Spirit-Empowered Witnesses of the King

Introduction

In Luke 10, Jesus said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few." Now, he’s not talking about corn and beans and farmers, the harvest he’s referring to are human beings made in the image of God who have rejected their Creator, who have rejected the glory of God and because of this rejection are lost and dead in their sins and under the righteous wrath of God.

And while the harvest is plentiful the one thing that is lacking are disciples of Jesus who will go into the world with the hope of the gospel proclaiming salvation and reconciliation with God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

So, I’ll say it again, “The harvest is plentiful...”

In November of last year, the world population hit 8 billion people. Of that 8 billion, over 3.3 billion have not yet heard the name of Jesus, they remain unreached.

Our culture is continuing to spiral into decay and wickedness. Evil is not only being recognized but celebrated and welcomed.

In the U.S. there is a rise in those claiming no religious affiliation while those who identify as Christian are decreasing. In Bloomington/Normal, over 51% claim no religious affiliation and another 16% hold to a non-Christian religious belief which means in a city of roughly 130,000 people over 85,000 people in our city alone are without hope in Christ.

And every Sunday at the end of the service we send you into this world, into our city to reach those who are without Christ.

85,000 people in just our surrounding area are in need. Over 200 million in our country do not follow Christ and over 3 billion people in the world have not even heard the name of Jesus.

3 billion! Let me put that into perspective. If you put away $100 a day it would take you over 82 thousand years to reach $3 billion.

If you decided one day that you wanted to count to 3 billion. So, if you didn’t eat, didn’t sleep, didn’t work, just sat in a room and counted, it would take you over 300 years to reach 3 billion.

If you were to take a 3 billion step hike, you’d be able to walk around the circumference of the earth over 45 times.

Do you feel overwhelmed? Do you feel burdened? Do you see and understand the obstacles in front of you? When we send you into the world at the end of each service does knowing these things make it seem like the task in front of us is too much? Yes?

Good. Then you need this text and the promise that Jesus gives. We need to understand and know that we do not go into this world as witnesses in our power and strength. We need the power and strength that comes from the Holy Spirit.

Problem

Jesus has promised us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has come. Jesus told us that the Spirit would empower us to be faithful witnesses for the cause of the gospel. The problem is we rely and rest more in our own strength and power rather than in the power of the Spirit.

Which then leaves us defeated, tired, weary, and restless. And the more we seek to live in our own strength and ability the more we grow in arrogance and pride and self-centeredness. When we exalt in our ability and effort the gospel shrinks while we bask in the glow of self-righteousness.

Main Aim

I don’t think I need to convince any believers in here that there is much to be done for the cause of Christ in the world today, the question is, will we not only live as King Jesus has called us to live, as witnesses of his glory and his gospel, but also, will we go in the Spirit’s power?

In verse 1 of Acts, the author, Luke says that in his first book, which is the recorded gospel of Luke he “dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.”

The book of Acts is the continuation of Jesus’ words and deeds as accomplished through the church empowered by the Holy Spirit just as Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit.

God has given us everything we need to make much of Christ in a hardened and sinful world. But we must first die to ourselves, our pride, our strength and rest in the power and strength the Spirit gives us to be witnesses in our cities and to the end of the earth.

Big Idea

If I could summarize the text before us today it would be that,

The risen King Jesus sends his followers into the world to be Spirit-empowered witnesses of the Kingdom of God.

Body

The text today is going to answer three questions:

Why do we go to not only our cities but to the end of the earth?

Well, the first few points will answer that question:

Because Jesus is alive, he’s exalted, and is worthy.

The second question asks:

How do we go?

We go, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

The third question asks:

For how long do we go?

And that’ll be tackled with the final point:

Until the King returns.

Now, Acts 1 is going to be our primary text today but I’m going to supplement it with Luke’s other accounting of Jesus’ commissioning of his disciples and ascension to heaven found in Luke 24. So, if you have your Bible’s with you, go ahead and turn to Luke 24 as well and just put your finger there cause we’ll be going back and forth.

Let’s start with the first question. Why do we go?

Let’s look at verses 1-3 again in Acts 1.

Acts 1:1–3

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. 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.

Why do we go? Why do we endure suffering and oppression and persecution and trouble? Why do we sacrifice and give? Because,

The King is alive.

Listen, Christianity rises and falls on Jesus and nothing else. If Jesus is dead, then Christianity is dead. If Jesus is alive then Christianity is alive and true. It’s as simple as that.

Luke says in verse 3 that Jesus presented himself alive…by many proofs. Like what? Turn to Luke 24.

