What Jesus Left Behind
Acts 1:6-11
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/7ThingsLeftBehind.html
Goodbyes aren’t easy, especially if the one leaving will be gone long.
Ill—Babe Ruth said goodbye at Yankee Stadium, eaten up w/ cancer, and w/ tears he said goodbye.
Ill—Watergate hearings, Nixon said goodbye to his staff, walked across lawn, then said goodbye and waved again on Marine 1.
If you’ve ever said a final goodbye to a child, you know how bad goodbyes can be…or a spouse, sibling, parent!
In Acts 1 Jesus is saying goodbye to His disciples…for 3.5 years they’ve been intimately intertwined, thru good times and bad! He had changed their lives! They’d never be the same.
They spent 40 incredible days together after He arose…and now it’s time to say goodbye, He’s leaving, He’s going home…and He tells them to do His work in the meanwhile (v. 8) He has given them His great commission, to go into all the world with the gospel.
v. 9 This is real…as real as the virgin birth, perfect life, sacrificial death, burial, glorious resurrection…it was as real as if you’d seen it w/ your own eyes that day!
v. 10 He’ll return the same way He left, physically!
As He left the earth ascending into heaven He left behind some things. In our text passage for today I want to point out 7 things that Jesus left behind when He ascended to heaven. Jesus said in John 19:30, “...it is finished...” He was saying that the atonement for sin was finished. That tells us that nothing more need be done. Salvation is complete in Christ. But the first thing He left behind was:
I. AN UNFINISHED TASK. Vs. 1.
(Acts 1:1) "The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,"
A. His Task Was Not Finished. (Luke 19:10) "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
As long as there is one person who has not heard the message, the task is not finished.
B. He Left The Task To Be Finished By His Churches. (Mat 28:19)
1. The mission fields cry out, “unfinished”.
2. The remote areas of every city and town cry out, “unfinished”.
3. The whaling of the unsatisfied soul cries out, “unfinished.”
4. The voices of your neighbors cry out, “unfinished.”
5. You have some loved ones who cry out, “unfinished.”
6. Perhaps your own soul is crying, “unfinished.”
Are you actively participating in carrying out His unfinished task? If you don’t help, much of it will go undone.
(John 9:4) "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."
II. AN UNCHALLENGED MESSAGE. Vs. 3.
(Acts 1:3) "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:"
The message of salvation can’t be challenged.
A. Man can’t challenge it.
1. Liberalism has attacked this one area more than any other.
2. Man has attempted to produce numerous other methods of salvation.
Galatians 1:6-9
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: [7] Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. [8] But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. [9] As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
B. Satan Can’t Challenge It.
1. The Gospel lives on.
2. We see an everlasting Gospel in Rev 14:6 "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,"
C. The Cults Can’t Challenge It.
1. It is a fool proof Gospel.
2. (Rom 1:16) "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
3. When the cults come knocking on my door, I tell them that I am born again by the shed blood and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that I am going to live forever in heaven with Him.
That blows their mind, and they go on their way saying, “This guy is crazy.” They can’t challenge the Gospel of Christ.
D. Everyone Who Challenges the Gospel of Jesus Christ Will Be In the Number That Is Mentioned In Rev. 20:14-15.
Rev. 20:14-15
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. [15] And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
E. You Can’t Challenge It And Still Go To Heaven.
1. If you attempt to go to heaven any other way than through Jesus Christ, you will go to hell.
2. If you challenge the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the gospel of baptismal regeneration you will go to hell. (I saw a church that teaches baptismal regeneration with a large sign on the front that said, “Gospel Meeting”.) That is not true.
3. If you challenge the Gospel of Jesus Christ with your good works, you will lose and go to hell.
III. AN UNQUESTIONABLE LOVE Vs. 3.
(Acts 1:3) "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:"
No one can question the love exhibited by the Son of God.
He who gave His life that you and I might live forever.
He who gave His body at the whipping post.
He who shed His blood for an uncaring world and a generation of perverts.
He who left His home in heaven and came to a world of sinners who rejected Him and nailed Him on a cross.
He who in love cried out to the Father, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
He who bowed His head in shame and suffering and then died for a world who hated Him and wanted nothing to do with Him.
That’s unquestionable love. There is no one in this room who would do that for a world of people who do not care. Unquestionable love. He died for you. He loves you.
IV. AN UNMISTAKABLE PLAN. Vs. 8.
“...and ye shall be witnesses...uttermost part of the earth.”
