band of disciples is that they knew how to apply Bible Study to life. The angel said, “Why are you standing here bug-eyed, staring at the empty heavens with your chins dragging the ground? You heard the Master, get busy!” And they did! Here’s what they did:
1. Gather to Gain – Dependence
These men went back, but they went back and did what they were told; they waited. And they did what Jesus taught; they prayed. In fact they leaned on prayer.
And they also learned cooperation. The scripture says they were all of “one mind”. If ever a church is to experience the move of the Holy Spirit and the power to get the job done, it will only be when strife and division cease. It is alright to disagree with your brother; it is not right to divide brothers. Proverbs tells us that the Lord hates as an abomination…a stench in his nostrils…those who sow strife between brothers[3]. Rather we need to learn inter-dependence on one another.
2. Go to Grow – Disciples
The first thing the disciples did was pray; the second thing they did was get the nominating committee together. They went through the process of selecting a replacement for Judas.
Now, the disciples may not have known all they were doing; nor could they possibly comprehend the depth and breadth of the message they would send by starting the program of getting ready to spread the Gospel.
But they did it, obediently! In so doing they were making preparations for turning the world upside down by continuing the work of Christ.
William Barclay shared in one of his writings, In one sense it is the whole lesson of Acts that the life of Jesus goes on in his Church. Dr. John Foster tells how an inquirer from Hinduism came to an Indian bishop. All unaided he had read the New Testament. The story had fascinated him and Christ had laid his spell upon him. ‘Then he read on…and felt he had entered into a new world. In the gospels it was Jesus, his works and his suffering. In the Acts…what the disciples did and thought and taught had taken the place that Christ had occupied. The Church continued where Jesus had left off at his death. ‘Therefore,’ said this man to me, ‘I must belong to the Church that carries on the life of Christ.’ The book of Acts tells of the Church that carries on the life of Christ. [4]
God has his blocks, his orders to wait, receive power, and then go to grow the family of disciples. We have the mortar for those blocks, simple obedience to the orders. We have simple belief in the promise of His Spirit’s power to help us hold to the building blocks. And, because of God’s love for us, all of His plans for humanity rest on that simple obedience of the church to share the resurrection of Christ.
The invitation God gives is certain day after day, year after year, “Who shall I send?” The answer is ever the same, “Send me, O Lord, send me.” Let the church say Amen!
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ENDNOTES
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1] Acts 6:3
2] Acts 7:55
3] Proverbs 6:16-19
4] William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible, Vol. 8, (Philadelphia, The Westminster Press, 1976), 10