Verse 36. This is the evening of the resurrection. It’s been quite a day. The disciples had not yet seen Jesus, a few of them had seen the empty tomb but not Jesus himself, but some others, like some of the women who went to the tomb first thing that morning did see Jesus and now word was beginning to spread that Jesus has been seen alive. There were now some eye-witness testimonies.

That’s where we pick it up in verse 36.

Luke 24:36–43

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

Jesus presents himself alive to his disciples by having them touch him and observe his hands and his feet. Now, why his hands and his feet? Well, what has just taken place that weekend? His crucifixion. Nails were hammered through his hands and his feet. Jesus has a risen body, he’s been gloriously transformed, yet he still bears the scars of his suffering.

How beautiful is this? For all of eternity as we enjoy life forever with Christ in the new heaven and new earth the church will be continually reminded of the cost and sacrifice which brought it about and love Christ had for His people by willingly going to the cross.

And still, here and now, the scars that Jesus showed his disciples was reason enough for them to now go and be his witnesses to the end of the earth. Not only is Jesus the one true King he’s the King who has defeated death, mankind’s enemy.

A king is only worth following if he is in fact alive, and a King that triumphs over death is one worth following into eternity and into the face of suffering.

Being a witness of Jesus will bring about suffering. If Jesus suffered, we will suffer. But because Christ overcame suffering and death, we who belong to Him will overcome through Him and through the power of the Spirit. Like Jesus, as witnesses we will bear the scars of suffering, but through Christ, we will overcome.

Probably most of you, if not all of you have never heard the name Robert Chesebrough. But you’ve heard of the product he invented, Vaseline. Robert believed so much in his product that he became his own guinea pig. He burned himself with acid and flame; he cut and scratched himself so often and so deeply that he bore the scars of his tests the rest of his life. But he proved his product worked. People would only have to look at his wounds, now healed, to see the value of his work.

Jesus bore the scars to prove his death was real and sufficient. His resurrection proved that the payment he made with his life was good. So, do we, with our own lives show that Jesus is alive and worthy of our worship, affection, and adoration? Does our witness bear testimony to the hope in Christ above all things? Does your life reflect the joy that comes from following a risen King?

Point number 2. Why do we go?

The King has been gloriously exalted.

Take a look at verse 9 in Acts 1.

Acts 1:9

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.

In Luke 24, verse 51 it says, “he left them and was carried up into heaven.”

If you were here a few weeks ago when we were walking through Mark 13 regarding the second coming of Christ you may recall that Jesus said that when he returns he’s coming “in the clouds.” And that’s significant because throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, God’s presence and glory has been seen through pillars of clouds.

In Exodus 13 God’s presence leads the people of Israel away from Egypt in a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. In Exodus 19 God’s presence rests on Mount Sinai in a thick cloud. In Exodus 33 any time Moses would meet with God in the tent of meeting a thick cloud would cover the tent.

We see this throughout the Old Testament. It’s a picture of God’s presence and glory so when Jesus is carried up into heaven in a cloud it’s signifying Jesus’ glory and exaltation and authority over heaven and earth.

This exaltation and authority is what Paul speaks of in Philippians 2 following the death of Christ.

Philippians 2:8–11

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

In Matthew 28 when Jesus is commissioning his disciples to go make disciples he declares that “all authority” in heaven and earth has been given to him. He reigns over all.

Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection brought the kingdom of God. Right? All authority has been given to him in heaven and earth. And his return will bring about the final consummation of the Kingdom where every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is Lord. Where sin and death will be destroyed.

Until that day, the church lives at witnesses of his Kingship and glory. The church is an outpost of the Kingdom of God who live as subjects under his reign and rule. And we reveal to the world, as witnesses of his reign what life under his rule looks like. It is good, and freeing, and joy-filled.

And this is where we individually and corporately as the body of Christ need to press in and examine our lives. Are we seeing Jesus as the gloriously exalted King over our lives? Do our lives reflect his ultimate authority over us or are there other inferior authorities aside from Christ that we place as ultimate authorities over our lives?

It could be the authority of self. The authority of emotion and what I feel is right and what I want to do rather than submitting to God’s Word. Maybe it’s the authority of success and accomplishment. Striving to be recognized by others.

There’s really no shortage of inferior or false authorities in the world that seek to rule us but often, what we give authority over our lives is not as life-giving as it may seem.

For decades, anyone living within five - six miles of a hat factory in Denver, Pennsylvania, set their clocks and watches by the sirens the factory set off five days a week. So, at 5:30a, the wake-up siren would begin the day followed by the starting, lunchtime, and quitting sirens at the designated times. The entire town set their days by these sounds.

When the siren system was eventually disbanded, someone asked the timekeeper at this factory about his job. He was asked what he used to determine the exact time. This time that the whole town was setting their day by. He chuckled, reached into his pocket and pulled out a child’s Mickey Mouse watch.