A witness is sworn to tell the truth of what he / she saw or experienced. Sometimes we get the plan wrong. It is an unmistakable plan. We are to be witnesses--not a super salesman, attempting to persuade the person with our ability. Man can’t persuade another man to be saved. (John 6:44) "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." It has to be Christ in us. We witness to that which has happened to us.
Here’s the plan:
A. We Are To Witness First In Jerusalem. That is our surrounding area.
1. Our neighbors.
2. Our co-workers.
3. Our friends.
B. Judea - That is farther out from home base, into some of the outlying towns.
C. Samaria - That is still further out…our nation.
D. The Uttermost Part Of The Earth - That is foreign missions.
Let’s not mistake the plan.
V. AN UNSHAKABLE TESTIMONY. Vs. 10.
(Acts 1:10) "And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;"
If we could just get the professing Christians to “look steadfastly toward heaven,” our task would be much easier.
A. Your Testimony Will Either Exalt Christ, Or It Will Shame Christ.
1. If you are looking for Him to come soon, you will cleanse yourself. (1 John 3:3) "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."
2. He who has no thought toward the coming of Christ is not living a testimony for Him.
Christians, don’t live like the world will go on forever. You are sitting on a ticking time bomb. It could go off at any time.
B. You Can Lose Your Testimony In A Moment Of Time. (1 Pet 5:8) "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"
VI. AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE Vs. 11.
“....ye men of Galilee...”
(Luke 24:49) "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."
(Acts 2:4) "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost....”
This group of men returned that day to the upper room, and there with some of the other saints began to call upon the Lord in prayer; and then we see them in Acts 2 where 3,000 got saved. In Acts 4:4, 5,000 more got saved. In (Acts 5:14) "And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)"
A. The Fear Of Man Didn’t Stop Them. (Acts 5:28) "Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine..."
(Acts 5:29) "Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."
1. They took their command personally. “Go into all the world...”
These people weren’t going to let some two-bit official hinder their work.
We are part of an unstoppable force.
2. They had the power of the Holy Spirit on them. (Acts 4:31) "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness."
When people of God fall in love with the Lord Jesus Christ and yield their bodies to the control of the Holy Spirit of God, you have an unstoppable force. The gates of hell shall not prevail against them.
(Acts 4:13) "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."
The N.T. Church suffers today because those who would oppose us cannot see Jesus in our lives. These disciples had “JESUS” written all over them.
It makes a difference when you are doing the work of God through the power of ‘the God of the work.’
B. Persecution Didn’t Stop Them. (Acts 8:3) "As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison."
(Acts 8:4) "Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word."
1. They were scattered because of persecution. They had to literally run for their lives. Saul (who became Paul) was leading the persecution against them.
2. Persecution allowed them to take the Gospel to the “uttermost parts of the earth.”
That thing which they feared became their greatest tool in accomplishing their task. (Acts 19:10) "And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks."
We haven’t yet gotten hold of this thing like they did in the 1st Century. We seem to huddle up and hunker down trying to protect our little flocks.
When we wake up and realize that we are an unstoppable force that the world must reckon with and we are willing to go out on the limb a little farther, then we can begin to see the fruit of N.T. results.
VII. AN UNFAILING PROMISE. Vs. 11.
(Acts 1:11) "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."
When I think of this I am reminded of Gen. Douglas McArthur. He was in charge of the S. Pacific Theatre and was stationed in the Philippines. During the latter days of WW2 Gen. McArthur’s men had taken a beating and he withdrew them and moved them to Australia for a time of rest and retraining. As he boarded that DC9 in the Philippines those people looked to him as their saviour. He made his famous statement in saying, “I shall return.”
Several months passed by and one day the people of the Philippines heard the roar of airplanes and looked up into the sky and saw the sky was filled with American airplanes. Gen McArthur kept his promise.
2,000 years ago Jesus stood on a mountain overlooking Jerusalem and said to His disciples:
John 14:1-3
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. [2] In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
I know the battle gets tough. Don’t be discouraged, one day soon that trumpet is going to blow, (1 Th 4:17) "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
That’s an unfailing promise. If it wasn’t so He would have told us so. I believe it. I am holding on to it. I am looking for Him to come today. Are you ready? If He comes today, will you go with Him? Until He comes, you are part of what He left behind to do His work!
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http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/7ThingsLeftBehind.html
