Acts Ch. 1 and 2

Thank you.

Just taking it as it has been written, week by week, looking at verse after verse after verse and trying to get the big picture in the whole story from the text of Scripture.

Over the last three weeks or so, we've been really looking at just three verses, a small number of verses in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

But this is all a prelude to the fact that we're going to go through the entire book of Acts.

And one of the nice things about being able to be a pastor of a local church, there's many nice things about it.

But one of the nice things about it is that I can say, you know, we're going to spend the next five years.

You know, maybe Jesus will come.

That would be fantastic.

But if he doesn't come and God gives me strength, we're going to go through the whole book of Acts over the next five years.

And so this week and next week, these three weeks, we're going to sort of fill in the rest of Acts chapter 1 and 2.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

And then we're going to take a break and go back to 1 Corinthians because we're doing 1 Corinthians over three years.

And then we're going to, you know, look at the cross and the resurrection.

And we're going to look at John.

And we won't maybe return to the book of Acts until the fall.

But we're going to be looking through the book of Acts.

And as Heather was reading very well this morning, I realized that that was the old scripture list, not the new one.

So we got a preview of what we're going to be reading, looking at next week.

This week, we're looking at Acts chapter 1 to 11.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

And I invite you to take your Bibles.

And I think it's page 942 of your Pew Bibles.

Page 942 of your Pew Bibles.

I'm going to be using my personal Bible this morning.

So occasionally, you'll notice a slight difference in the wording.

I'm using the English Standard Version.

And you folks in the pews have the New King James Version.

But, of course, you should always feel free and encouraged to bring your home Bibles with you.

You know, one of the wonderful things about bringing your own Bible to church is, you know,

it will help you later on when you're doing your own private devotions.

And you're going through the text and you're always getting it in the words that you have in your own Bible.

Maybe if I mention that the way a word is translated literally and it's just slightly different than the word in your Bible,

you can take a pencil or whatever and just make a little mark in the columns.

And the other thing, of course, is it's just really good to feel comfortable with your own Bible that you use in your own private devotions

and bring it into church and just, you know, just get familiar with it.

And so I encourage you to bring your own Bibles.

But, of course, we do have the pew Bibles there for you to read and follow along in.

But this morning, I will look at, I'll be using my Bible as I read, but Acts 1, 1-11.

And this is how the book begins.

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

I just want to put your finger there for a second.

I just want to mention something.

What this book says right off the bat, some of you who are really familiar with the Bible

might instantly recognize that the book of Luke begins almost with the exact same word.

In fact, if you go back and read the beginning of Luke, you'll see that Luke writes the book to Theophilus.

And he writes the book to Theophilus because he wants to explain to Theophilus the very, very central facts

of who Jesus was and what he accomplished.

And so with the very first word of chapter 1 of Acts, what we see is that really Luke and Acts

is one book in two parts with the same author.

And this is really, it will become even more significant in a moment when we're going to look at this word proofs

or infallible proofs in your version of the Bible.

But just as we begin to get in it, Acts describes the birth of the church.

It describes some significant events in the very, very, very first disciples,

in the very, very first churches being planted.

It describes Christianity entering Europe, not with invading armies,

but with a couple of men talking to some women at a place of prayer.

And, you know, in a couple of, you know, a little while down the road,

we get this wonderful story of Christianity entering Europe.

It's all in the book of Acts.

But the important thing to note here is to note Luke's purpose.

Luke's purpose is to tell us that the church is founded on the person of Jesus Christ and nothing else.

That, in fact, the story of Jesus and what he did

and what he accomplished upon the cross and in his resurrection

is the absolute bedrock of the Christian faith.

If that goes, we are wasting our time here this morning.

We should all be at Starbucks having a coffee

and reading The Sunday Citizen or something better.

And that's what we should really be doing.

But the story of the church is completely and utterly based on what happened to Jesus.

And as we're going to see in a moment as well,

that the very same, in a sense, guide and character of Jesus

is to be the guide for us.

You know, sometimes Christians get puzzled over,

like, why is it that Jesus sometimes asks questions?

You might remember the story in the Bible of the woman who has a flow of blood for many years

and she touches Jesus and Jesus knows that somebody's been healed,

but he doesn't know who's been healed.

