Going and Coming: Acts 1:1-14

This morning the sermon will come from the book of Acts in the New Testament.

Acts chapter 1.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

We'll be reading verses 1 through 14.

You'll find the text printed in your bulletin if you'd like to follow along there, or your Bible under your seat.

This morning we're looking at the ascension.

Next week, Pastor Josh will be preaching on Pentecost, celebrated ten days after the day of ascension.

Hear the Word of God.

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.

Until the day when he was taken up, after he had been given commands through the Holy Spirit, to the apostles whom he had chosen.

He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

And while staying with him, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, You heard from me.

For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

He said to them, It's not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

And when he had said these things as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?

This Jesus, who was taken from you up into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.

And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room where they were staying.

Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon the zealot, and Judas, the son of James.

All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers.

This is the reading of God's holy and precious word.

It's asked for the Spirit's enabling.

Father, we thank you for the history of your church, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, birthed in such times, growing today, expanding even this day.

Teach us, Spirit of God, take us to the truth, deepen our hearts with your grace.

Lord, empower us, equip us for the mission you've laid before us.

This day we ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

As we said earlier on this ascension day, I just want to talk about what does that mean?

How did it impact history?

How does it change us today, over 2,000 years later?

Forty days after the resurrection, Jesus literally ascended into heaven.

During those 40 days, it says that he presented himself alive to his disciples by many proofs.

One of the things that this suggests is that it's not limited to what we read in the Gospels of what Jesus said and did in those 40 days after the resurrection.

Many proofs.

He presented himself to so many people that his body was raised from the grave.

He was alive.

Undeniable fact.

Many proofs appearing to them for 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

So the book of Acts, as many of you know, is a two-volume set written by Dr.

Luke to some man, Theophilus.

We don't know much about him, but he more than likely was a man of great reputation, perhaps, influence.

And that was no easy task back in that day for Luke to become this research historian because they didn't have the libraries just to go to in the community.

He obviously didn't have the internet.

Where did he get all this?

Well, he he worked hard.

He was a researcher.

And he went and he spoke with the people who were eyewitnesses to the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus.

He spoke to the witnesses directly.

He did his work.

And so we see in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus in his earthly ministry, which ends at the end of that time.

And here in the first chapter of Acts, we see him launching his heavenly ministry.

It's Jesus' ministry.

The book of Acts.

Right there in the beginning, we read, all that Jesus began to do and teach.

That's an important phrase.

He began.

He wasn't finished.

He wasn't finished teaching.

He wasn't finished working.

He's still doing that today.

But he's doing it through this body, his body.

His physical body, we know, is in heaven.

Right now, seated by the right hand of his Father.

John Stott put it like this: How do we describe the book of Acts?

The continuing words and deeds of Jesus by his spirit through his apostles.

I think that's a good summary of this amazing book.

It's not just the Acts of the Apostles, it's the Acts of Jesus Himself by His Spirit through His body on earth.

The glory of Christ is still active today through His Spirit.

As the Spirit came upon Jesus to equip him for his earthly ministry, and you remember that happened.

Okay, as he began his public ministry, that actually happened.

The Holy Spirit filled him to prepare him, to equip him, to empower him for all that God had for him to do.

It's not lost on us that the saying is true for us.

His Spirit was sent to equip us for this earthly ministry upon his people.

And many of you know that Greek word is the word we get dynamite, explosive power.

But you, 20 centuries later, will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

To do my mission.

It seems that Jesus' two main topics of conversation between his resurrection and his ascension were the kingdom of God and the power of the Spirit of God.

It's been said by many to summarize this: the Spirit must come.

And what happens when the Spirit comes into the lives of God's people?

We must go.

See, when the Spirit comes, you don't stay.

Well, you can, but you're just going to be disobedient to King Jesus.

When the Spirit comes and the Spirit works in us and the Spirit fills us, the Spirit always sends us out on mission.

We're going to be talking about that more this morning.

