Acts 1:1-11

And if you've got a Bible, turn in to Acts chapter 1.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

If you've not got a Bible, I'd really encourage you to go and grab one from by the table just outside.

And we're going to dash around the Bible a little bit this morning.

Acts chapter 1.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

It's a real joy, isn't it, to people who are part of the church family and are now serving the Lord in different places.

It's really great to have Will and Marianne and Jonathan and Michael serving the Lord in the far north in Dundee.

And Jordan Saturov, who's with us, who's serving the Lord with London City Mission in East London.

So we're really, we're so glad to see you and we're going to pray for you now.

Let's bow our heads in prayer.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that the gospel that we love and believe, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,

is being proclaimed all around the world.

And we thank you for the saints in every place that are calling on your name.

And we thank you, Heavenly Father, for Will and Marianne and Jonathan and Michael serving you in St. Peter's Dundee.

And we pray for encouragement for that church family.

And we pray that your word would continue to go forth faithfully there.

And we thank you, Lord, for Jordan and Colina.

And we pray for blessing in their work with London City Mission as they seek to train and equip others in the work of evangelism.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that Jesus Christ, your son, is unstoppable.

And his kingdom has come and is coming and will come.

And he will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

And we pray that this series in Acts would fill us with that confidence.

That we would recognize that Jesus Christ, by his spirit, is still at work today.

He is still speaking today.

And he is building his church.

And we pray all these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

I've never preached on my way through the Book of Acts.

And this summer I've spent a bit of time while I was on sabbatical kind of reading around it and trying to think how best to approach it.

I'm convinced that I've got the main message.

And I'm pretty sure how we're going to get into it.

I'm not really sure how we're going to get out of the Book of Acts.

Because it's a long old book.

And as you well know, I'm not brilliant at preaching big chunks.

So we might be in this series for the next five years.

The Book of Acts is far more than the birth of the church.

It's far more than the spread of Christianity across the Roman Empire.

The Book of Acts reveals to us God's purpose for this world.

But specifically the place of the church in the purposes of God.

And the Book of Acts is tailor-made for a church which is half asleep.

And finds serving Jesus a great inconvenience.

And doesn't have much heart for mission.

And is in danger of forgetting who she is.

And the Book of Acts is written for a church that has turned inward on itself.

Where the worship is predictable and routine.

And where the ministry is relegated to paid professionals.

Where compassion fits around the busyness of my daily life.

The Book of Acts is written for a church that is under risk and in uncharted waters.

None of which, of course, is relevant to us today.

That was a joke.

It's a terrible thing when you have to say that.

I find myself having to say that more often.

I thought it was because people didn't get the joke.

But actually, it's more to do with me, isn't it?

That is a joke.

Let's go back to the Bible.

There's no other book in the Bible like the Book of Acts.

It functions as a bridge.

It forms a bridge between the first half of the New Testament.

And the Gospels.

And the second half of the letters.

It forms a bridge between the Jesus Christ of the New Testament.

And the Jesus Christ of the Church today.

It forms a bridge between Jew and Gentile.

And so the Gospel goes out from Jerusalem to Samaria to the ends of the earth.

To the heart of the Gentile world.

And in the first two verses, the writer introduces himself.

The writer is Luke.

And he reminds us of this bridging purpose.

He introduces the book to us in this way.

He says,

O Theophilus,

I've dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.

Until the day when he was taken up.

And after he'd given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

The first book that he's speaking about, of course, is the Gospel of Luke.

That's volume one.

And Luke was an educated man, a physician.

He writes some of the finest Greek in the New Testament.

He's widely travelled.

And we discover in later chapters that he travels with the Apostle Paul.

And he goes back into Palestine, into Israel.

He interviews the eyewitnesses to write the Gospel.

My theory is that Luke spent quite a lot of time with Mary, Jesus' mother.

And because at the beginning of Luke's Gospel, you've got the tenderest details, haven't you?

Of the annunciation of the coming of Jesus, his birth and his early life.

But the point is more important, and Luke in verse one wants us to know that the subject of volume one was Jesus.

And the subject of volume two is Jesus.

The key to this, he says, I dealt in the first book of Theophilus.

I've dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.

In other words, volume one was what Jesus began to do and teach.

Volume two is about what Jesus continues to do and teach.

Some people think that the Gospels are about Jesus and the Book of Acts is about the Church.

But the contrast is not between Jesus and the Church.

