John Cross Referenced - Acts 1:8

Text

Start with any questions about this morning

Acts 1:4–8 “While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””

As we have moved through the gospel of John

we just concluded a substantial section of text

and that is Jesus’ ministry in

Jerusalem

In Jerusalem he cleared the tables

and he spoke with Nicodemus

Judea

He was preaching while his disciples were baptizing

His ministry was working in tandem with John the baptists

then he got pushed out from there and headed north

Samaria

Where we had the woman at the well

and the we had what seems to be all or the majority of the town of Sychar converted

after they spent 2 days with him

and to the Gentiles

which is what we discussed this morning

with the Royal Official

However, one thing I find very

lets say reassuring

or respectable is this

Pause

Most of us here have been in some sort of professional setting

whether that is working within the church body

whether thats in the work force

something along those lines

and one thing about each and every one of those avenues

is the fact that they all require leadership

whether you are the business owner

the supervisor

etc

all of us have worked under leadership

and some if not all of us have been in some sort of leadership role

I personally, within the fire department

am in a leadership role

So part of my studies within that context has been in the form of leadership

and as I prepare and are in this role of ministry

I again must prepare myself to be a leader if you will

Now I got some of my best advice when I was entering

both seminary and moving up in the ranks at the FD

I asked my then fire chief

whom has since retired

what is the best book I can read on leadership

or on how I can serve those under me

and his reply was fantastic

he said, well, I believe you already are reading it

that is, the bible

and that was substantial to me to look at God this way

and to look at Christ this way

and there is 2 fold points that I am trying to make with this

the first is the fact that Jesus portrayed this servant leadership style

The definition of servant leadership is

or we can define it as the philosophy built on the belief that the most effective leaders strive to serve others

rather that accrue power or take control

another way of putting it is that the servant leaders primary focus

is the well being of the people and community in which they lead

And Jesus perfectly displays this throughout his entire life

and well I suppose currently as well

Now within this philosophy of leadership there is another thing that is paramount

it is the fact that as leaders

we are to never ask our people to do something that

1 - we have never done ourselves

or 2 - to do something we are not willing to do ourself

Now I said all of that to say this

Of all the things Jesus commanded us to do

every single one of them

as far as I can tell with my little bit knowledge

all of those things Jesus did first

Jesus showed us how to do each and every single thing he askes us to do

which gets us back to where we started

See in Matthew 28:18–20 We have the great commission “Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

Jesus said this after he did it himself

so now lets move over to our text this morning

we are in Acts

Im not going to do a deep dive introduction into Acts

But I will say the purpose of the book of Acts

written my Luke

was to provide a history of the early church

with the emphasis being on the great commission

as we just read it

See the book of Acts records the apostles being Christ’s

witnesses in where?

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaira, and the surrounding world

(The gentiles)

But I love how Jesus modeled chapter 1 verse 8 perfectly for us

which is the section we just concluded as we discussed at the start

So, our launching point this evening will be V8

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you,

This of course is talking about Pentacost right

When the church would receive the Holy Spirit

The helper that Jesus spoke about

and the very reason he had to go

so that the Spirit could come

the same spirit that was there at creation

that enabled Jesus to do the things he did

now came,

and dwelled first with them

and now with us

and it is with this help

that we will be enabled to be witnesses as well

as V8 continues

…… and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””

See the apostles were ready for Jesus’ second coming

or for his to come and take his reign as he spoke about

Just before this they asked him

Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?

Now they are on the mount of olives right now

this is where this assembly was as Jesus is about to ascend into heaven

Now they ask Jesus this because the concluded from

1 - his resurrection

and 2 - from the promise of the Holy Spirit

that the messianic era would now start

and the salvation for Israel would commence

they were probably even still thinking that

it would be the restoration of a military and political kingdom

that would drive out Rome and restore Israel

But thats not what Jesus had in mind

which is why he told them in

Acts 1:7 “He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.”

So, what they to do in the meantime

They are to what

be HIS witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth

He pretty much corrected their question with this commission

and this commission is not just for Israel

it is for the entire world

and it is also a commission for us

So lets look at the 30,000 feet view of how that happened

This is amazingly an outline of the book of Acts

Acts chapters 1-7 covers the witness to Jerusalem

Acts chapters 8-12 to Judea and Samaria

Acts chapters 13-28 to the end of the earth

or Rome or … the gentiles …

So

In Chapters 1-7 we see

Peters Great Sermon at Pentacost

We then see the apostles authority confirmed by their ability to do signs and wonders

their ability to heal

we then see John and Peter arrested

and they are arrested and beaten for spreading the Gospel there in Jeruselum

a favorite verse of mine from this section is

Acts 4:19 “Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard”

we them move to them living in communion and really getting thrown in and out of prison

We have Gamaliels advice

then we have the great story of the first martyr

The story of Stephens stoning

From this one event the church is rocked

and is pushed out

pushed out to where

Well in chapters 8-12 we have it pushed out to Judea and Samaria

We are introduced to Saul and his great persecution

which only helps the great commission

We see Philip preach in Samaria

then to the Ethiopian official

which probably got the Gospel to Africa

Peter visits Cornelius and realized

or the point is at least solidified that the gospel is for the gentiles as well

Peter says in Acts 10:34–35 “Peter began to speak: “Now I truly understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, but in every nation the person who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”

Paul is converted on the road to damascus during this section

this opens the door to Pauls ministry which will really take hold and push the gospel to where

to Rome

the - to then ends of the earth as they knew it

Finally, in chapters 13-28

Pauls takes center stage and he begins his

Missionary journeys

in this section

Paul is beaten

He makes friends and loses friends

he makes some tents

gets kicked out of a synagogue

so he set up camp right next door

lol

He picks up Luke

and amazingly we now have the Gospel of Luke and this very letter thanks to him

what else

he’s ship wrecked

then he goes on house arrest

Now, that is a whirlwind through the book of ACTS

but it shows us the explosion of the gospel

and how us, as servants of Christ are to be that vessel

Just as it was the purpose of the early church to do so

TRANSITION

So what do we take from all of this

See Jesus commanded to do both

we are to wait and to work

we are to wait for his kingdom to be restored on earth

when we are to reunited with him whether here on

earth or in heaven

that glorious time of his second coming

but in the meantime

we are to work

we are to try and usher in as many souls into the kingdom as possible

by spreading his message of hope, grace, forgiveness

and judgement

we are to be about our fathers business

being the salt and light of this world

I will close it out with this verse in 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Jesus showed us then commanded us to take the gospel to everyone everywhere

and it is our honor to do so

Let’s Pray!