The Spirit did come, and his people did go.

And it changed the Roman Empire and the world as they knew it.

We come back to the ascension in verse 9 of the text.

So there they are, the disciples with Jesus.

They had no clue that this was going to be their last day with him.

No doubt they were thinking this is great.

I mean, it was good before his death, burial, and resurrection, but now it's even better, right?

We can do this, Jesus.

But verse 9 tells us.

Two questions this morning.

How did the ascension change history?

And the second question is, how does the ascension continue to change us today?

The first one, how did it change history?

Theologians use the term enthronement proclamation.

Let's break that down.

What do they mean by that?

Well, all four Gospels plus Acts give us Jesus' final words, but they give it from the perspective of the different gospel writers.

Matthew gives us Mark, Luke, and John, but also in the book of Acts.

Remember, it's very familiar to many of us in Acts that commission.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.

Go, my people.

Here we see it in different words, but similar words.

In other words, a new day has dawned in the history of God's world when Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven.

This was a very important day in the history of the church.

And that's why we celebrate it.

Jesus has conquered sin and death and the devil through his resurrection and ascension.

So many books of the Bible speak to this, particularly in the New Testament.

I just want to look to one quickly in Colossians.

In Colossians chapter 2, listen to how Paul describes this, beginning in verse 13.

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him.

Now listen, this is true of you, Christian, having forgiven us all of our trespasses, all of our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

This he set aside, nailing it to the cross, he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him.

Now this has already happened.

This is history.

We're not waiting for that.

Jesus has won the war against evil.

How did it happen?

At the cross.

He took that record, he took your rap sheet.

Nobody here wants to see the full extent of your rap sheet.

Nobody here wants to see that long legal record of all of your sins.

Jesus took that.

He took yours, Christian.

He took yours and took it, and as he was nailed on the cross, literally, our sins were nailed on that cross with him, in him, through him.

So what does that mean?

We worship today as forgiven people.

There are no crimes against us.

Think about that.

There is no sin that he holds against you because of this.

Powerful words.

This led the Father to exalt Jesus to a new enthroned position with all rule and all authority given to him.

The background of this is found throughout the Old Testament.

One place in particular in the book of Daniel, chapter 7, verse 14.

Daniel 7:14

This was Daniel's vision.

Well, actually, I'm going to start at verse 13.

I saw in the night visions.

And behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man.

You know who that is?

That's Jesus.

And he came to the ancient of days.

Who's that?

That's God the Father.

And was presented before him.

Get this picture in your mind.

I find a lot of Christians don't understand this.

The ascended Jesus was presented to the Father legally.

What happened?

And to Jesus was given dominion and glory in a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

This is legal language that was actually literally fulfilled after Jesus was raised from the dead, ascended into heaven, and where is he now?

He is sitting on his throne with his scepter in his hand, and he's got a commission.

He's got a mission for his people like us.

Legally, Jesus won his victory through his obedient life and his death on the cross.

He canceled the debt of our sins and with this legal act officially destroyed Satan's authority over this world.

Satan no longer has authority over this world.

All authority belongs to King Jesus.

Satan's right to condemn sinners is over.

Did you hear that?

What would that mean for you if you really believe that?

His right to condemn sinners who have been washed with the blood of Jesus is over.

He has no authority over you.

The resurrection verified the Father's acceptance of the Son's sacrifice and the dethronement of Satan.

Alright, that's the first question.

What has happened in the history of Christ's church because of the ascension and all the work that we have spoken to?

But here's the second and the last question.

How does the ascension change or impact us today?

I hope you're already starting to think through the implications of what we've already said.

The implications are many.

We can only focus on a few this morning.

First of all, we live in anticipation of his return.

Now I asked you this morning, do you?

See, nobody else can answer that for you but you.

Nobody else can answer that for me but me.

Do we live with a sense of anticipation of his return, as we were instructed in the words that we read this morning?

Jesus will return as he promised.