The contrast is between two different phases of Jesus' ministry.

The first phase, which is in the Gospel of Luke, is the earthly ministry of Jesus.

Until he was taken up.

And Luke has talked about all those things that Jesus did and taught.

But now there's a second phase of Jesus' ministry where he still teaches and he still works.

He works from heaven through his Spirit and the Apostles.

And he bears testimony to the words written in Scripture.

And that is really important for us.

It's important that Jesus didn't just go back up to heaven and forget about it.

He spent three years creating the Church.

And now he's about to send his Holy Spirit upon them.

And he continues to work through his Spirit.

The whole of this passage, the first eight verses that we're going to look at today,

tells of the incredible importance of the Christian Church in the plans of God for his world.

In every other religion, when the religious founder dies,

the followers do their best, don't they, to keep the flame fanning.

The flame burning, I mean.

The followers do their best to practice that religion because the founder is now absent.

But it's the opposite in the Christian Church.

We are not, this morning, trying to do our best because Jesus is gone.

We are a Christian Church precisely because Jesus is here.

And it's very important for us who call ourselves Reformed Evangelicals.

Or Reformed Presbyterians.

We are rightfully disdainful.

We don't want anything to do with deism.

That philosophy that says that God is an absent creator,

that he wound up creation like a clock and set it going,

but he doesn't have any direct or personal involvement with it now.

Everything just continues along according to his immutable laws.

That's clearly unbiblical, isn't it?

And we're right to dismiss it when it comes to our Christian lives.

And when it comes to the life of the Christian Church.

But I worry sometimes, actually, are we closet deists?

Very often, we are very uncomfortable with God interfering with our lives.

Except, maybe in the case of an emergency,

and even then, in specific terms that are set down by me,

we plan and we strategise,

as if Jesus finished acting 2,000 years ago in our own lives.

We maybe hoard possessions,

as if this life is all that there is.

And there isn't really a life to come.

And we invest our time in ourselves,

to alleviate our fears and our anxieties.

We act as though Jesus wound up the Church 2,000 years ago.

But this book tells you that, no, Jesus really is directly

and personally involved with us now.

And right at the heart of the Book of Acts,

the first thing that we have to be clear about with the Church

is that Jesus Christ remains Lord of the Church

and He is here with us now,

by His Spirit.

Active now.

He continues to work with us now,

by His Holy Spirit.

He is very much engaged with us.

And I wonder what IPC would begin to look like

if we really believed that.

This is what this book is all about.

It's going to show us

what it's like to believe it.

The second verse,

we're told that one of the things it looks like

is a group of people

trying to live under the command of Jesus,

dependent on the Holy Spirit.

Verse 2 is the first of about 60 references

to the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts.

Right from the outset,

we are being prepared for the fact that this organism,

the Church,

is unlike anything that the world has seen before.

It's a place, yes,

where Jesus is present and active,

but it's also a place where the power of the Holy Spirit exists.

Where people are indwelt by God's Spirit.

Enabling them to love and serve

and proclaim Him to the ends of the earth.

And I hope you listened

as we read those words from verses 1 to 8.

And you hear this new thing that is about to happen.

We are on the precipice of a new age.

In these words.

And every word of verses 1 to 8

trembles with anticipation

and expectation.

As Jesus prepares the world

and His disciples for this new thing

before He's taken up into heaven.

There are two sections in verses 3 to 8.

And I want to look at them in reverse order.

Because I want to.

And so let's look at the second half.

And I'm going to call the second half,

verse 6 to 8,

the turning point for God's world.

Verse 6,

the turning point for God's world.

So when they come together,

they ask 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 own authority.

But you will receive power

when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

And you will be my witnesses

in Jerusalem

and in all Judea and Samaria

and to the ends of the earth.

Jesus has been raised from the dead.

He has spoken to them

about the Holy Spirit.

And this question from the disciples

wonderfully shows

that they still don't get it.

They don't understand it really.

They are looking for

the restored kingdom of Israel.

And Judea's answer to them is stunning.

He doesn't kind of castigate them

for their narrow political ambitions.

Instead, He lifts their vision

and their desires

to the worldwide purposes of God

and to their place

in His purposes.

He says,

yes, the Spirit is coming.

But He's not coming

to make you powerful.

He's not coming

to make one nation

in a particular place powerful.