Some experts are not as authoritative as they may seem. Anything we place over our lives ahead of the authority of Christ is foolish and childish.

Does your life reflect glad and joyful submission to Christ as King? Are we witness of His glory and Lordship? What are the idols of your heart that often take precedence over Jesus? How do these idols interfere with the mission Jesus has given us to be witnesses?

Point number three. We’ll answer the why and the how. Why do we go? How do we go?

The King is worthy of joyful, Spirit-empowered proclamation.

Verse 8 of Acts 1.

Acts 1:8

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.”

Really the rest of the book of Acts is this verse being played out. Jesus ascends back to God the Father, the Spirit comes and the world is turned upside down as these disciples give witness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

This mission right here has not changed for the church today. Who are these witnesses today? All believers. If you are a follower of Jesus, then you are a witness to his life, death, and resurrection.

Which means that every believer lives with a missionary mindset.

It was Charles Spurgeon who once said to his church,

“Every Christian here is either a missionary or an imposter.” - C.H. Spurgeon

Now, what’s that mean and what do I mean by having a “missionary mindset.”

Well, when missionaries are looking to cross cultural barriers, enter new countries they learn the language, they learn the culture, they seek to figure out what the cultural idols are. This may come as a shock to us, but not everyone acts or thinks like Americans.

So, missionaries want to learn the culture that they’re seeking to engage because they want to be able to speak a better story into the culture.

We see this throughout the book of Acts. The content of the gospel doesn’t change, but methods do. When the Jewish people are being evangelized in Acts, Old Testament passages are used to show how it pointed to Christ. When Paul’s engaging with the Gentiles, like we see in Acts 17 he’s using a more academic approach. He identifies their common heart idols, their desire to worship something or someone and then even uses their own poets to show how their hearts are searching for truth and meaning and then reveals Jesus as the Savior their hearts long for.

We need to live with that same mindset as witnesses. So, what would you identify as the heart idols in Bloomington/Normal? What about your neighbors? What are they hoping in? What do they see as the remedy for life’s pain and suffering?

To be witnesses we need to not only know those things but then know how to share a better story that reveals Jesus as their eternal hope.

And if you’re like, well, that’s why we have pastors and missionaries. They do that work. No, you’re wrong. I don’t live next to your neighbor. You do. You know what my responsibility is? To equip you to do the work.

But as we see, this witness needs to expand beyond our street, beyond our neighborhood, beyond our city. As the gospel is spread and shared through our witness, that’s when the church multiplies outward to not only our surrounding region through new churches being planted, but to our nation, and across borders. Especially in areas of the world that still remain unreached.

And if you’re thinking, that’s too much. I work at State Farm, or Country, or ISU, or I teach or I’m a stay at home mom. You’re the one who went to school for all this theological training. How can I do this?

That’s a great place to be. Answer. You can’t. We need the Holy Spirit. What’s Jesus say in verse 8? You will receive…say that word…power.

Luke 24:48–49

You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

What do we need? We need power to do these things. And thank God he gives us the Spirit. The Spirit of God who was active in Creation. The Spirit of God who was active throughout the story of the Old Testament empowering the saints of old to accomplish all that God gave them. The Spirit of God who empowered Jesus to do what he accomplished on earth. The Spirit of God which raised Christ from the dead.

Now, wait, you might be thinking, Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit? Yes.

Look at verse 2 of Acts 1. Jesus gave his disciples commands, “through the Holy Spirit.”

In Matthew 3:16 Jesus is baptized and the Spirit of God rested on Him.

Matthew 3:16

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;

That sounds similar to how the Spirit rests on us.

In Luke 4 Jesus is led into the wilderness following his baptism to fast, meaning to be dependent upon His Father alone and to be tempted by the Devil to reveal that he is the true Messiah.

Luke 4:1

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness

He’s there for forty days and then begins his public ministry empowered by the Spirit.

Luke 4:14

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.

Acts 10:38

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

And here’s where you find encouragement to go as faithful, Spirit-empowered witnesses. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead now empowers you and gives life to you.

Romans 8:11

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Jesus turned the world upside down through his words and deeds empowered by the Spirit of God. We now, the church continue his mission as Spirit-empowered witnesses of Christ, who live, by God’s grace as Jesus lived doing good deeds and faithfully proclaiming the gospel.

Do you live with a missionary mindset? What are the heart idols of our city? What are people hoping in? What gives them a sense of identity and worth? How might you, through the Spirit’s power help the name of Christ spread not only throughout our city but to the nations where Christ has not yet been named? What does your prayer life look like in regards to your neighbors, our nation, and unreached people groups?