The angel said, in the same way that you saw him go, in the same way that you saw him go, what does that mean?

That that means personally, bodily, and visibly.

His body will return.

Not a phantom, not just an idea or a concept.

Jesus' actual body will return personally, bodily, and visibly.

However, it will be public, very different from his ascension.

His ascension was witnessed only by a few.

His return will be witnessed by all.

Revelation chapter 1 tells us every eye will see him.

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

Nobody will miss him when he returns.

Oh, friends, do you understand this concept?

Daily we are to live, to be ready for his return.

We don't spend, we don't spend our time and our energy trying to predict the day he returns.

Nobody knows.

Get over that.

What's the point?

Not to predict when he's gonna come back, but to be ready when he comes back.

How many times do we see in the parables that Jesus taught, that's the point?

Are you gonna be ready?

Or are you gonna be asleep?

Or would he find you, would he find you engaged in something that would disappoint?

First of all, we live in anticipation of his return.

Are we living daily in this anticipation?

Again, you can only answer that yourself.

Secondly, we will live a missional life in a missional community.

We're gonna unpack that.

There's so much we could say about that, but let's just come from the text this morning.

We will live a missional life in a missional community.

Are you living a missional life?

Are you engaged in a missional community?

No Lone Ranger Christians.

You know that, right?

Nobody, nobody is spiritually healthy by trying to live the Christian life alone.

I don't need the church.

I've got all I need, just with Jesus.

You're not reading your New Testament.

That's just not the way it works.

Are you in a missional community?

What is that, what would that give us?

We will go, because the Spirit has come.

In his name, with his authority, with his power, with his authority, Matthew 28, the Great Commission, with his power, Acts chapter 1, verse 8.

Acts 1:8

And this makes all of the difference when properly understood, which is why the first point of the sermon this morning is so important.

We're not making this stuff up.

This is not wishful thinking.

Everything that I said about point one is true.

The crucified, resurrected, ascended Savior has changed everything in the history because of those historical facts.

And so when you're witnessing to your friends, you don't have to tell them to check their brains because they you really can't think about this.

No, there's historical testimony, documented evidence from eyewitnesses.

This actually happened.

It makes all the difference when properly understood.

Let's jump to verse 14 of the text.

All of these, with one accord, were devoting themselves to prayer.

There's so much packed into that little verse.

All of these is probably many theologians believe we're probably talking about 120 people at this point.

That was what was required to constitute a place of worship for the Jewish people in that day.

It wasn't just the disciples, it wasn't just the women that we read about in the Gospels who were loyal to Jesus.

There were probably others.

That means that probably that early church was the size of your section, Chattanooga.

But you probably have too many.

That was the family of the New Testament church that were gathered together in this upper room.

What were they doing?

What were they doing?

They were together.

This adverb in the Greek, homo thumodon, let's break that word down.

Homo homon means together, not separate, not alone.

Together, like we are this morning.

Thumos, the Greek word means desire, passion.

To be of one mind.

What was this early New Testament church together doing, and what does it mean that they were of one mind, one passion about the mission of Jesus?

Let's break it down.

What were they all doing together?

Acts tells us in chapter 2 that they were meeting together daily in the temple courts, worshiping God.

You see, you can't do this mission without corporate worship.

Just can't do it.

They were together, praising God, thanking God, submitting to the power of God, the reign of God.

And there's an application for us here on Ascension Sunday.

When we gather together for worship like this morning, there's a certain sense in which God's people ascend.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

Where do we ascend?

The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians, by faith we enter into the heavenly places with Jesus.

Do you know as the spirit is at work in your life, your union in Christ where you are?

That's where we really are right now spiritually.

You say, well, I thought I was at 1300 West Braddock Road, Alexandria.

Well, your body is.

And your spirit is.

What is this mysterious understanding of our union with Christ?

That when by faith we come to Jesus, we ascend by faith into heaven's worship.

Did you know that?

It's not, there's no mere earthly worship.