But He's coming

so that you would take

my purposes

to the ends of the earth

when the Holy Spirit

comes upon you.

You shall be my witnesses

in Jerusalem, Judea

and the ends of the earth.

And if you've read

the book of Acts,

which I hope you'll do,

you will know that

that verse functions

like a table of contents.

So chapters 1 to 7

is about the apostles'

ministry in Jerusalem.

Chapters 8 to 12

is their ministry

in Judea and Samaria.

And chapter 13

to the end of the book

is their ministry

to the ends of the earth.

Now I can't tell you

how many sermons

and talks I've heard

on Acts chapter 1

Acts 1 · chapter mention

that have been treated

and demanded

and commanded

that we become witnesses

and get out there

and do evangelism.

One of the commentaries

I've got

has six sermons

on this verse

telling us

how to be great witnesses

for Jesus.

There's an awful lot

of truth

in those sermons

but I want to tell you

that this verse

of Jesus

is not a desperate plea

for him

not to be forgotten.

This is not

a hurried strategy

from Jesus

that he hopes

might work out

in the world

that you and I

have somehow

got to fulfill.

The scene

of verse 8

is not a motivational

rally.

It is a law court.

It is a cosmic

law court.

And each of the

three pivotal phrases

in verse 8

are all taken

from the prophet Isaiah.

when God

the Lord of Heaven

and Earth

announces

a lawsuit

against all the idols

and against all the

false religions

in the world

because he says

to the false religions

you're guilty

of false advertising.

You promise salvation.

You promise life.

And God says

I want to have a lawsuit

in fact

to see who is

the true God.

And both sides

Lord God Almighty

and the false religions

call witnesses

to be presented.

But there's a problem.

The problem is

God's witnesses

are blind.

They've seen

the mighty acts

of God

but they've closed

their eyes

and they've shut

their ears.

And therefore

they are blind witnesses.

And I want to show you this.

So keep a finger

in Acts chapter 1

Acts 1 · chapter mention

and turn to Isaiah

Isaiah 43 · chapter mention

chapter 43

and verse 8.

Isaiah 43

and verse 8.

I'll give you

a bit of time

to get there.

Isaiah 43

Isaiah 43:8

verse 8.

I would give you

the page number

but someone

will shout it out.

603.

Isaiah 43

Isaiah 43:8

verse 8.

It's important

you see this.

And so what Jesus

is doing in Acts

is he's deliberately

taking these phrases

from Isaiah

so that you and I

will understand

what Isaiah is saying.

So verse 8.

When God

the Lord

of heaven and earth

announces a lawsuit

against all the idols

and against all the

false religions

in the world

he says you're guilty

of false advertising.

43 verse 8.

Bring out the people

who are blind

yet of eyes

who are deaf

yet of ears.

All the nations

gather together

all the peoples

assemble

who among them

can declare this

and show us

the former things.

Let them bring

their witnesses

to prove them right.

Let them hear

and say it is true.

You

are my witnesses

declares the Lord

and my servant

whom I have chosen

that you may know

and believe me

and understand

that I am he.

Before me

no God was formed

nor shall there be

any after me.

I am the Lord

and besides me

there is no saviour.

I declared

and saved

and proclaimed

when there was

no strange God

among you

and you

are my witnesses

declares the Lord.

But the problem is

they're blind.

How is God

going to heal

the blindness

of his witnesses?

Well Isaiah

says two things.

The first he says

I'm going to send

a special person.

I'm going to send

a servant

the servant

of the Lord

whose ministry

will be

what will he be

what will he do

he will bring light

to the Gentiles

to the nations

to open the eyes

of the blind.

That's chapter 42.

And the second thing is

he promises

to pour out

his Holy Spirit

and when the Spirit

comes he will

open eyes

and open mouths.

So turn over

to chapter 44

and let me read

to you from verse 3.

Where Isaiah says this

for I will pour water

on the thirsty land

and streams

on the dry ground

I will pour my spirit

upon your offspring

and my blessing

on your descendants

and they shall spring up

among the grass

like willows

by flowing streams

and what will be

the result?

This one says

I am the Lord's

and another will call

on the name of Jacob

and another will write

on his hand

the Lord's

and name himself

by the name of Israel.

Thus says the Lord

the King of Israel

and his Redeemer

the Lord of hosts.