If you are a believer, you have the Spirit of God empowering you. But we’ve got to die to self. We’ve got to trust, we need to depend on him, we need to pray and we need to soak in God’s Word to our bones if we’re going to be Spirit-empowered witnesses.

Lastly, really quickly here. We’ve tackled the why, the how. Now, for how long?

Point number four.

The King’s mission remains unchanged until His return.

Verses 10-11.

Acts 1:10–11

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 up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Jesus has ascended. The disciples are watching in awe. But they now have a mission and a task ahead of them. And so, these two angels are there to gently remind them to get to work.

They’re saying to them, “Listen, Jesus is coming back but until then you’re witnesses of Christ.”

All of us in this room have lots of responsibilities. Lots of things we’re in charge of and need to do. But never forget that first and foremost, you’re witnesses. Meaning, we are to live with a single-minded pursuit to make much of Jesus in all domains of life.

Scripture helps here.

1 Corinthians 10:31

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Like I said, we all have responsibilities. And most responsibilities are good. I’m not talking about dumping them. What I am talking about is seeing them through the lens of bringing glory to God.

Most of us have jobs in this room. Our jobs are not our identity but through our jobs in how we work and how we engage with co-workers, and how we work with integrity is meant to bring glory to God.

Our culture disciples us to think that we find our value, worth, identity, and mission in our jobs and careers. Scripture says, you already have value, worth, an identity and a mission which leads us to our jobs.

So, every aspect of our life is meant to be lived to bring glory to God and by doing so we live counter-culturally as Spirit-empowered witnesses. We’re telling a better story.

But we do need to ask, are the things in our lives, the things we put in our lives are they ways in which we can tell that story or are they distractions from our mission as witnesses? There may be things we do need to say no to so that we stay on course until the King returns or takes us home.

In Jules Verne’s novel The Mysterious Island, he tells of five men who escape a Civil War prison camp by hijacking a hot-air balloon. As they rise into the air, they realize the wind is carrying them over the ocean. Watching their homeland disappear on the horizon, they wonder how much longer the balloon can stay aloft.

As the hours pass and the surface of the ocean draws closer, the men decide they must cast overboard some of the weight, for they had no way to heat the air in the balloon. Shoes, overcoats, and weapons are reluctantly discarded, and the they feel their balloon rise. But only temporarily. Soon they find themselves dangerously close to the waves again, so they toss their food. Better to be high and hungry than drown on a full belly!

Unfortunately, this, too, is only a temporary solution, and the balloon again threatens to lower the men into the sea. One man has an idea: they can tie the ropes that hold the passenger car and sit on those ropes. Then they can cut away the basket beneath them. As they sever the very thing they had been standing on, it drops into the ocean, and the balloon rises.

Finally, they spot land. The five jump into the water and swim to the island. They live, spared because they were able to discern the difference between what really was needed and what was not. The “necessities” they once thought they couldn’t live without were the very weights that almost cost them their lives.

The writer of Hebrews says,

Hebrews 12:1

Let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

What are the distractions in your life that need to be cut loose so that we stay on mission? What are the sins in your life that need to be put to death?

Conclusion

We worship a risen King. A King who has been exalted who has been given a name that is above every name. This King is worthy of our adoration, worship, and proclamation. He is worthy to be spoken of and boldly declared.

The King has commissioned us to go empowered by the Spirit to the ends of the earth with the hope of the gospel.

And we are to continue undistracted until either Christ takes us home or he returns. The question is, are you in the game? The life of a believer is not one of boredom or apathy it’s truly one of excitement and adventure and glory but also of grace-driven effort.

We get to be on the front lines. Jesus is redeeming people and bringing them from darkness into the light. Their debt being paid and cancelled, new life given, hope eternal and we get a front row seat to see it all!

We get to see racial barriers, cultural barriers, language barriers, geographical barriers, all other barriers broken down as Jesus the King saves people from every tribe, language and tongue through the proclamation of faithful, Spirit-empowered witnesses.

Does that excite you?

Is the task ahead of us large? Yes. Will there be pain and suffering along the way? Yes. Will it involve sacrifice. Yes. But will it be worth it all? Church, how do we answer? Yes!

Why? Because the King is alive. Because the King has gone before us and paved the way. Because the King has destroyed the power of sin and death. Because the King has overcome the world.

This means that the obstacles we see in front of us are no obstacles at all if we go in the power of the Spirit of God. Christ will be proclaimed to all people. He is building His church and not even the gates of Hell can stop it. The victory belongs to Christ.

So, will you go, in the Spirit’s power to make much of Christ, to expand the kingdom of God in our Jerusalem (our city), our Judea and Samaria (our nation), and to the end of the earth?