And he said, who touched me?

And sometimes Christians puzzle and say, you know, if Jesus is God,

how is it that sometimes he has to ask a question?

Well, the answer in a nutshell is that this,

that Jesus, God, the Son of God,

that Jesus lived a life in perfect obedience to his Father.

And his entire life was guided and directed by the Holy Spirit.

And so literally sometimes, I mean,

Jesus didn't always just know what was going on around him,

but Jesus lived his life in complete and utter obedience to the Father.

And sometimes the Father wanted Jesus to know what was going on in a person's mind

or what was happening at a great distance.

And other times, the Father didn't want Jesus to know that.

And Jesus never fretted over this.

He just lived in obedience to his Father.

And so sometimes the Holy Spirit would, in a sense, minister to Jesus and say,

Jesus, this is what is going on in these people's minds.

This is what it is that you have to go.

This is where you have to go next.

And so as we're going to see in the next few verses,

that not only is the church to be completely and utterly based on the life of Jesus,

but also that our ministry is to be a continuation of his ministry

and that our guidance is to come from the Holy Spirit,

just as the Jesus was guided by the Holy Spirit in his entire life of ministry.

So let's just continue.

I'll start verse one again.

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 given commands through the Holy Spirit

to the apostles whom he had chosen.

To them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs,

appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

You just sort of want to put your fingers in the Bible there,

and I just want to say a few things.

There's something really important that just was said here,

and we don't realize it because we're reading a translation of the Bible from Greek.

You know, in the time that the Bible was written,

there were two types of Greek.

There was high classical Greek of the great Greek writers

and of the great Greek poets,

and it's what really educated people would speak.

And then there was street Greek.

And the New Testament is not written in high classical Greek.

It's written in street Greek.

I think with the exception of 2 Peter.

All of the New Testament is written in street Greek, common Greek.

And one of the things which is so significant about what I just read

is that Luke uses in Greek, all of a sudden, a technical word,

a learned word,

a word that goes back to it that Aristotle encapsulated

when he was describing how to speak, how to win arguments,

and how to present an argument.

And it's the same word that's used when Greek historians

are trying to write, in a sense, scientific

or really, really accurate history

to bring out the significance of something.

And when they're trying to bring out the significance of something

and show why, you know, this thing happening

and this thing happening and this thing happening means this,

and it's really important that we understand it,

they use the word here, which we translate as proofs,

and which in your Bibles, in the New King James Version,

is translated as infallible proofs.

And so what Luke is saying here is something very, very significant.

He's saying that, you know, Luke was a pagan

who became a Christian through the ministry of St. Paul.

Luke never knew Jesus.

Luke was like you and me.

He never saw Jesus in the flesh.

He, like you and me, became a Christian

as a result of the ministry of the early Christians.

And what Luke is saying is this,

I spent years talking to Mary

and talking to Jesus' brothers

and talking to Peter

and talking to John Mark

and talking to all of these people.

And I've spent years in their company

and I've asked them detailed questions

and I am a doctor by training.

Paul calls him the beloved physician.

And I am used to careful observation

and careful diagnosis.

And I applied my skills

and I applied what I've learned

from my educated background

to interview these people.

And that when I've written my gospel

and when I've written this book of Acts,

I have not just taken a whole pile of rumors

and a whole pile of innuendo

and a whole pile of speculation

and a whole pile of mystical visions.

I have, in fact, searched

for the actual words of Jesus

and what actually happened.

And out of all that has happened

and all that has said,

I have tried to present to you

those central true points

that will lead you to the conclusion

that you should reach.

And that's what Luke is saying

when he uses this word proofs.

He's using a technical,

philosophical, historiographical.

I can't say that very well.

But you know what I mean.

He's using a very, very technical word

to communicate to you

that, you know,

these things really happened

and this is what it points to.

The earth has been invaded

by Almighty God.

And he has invaded the earth.

He has invaded the earth

not to punish you,

not to show off,

but he has invaded the earth

in the person of his son,

Jesus Christ,

to save you.

He has come as Christ

and as Lord.

He has come for you.

You can share it in his triumph.

And, in fact,

in a few moments in verse 4,

when it says,

and while staying with them,

I think in your version it says,

and they were assembled together.