I'm the first

I'm the last

besides me

there is no God

who is like me

let him proclaim it

let him declare

and said it before me

since I appointed

an ancient people

let them declare

what is to come

and what will happen

fear not

not be afraid

I've told you

from of old

and declared it

and you are

my witnesses.

Okay come back

with me to Acts chapter 1.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

And so here is

the servant

of the Lord

Jesus Christ

and what is he doing?

he's taking

on his lips

the words of God

the Lord of Israel

the words that God

had spoken

700 years

before Isaiah

you shall be

my witnesses

and now Jesus Christ

announces to his people

you shall be

my witnesses

and it's a challenge

to the world

the point is not

that Jesus

is devising a strategy

for church growth

the point is this

Jesus

he is God

and Lord of Israel

it is Jesus

who is the first

and the last

and besides him

there is no God

what I want you

to see from this

passage

and I want you

to see this

when your eyes

are opened

you are a witness

it doesn't matter

whether you want

to be or not

I was in the co-op

in Greenford Avenue

about three years ago

all of life

is in Greenford Avenue

co-op

and I noticed

that there was a guy

shoplifting

and he went to the till

but he only paid

for one thing

thankfully the guy

behind the till

kind of pointed it out

caught him

and they tried

to kind of

stop him going out

he was confronted

the guy started

threatening the staff

and I was there

looking on

and there was CCTV

but I was a witness

I was a witness

I had to go to court

in the end

as a witness

I was a witness

whether I liked it

or not

I had no choice

about that

I saw what happened

and so I was a witness

I had no choice

and when the Holy Spirit

opens our eyes

to see in Jesus Christ

the glory of God

and the wonder

of our salvation

we are witnesses

Jesus doesn't say to you

in Acts 1 verse 8

Acts 1:8

you must be my witness

you've got to try hard

to be my witness

he says you are

you shall be my witnesses

the real problem of course

is hostile Christians

there are times

aren't there

in civil cases

where eyewitnesses

will not testify

hostile witnesses

and you can understand that

but why be a hostile Christian

when what we are witnessing

is the glory

of Jesus Christ

and again

the issue

is not our witnessing technique

or our evangelistic programs

the issue

is simply this

whether our eyes

are open

to the person

of Jesus Christ

and part of the essence

of seeing him

and worshipping him

is bearing witness

to him

and saying

I'm Jesus' person

I belong to him

I have a friend

who for the first years

first couple of years

after he became a Christian

he used to write on his hand

on the back of his hand

every day before he went out

three letters

H

I

S

his

and it was there

to remind him

throughout the day

who he belonged to

you see the great issue

in our world

is not the issues

that come up in the headlines

as important as they are

the issue is that

every man

and woman

every boy

and every girl

comes to see

the majesty

and the love

and the grace

and the mercy of God

in the face of Jesus Christ

and to bow to him

and call him saviour

and Acts 1 verse 8

Acts 1:8

it's not a polite invitation

for you to show your faith

if you're feeling

particularly gregarious

and outgoing

it's a summons

from the Lord of all the earth

for the world to bow

and it's a promise

that he is going to give

his spirit

to open our eyes

and when our eyes

are opened

whether we like it or not

we are his witnesses

and that is why

it's a turning point

for the world

the great contest

the great

prosecution

the great issue

in our world

is Jesus Christ

and the power

of the Holy Spirit

and he is here

by his spirit

in church this morning

and in every Christian

for the opening

of our eyes

and the paying

of our testimonies

so briefly

let me turn to the

second part of the passage

which is verses 3 to 5

if it was a turning point

for the world

now it's a turning point

for the church

and the question

that we should ask

is

how on earth

do you prepare

disciples

for this ministry

verse 3

he presented himself

alive to them

after his suffering

by many proofs

appearing to them

during 40 days

and speaking about

the kingdom of God

and while staying

with them

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

a great deal

can happen

in 40 days

but here are

some of the

40 most important

days in all

of history

Jesus has risen

from the dead

and in a few days

he's going back

to heaven

and will pour

out his spirit

what does he do

how does he

equip his church

for this new

ministry

he does three

things

first of all

he establishes

the reality

of his resurrection

it's very important

to Jesus

that you

as his follower

are fully convinced

and fully

persuaded

that he has

bodily risen

from the dead

he presents

himself to them

by these many

proofs

many convincing

proofs

because you see

we are not

witnesses to

a teacher

or to a

teaching

who died

years ago

we are witnesses

to the living

and risen

Christ

Christ has

died

Christ is

risen

Christ will

come again

that's the first

thing he does

the second thing

he does

is he clarifies

the gospel

he clarifies

the gospel

the good news

he speaks to

them about

the kingdom

of God

so let's

go to the end

of the book

of Acts

keep your finger

in Acts

1

and this

time go to

the other

direction

go to the

end

the last

verse

of the book

of Acts

and I want

you to see

that Luke

brackets

the start

of his book

and the end

of his book

with a reference

of the

ending

there is none.