To the extent that you understand that that's all that there is, you're not going to be very touched by your worship.

You're going to leave the same way you come.

Guarantee.

And that happens to a lot of Christians every week.

They come, they go, and they're the same.

That's not what he has.

He has so much more to offer us.

When we gather for worship in the name of Christ and we're translated by the Spirit, by faith, into heaven's worship, when we gather around King Jesus' throne.

See, that's where we are right now.

Is that incredible?

See, it doesn't matter if you worship in a church of 30 people.

You don't get any extras, you don't get any extra blessings or credits because if you worship at a church of 3,000 people, that doesn't make the difference.

It really doesn't.

It's not the size of the congregation.

What really makes all the difference is do you see the locality of your worship?

Do you see where you are by faith ascending into the heavens in the presence of Jesus, King Jesus, to do what?

To adore him, to behold him, like we sang about earlier this morning.

And seeing Jesus is enough in worship.

How sad Jesus must be when his people come week after week to worship, and they really don't see him.

That's not going to get the mission done for sure.

And it's not going to help transform us.

We come to express our adoration.

We express our thanks to him.

We come to confess our sins to him.

Where we and how we've lost our way during the week, right?

We need to confess our sins in worship.

King Jesus, I lost it.

I lost it this week.

I forgot your legal enthronement on the right hand of the Father.

And it's entirely appropriate to say, please forgive me.

Please renew my heart.

Please give me a clearer vision of what's really going on in heaven's worship so that I can join in on earth.

We come in his presence to be strengthened, to be empowered, to receive the comfort that we need, to receive the peace that we need, to receive the fruit of the spirit that we need.

We come to be filled with the Spirit.

Yes, we know that the Holy Spirit came down.

Pastor Josh is going to preach about that next week.

But you know we need fresh fillings of the Holy Spirit.

Did you know that?

Why?

Because we all grieve the Spirit.

We all resist the Spirit.

We all quench the Spirit in many different ways.

You know that we're not always all filled with the Holy Spirit.

You know that, right?

And that's why we live, that's why we can live such mediocre Christian lives.

We need to be filled, we need new fillings and frequent fillings of the Spirit to understand what really happened on ascension.

And to ask the Spirit to empower us to live such lives.

We come together, devoting, they devoted themselves together in prayer.

And that's what we do if we're going to get this mission accomplished.

This is another interesting Greek word.

It means to occupy oneself diligently with something.

To pay persistent attention to something.

Now, what is the subject of that verb?

What is he talking about?

What are we persistently paying attention to that's going to make the difference in our own lives?

Prayer.

Prayer.

Are you a little disappointed?

Prayer?

They, with one accord, they were devoting themselves to prayer.

They were praying that the truth would catch fire.

That's a good prayer.

They were praying that the real truth of the gospel would catch fire with them, that their faith would grow, that their hearts would glow with the love of Christ in new ways, with the faithfulness of God in a different way.

That's a good prayer for you.

That's a good prayer for me.

They were praying.

As those long-term APCers know, my favorite translation of that word by Jack Miller, they were addicted to prayer.

Are you addicted to prayer?

And corporate prayer, not just your prayer at home by yourself.

That's good.

We need to do that.

But they're talking about corporate prayer, where God's people come together to pray in the kingdom of God.

To pray boldly, to pray persistently, to pray specifically.

Why is it that so many Christians today find that unnecessary?

Why is it that today, so many Christians see that as an option?

If you've got the extra time, you might as well do it.

Where do we get that idea?

I'll tell you what, that doesn't come from the Holy Spirit.

It doesn't come from the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of prayer.

Twice in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Prayer, praying in the Holy Spirit.

Only the Holy Spirit can give us the faith to believe these historical truths.

Only the Holy Spirit can give us the faith to believe and say, King Jesus, please, may your kingdom, may your rule extend in my heart today.

Would you help me to fall more deeply in love with Jesus?

That's a beautiful prayer.