In fact,

the Greek word

which is translated there

is a word that implies eating.

In other words,

Luke is saying,

you know,

Jesus didn't just sort of,

you know,

a couple of people didn't,

you know,

they weren't,

you know,

sort of starved

because they'd been too depressed

and too grief-stricken to eat

and too caught up

with religious hysteria.

And after a couple of days of this,

they've had a couple of visions of Jesus.

Luke is saying,

no,

that's not how it happened at all.

Just as what I've been telling you

about the life of Jesus

is absolutely true,

I want you to understand

that from the 40 days

of Jesus' resurrection

to the time

that his earthly ministry

comes to an end

with his ascension,

for 40 days,

time after time,

Jesus met with people

and they saw him.

And in fact,

they even gathered around the table with him

and they ate with him.

And so they know

that he really conquered sin.

They know that he really conquered death

and hell

and all hostile spiritual powers.

And not only did he spend time with them

and prove that he was alive

and that he was completely

and utterly physical,

he taught them.

He taught them.

And so,

and so that what you're getting

in the Gospels is this,

that Jesus spends 40 days

with the apostles

teaching them

about the kingdom of God,

teaching them about himself

so that as they're looking back

over the three years

that they've known him,

they say,

that's why Jesus said that

time and time again.

That's why he did that.

That's why this is so significant.

That's why,

you know,

the fact that he likes

a particular type of homus

shouldn't be in the Gospels.

But the fact that he,

that he did this

should be in the Gospels.

Like,

you know,

the fact that he had this view of,

like,

Jesus was the one

who taught them for 40 days

and he taught them

and they listened to him

with fresh ears

because he had conquered

sin and death and hell

and had shown himself alive

and they listened.

They listened.

Let's continue with our reading.

Verse four,

and while staying with them,

in other words,

he spent much time

with them,

even ate 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.

Just want to pause here

for a second as well.

Some of us

in this room

are charismatics.

Some of us

maybe are worried

about charismatics.

Maybe someday

all the charismatics

can gather in a corner

and we can say,

oh, they're the charismatics

in the congregation

and then the,

you know,

some of us

will be surprised.

No, just joking.

You know,

people sometimes

get worried

about the Holy Spirit

but one of the things

which I love

about this passage,

it's the first thing

that struck me this week

as I began

to read the text.

I read the text

every day

at least twice

apart from looking

at commentaries

as I prepare

to do my sermon

and, you know,

the way that Luke here,

the way that Jesus

describes the Holy Spirit

is this wonderful phrase,

the promise of the Father.

Now, you know,

some of us

might be worried

about, you know,

maybe being too open

to the Holy Spirit

and maybe it sounds

a little bit kooky

and maybe sometimes

people who are really

open to the Holy Spirit

do kooky things

and talk kooky ways

but I want to say

to you this,

if you just,

instead of thinking

of something

which might frighten you,

if you just listen

to this phrase

and say,

the Father has a,

the promise of the Father,

Jesus' desire

is that you and I

will be open

to the promise

of the Father.

Isn't that just

a wonderful way

to understand

the Holy Spirit?

That you and I,

Jesus' desire

for you and me

is to say,

Father,

I want more and more

of your promise.

I want the promise

of the Father

more and more

in my life,

in my strengths,

in my weaknesses,

in my day,

in my plans,

in my memories,

in everything

that makes me me.

Father,

your promise,

may I have more

and more of that.

And that's how

Jesus describes

the Holy Spirit,

the promise of the Father.

Isn't that just

so beautiful?

Verse 6,

and when they

had come together,

this is a second

type of encounter

now that Luke

is describing,

and when they

had come together,

they asked him,

Lord,

will you at this time

restore the kingdom

to Israel?

I don't have time

to do it,

but Calvin

in his commentary

said there are

as many errors

in this question

as there are words.

And Lord,

will you at this time

restore the kingdom

to Israel?

The apostles

are expecting

that Jesus

is just going

to no longer

be hidden,

but break out,

destroy the Romans,

destroy the idols,

destroy the temples,

and just rule.

Jesus answers

like this,

it is 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 end

of the earth.

Just want to pause

here for a second.