Preaching the kingdom

is speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you ever noticed that throughout the Gospels,

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,

the kingdom of God is used frequently.

Something like 120 times in the Gospels.

But after the death and resurrection of Jesus,

the kingdom is only used occasionally.

Why is that?

The reason I think is this,

that during the 40 days when Jesus taught his disciples,

the big plan of God

and the rule of God

is fulfilled in Jesus.

It's fulfilled in his life

and his death

and his resurrection.

One last cross-reference, alright?

We don't normally have many,

we don't normally have any.

We've got loads today.

Luke 24.

Luke 24.

Come with me.

Stay with me.

Luke 24.

And if you want to know what happened in the 40 days,

you need to know this verse.

Luke 24

and verse 27.

So Jesus is speaking to some followers.

What happened between Jesus being raised from the dead

and ascending up to heaven?

Verse 27,

speaking to some followers,

beginning with Moses and all the prophets,

he interpreted to them in all the scriptures

the things concerning himself.

And then verse 45.

Then Jesus opened their minds

to understand the scriptures

and said to them,

thus it is written,

thus it is written that the Christ should suffer

and rise from the dead on the third day

and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins

should be proclaimed in his name

to all nations,

beginning from Jerusalem.

And you are witnesses

of these things.

Yes.

When Christ first came into this world,

he brought the age to come

into our own evil age.

The age of the spirit.

And when he comes again,

he will do away with this present evil age.

And so you and I find ourselves living in the overlap.

We live in the overlap of those ages.

We participate in the age that's to come

by the Holy Spirit and through Jesus Christ.

And so that's why everyone who knows

the Lord Jesus Christ

knows that life is not about food and fashion

and finance and fun.

But we know because we belong

to the age of the spirit,

that life is about righteousness

and peace and joy

through the life and death

and resurrection of Jesus.

We begin to know now in part

what we will know wholly

when Christ comes again.

And your affections,

which are changing now

as you follow Christ,

will one day be fully changed.

And you come to value strange things

like repentance from sin

and the glory of Christ

and prayer

and giving.

And so here is what Jesus does

to prepare us.

First of all,

he assures us of the resurrection.

And then he clarifies the gospel

and then thirdly and lastly,

he charges them to wait

for the Holy Spirit.

Verse 4 and 5.

I think this is the only time

in the New Testament

where he stops his followers

from preaching.

He taught them the gospel.

They believed in his resurrection,

but they still lacked one thing.

Without which,

whatever they did would be useless.

the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

And we're going to see this

over the next few weeks.

The church of Jesus Christ

is made up of people

who have been washed

and drenched

and submerged

and flooded by the Holy Spirit.

Who have been born anew,

who have been born from above to God.

And we know that we are

completely dependent

upon God's Holy Spirit.

Without him, we can do nothing.

individually

or as a group of people.

And so here is the great

turning point for the world.

And here is the great

turning point for the church.

And the Holy Spirit reminds us

that it's not about our efforts

and our cleverness

and our endeavours

and our schemes

and our witness.

But our membership

in the kingdom of God

and the progress of the faith

and all these are

spiritual realities

that are carried forward

by the Holy Spirit.

And there is but one thing

to take place

before the Spirit

is poured out

on his church.

And you'll have to come back

next week to find out

what that is.

My hope,

this should have been

my introduction,

my hope is that

this series on Acts

will remind us

that Jesus Christ

is unstoppable.

And it will remind us

that Jesus Christ Church

is growing

and will grow.

and it will give us

a confidence

in God

and his purposes.

My prayer is that

this room

will be full to overflowing,

that we'll have to have

the difficult discussions

of how do we church plant,

when do we church plant,

do we do a second service,

do we put a balcony in,

because

Jesus Christ

is unstoppable.

And his church

will grow

and is growing.

And his kingdom

has come,

is coming,

will come.

And we are indwelt

by God's Holy Spirit.

Let's pray together.