Would you help me to fall more deeply in love with Jesus?

Because that's not the natural inclination of my heart in the flesh, anyway.

Devoting themselves.

Alexandria Presbyterian Church is a praying church.

I promise you that, or we wouldn't be in this building today.

And there's some up, there's a hundred other testimonies.

Are you part of this?

Or are you just watching from a distance?

Are you content to hear the testimonies of what God's doing through corporate prayer in this church?

Are you just content to, oh, that's great, good.

No, get in there.

Get in there.

This is for you.

This is for me.

God uses this to melt our hearts, to lift our eyes toward heaven.

And then lastly, that part of what we said to worship, to pray, and to be as witnesses, to go and make disciples.

You see, the prior steps are necessary before we'll go.

Let me say that again.

That's why the Christian community is too often weak and flabby.

Because we hear the words of the commission of Jesus, go and make disciples.

But if we're not praying in the kingdom, if we're not being transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, it'll just be a bare command that we just don't do.

See, this is why this comes last.

It's a natural progression of what the Holy Spirit does in the life of a Christian.

Witnessing.

Living a missional life and a missional community is essential.

Seeing Jesus as raised and ruling is essential.

To be his witnesses.

Let me just say this in closing.

Wherever the kingdom of God has been growing over the last 20 centuries, all these things have been heard.

All these things have been observed.

All these truths have been embraced over the last 20 centuries.

Around the year 200 A.D., second century, Tertullian, in his writings of the Apology, listen to what he said.

Listen to what happened because these words caught fire in these early disciples and these women in the early church.

Listen to what Tertullian said in the year 200 A.D.

We are but of yesterday, and we have filled every place among you.

When he says among you, he's talking about the Roman unbelieving world.

We are but of yesterday and we have filled every place among you.

Your cities, your islands, your forts, your towns, your marketplaces, every tribe, the palace, the senate, the forum, we have left nothing to you but the temples of your gods.

I want to be part of that.

We have left nothing to this pagan world except the temples of your gods.

That's the power of the Holy Spirit when the Spirit comes down and we live missionally, empowered by the Spirit, under the rule of King Jesus.

This is how we live.

A German theologian of the 19th century, Adolf Harnach, said this when he studied these lessons from the book of Acts.

We cannot hesitate to believe that the great mission of Christianity was in reality accomplished by means of informal missionaries.

You know what he's saying?

You.

He said, but I'm not a pastor.

I'm not on staff at APC.

I'm not a missionary.

No, actually you are.

If you're a Christian, you have been enrolled into the kingdom of God, into the mission of the kingdom.

If you are a follower of Christ, you are enrolled.

My question: are you empowered for this mission?

Do you want to be part of this mission?

Not just a formal order of missionaries.

Let's go.

Let's go.

This week.

You go back to your home, you go back to your neighborhood, you go back to Chattanooga.

We'll stay in Washington.

But let's go.

Do we believe?

Do we believe?

Then we will go.

And we will ask the Spirit to empower us.

Let's ask Him now together.

Father, we we bow before you because we would all say that none of us, not the preacher, not anybody here, has been as faithful to this mission as we ought.

Forgive us when we get off mission.

Forgive us when we get ambivalent about your kingly rule.

We just sometimes don't believe it.

Forgive us when we get so immersed in our own personal comfort.

God, you know we need forgiveness.

But there is forgiveness with you.

And that's right now why, in the presence of your kingly worship in heaven by faith, we know that there's forgiveness that you grant.

Send us.

Send us forth this week.

Lord, for the remaining days, months, years that we have on this earth.

To submit to your rule, King Jesus.

To be empowered by your Spirit, King Jesus.

And to be the witnesses that you've called us to be.

For your glory.

One day we're going to see your glory in a different way.

With our own eyes, we're going to see your glory in a different way.

Help us not wait until then.

By faith, we pray, Spirit of God, open our eyes, open our hearts to see and to go.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.