I grew up

in a church background

that always had

prophecy conferences,

and I have this

really delightful man

that I,

you know,

my real office

is the second cup

at the corner

of Rito and Dalhousie,

and there's this

wonderful man,

I think he works

as a dishwasher,

and he saw me

reading my Bible,

and he speaks

to me every day

now when he's there,

and he's a very,

very devout Christian.

He's always,

every time he reads

the news,

he only reads the news

in terms of how

it will fit in

with the second

coming of Christ,

and I just listen

to him.

It's just really nice

to have somebody

there who,

you know,

who just loves Jesus,

and I know he prays

for me while I'm

working on my sermons

and stuff like that,

and he's a great guy,

very simple guy,

but a great guy,

and, you know,

it is appropriate

for us to do

some reading

and to always

be reminded

of the fact

that Jesus

will come again.

It's very,

very important,

but at the end

of the day,

we don't know

when he's going

to come back.

I mean,

that's what Jesus

says to us

directly right here.

It's not for us

to know.

It's not for you

and me to know.

I mean,

it might be that

before I finish

this sermon,

Jesus will come back.

Wouldn't that

be fantastic?

But it might be

that he will not

come back for centuries.

And on one level,

we as Christians

have to always wait.

We have to always

try to live our lives

mindful of the fact

that at any moment

Jesus might return.

But on the other hand,

we have to plan our lives

and make our lives

saying,

how can we pass

on the gospel

to our children

and to our children's

children

and to our children's

children's children?

You know,

and we have to both

have this constant

willingness to be open

to the fact that

Jesus might come

today.

And may it be so,

Lord.

And we also have to say,

how can we,

you know,

what plans can we

as a church be making

to help communicate

and send the gospel

on from generation

to generation

and to the ends

of the earth?

And Jesus here

has just said,

you know,

you know,

Sinclair,

you don't know

when I'm going to come.

So let's get upon

your duty.

And this text

of scripture then,

Jesus says,

you know,

you're going to receive

power of the Holy Spirit.

When God says

that we're going

to receive power,

what that tells us

is that we don't have

enough of our own.

You know,

he doesn't say,

gosh,

look how talented

Sinclair is

and look how talented

the people of St. Albans are.

Let's give them a task

they can accomplish

by themselves.

In a sense,

Jesus doesn't even

pay any attention

to that.

He says,

George and the people

of St. Albans,

I want you to fast

and pray

and I want you

to read my word

and I want you

to be open

to whatever big goals

and big projects

I want to give you

and I want you

to seek my will

and then I want you

to step out in faith

and do it

because you know what?

I'm always going

to give you something.

If you're listening

and if you're obedient,

I'm always going

to give you something

more than your power

and more than your wealth

and more than your time

and more than your numbers,

I'm always going

to give you stuff

like that

because I don't want you

to rely upon your own power.

I want you

to rely upon me.

That's what God

keeps saying.

I want you

to rely upon me.

You know,

you folks,

you don't need more of me.

You need more of Jesus.

You don't need more of me.

You need more of the Father.

You don't need more of me.

You need more of the promise

of the Father,

the Holy Spirit.

And you don't need

more of each other.

You need more of God.

And so,

you know,

when the word power

here is used,

Jesus is saying,

God can give you

the resources.

He can give you

the power

to accomplish

his projects.

And his projects

and his will

is always going

to be beyond

your power.

get on your knees.

You know,

get on your knees.

That's what the text

is saying to me

and to you.

Get on our knees.

And the other thing

which is so wonderful

about this text

is that we're called

to be witnesses.

To be witnesses.

That's really,

really a wonderful thing.

You know,

because some of us

aren't very philosophically inclined

and some of us

aren't very,

very good at archaeology

and some of us

don't know Greek.

Probably none of us

other than Dave

knows Greek.

And, you know,

none of us maybe

are really good at this

and really good at that

but, you know,

all of us can say,

this is who Jesus is.

This is what he wants

to do for you.

Like,

all of us can be witnesses.

And not only

can we all be witnesses

but this text

is in a sense

also causing us

saying,

God wants to keep

kicking you out

of the church.

Because as I've said,

some of you

who are regular members here,

you're maybe familiar

with this line of me,

is that Christianity

is not a come-to religion

but a go-to faith.

Christianity is not,

let's get things

inside these walls

the way we like them

and then we can just wonder

when people are going to come.

That's not what Christianity is.

Christianity is not

a come-to religion

but a go-to faith

where we are to take,

we are to think

of those first

and second

and third steps

that we are to make

to our neighbours.

And not only

to our neighbours

but our neighbours

in Toronto

and our neighbours

in Vancouver

and our neighbours

in Asia

and our neighbours

in Africa.

We are to take,

we are to think

through and pray

through those first steps

towards our Muslim neighbours

or our Buddhist neighbours

or the Goths

or the people

who have lots of metal

stuck in inappropriate places

in their bodies

at least for some of us

old people like me

and we are not to say

when on earth

are they going to come

to their senses

and come to us.

That's the mindset

of a come-to religion.

Jesus calls us

to a go-to faith

and maybe in many cases

it calls us

to begin to pray

for our Muslim mechanic

and our Buddhist doctor

and the Goth

who serves us coffee

at the Starbucks

and that maybe God

is saying

you know what George

I've called you

to that mechanic

and that doctor

and to go to that coffee place

so you can begin

to pray for them

that they will come

to know Jesus

and maybe as we are praying

about how they can

come to know Jesus

then maybe he's going

to convict you

of some big hairy goal

or some brand new thing

that we can do

that's well beyond

our power

and then you know folks

we're to roll up

our sleeves

and get on our knees

and say okay God

let's try to do this

because we can't do it

in our own strength.

So that's what Jesus says

you're to be my witnesses

in Jerusalem

and in all Judea

and Samaria

and to the end 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

the cloud in a sense

it's an image

of the Shekinah glory

of the Old Testament

it is an image

of Jesus

entering into God's glory

and at the same time

the fact that

the cloud

after Jesus

has reached

a certain point

blocks our sight

of him

and while they were

gazing into heaven

as he went

behold two men

they're both angels

stood by them

in white robes

and said

men of Galilee

why do you stand

looking into heaven

this Jesus

who has taken up

from you

into heaven

will come

in the same way

as you saw him

go into heaven

later on in the liturgy

folks we're going to say

Christ has died

Christ has risen

Christ will come again

and just as Jesus Christ

came and walked

amongst us

and in a physical form

and just as

after he had tasted

all there is

to taste of death

he rose triumphant

over sin and death

and the evil one

and he ate

with the disciples

and he talked

to the disciples

and the disciples

touched him

and he ascended

bodily into heaven

Christ has died

Christ has risen

Christ will come again

someday

the same Jesus

will return

may it be today

let us pray

Jesus we thank

and praise you

that out of love

for us

you set aside

your glory

and your splendor

out of love

for us

you set all

of that aside

and took upon yourself

the humble form

of a servant

that you took upon yourself

our human nature

and walked amongst us

we thank and praise you

Jesus

that you tasted

all there is to taste

of suffering

and trials

and temptations

only you never lost

perfect communion

with the Father

you never disobeyed him

you never rebelled

against the Holy Spirit

but in all of your trials

and temptations

and sufferings

you remained

in obedience

to the Father

and open

to the moving

of the Holy Spirit

we give you thanks

and praise Jesus

that you died upon the cross

and on the cross

you bore

in your body

and in your person

all of my sins

and the sins

of the people

in this room

and the sins

of the whole world

all that separates us

from the Father

you bore

in your body

and in your person

we thank and praise you

Jesus

that you did this

out of love for us

and that out of love for us

you tasted all there is

to taste of death

and that out of love for us

you rose triumphant

over sin and death

and the evil one

on Easter Sunday

we thank and praise you

that out of love for us

you taught the apostles

and convinced them

of your triumph

we thank and praise you

Jesus

that out of love for us

the Holy Spirit

is sent abroad

into the world

and abroad

into our hearts

teaching us

to say yes to Jesus

yes to his triumph

and victory

yes to him as Savior

yes to him as Lord

loving Father

may you send your promise

upon us more

and more and more

that all that we are

might be one yes to you

in Jesus' name we pray

Amen

which are will be a

God bless you

thank Sah الله

is spared