3 Aspects of God’s Gospel

A Child's Wisdom

"A little girl was sitting on her grandfather s lap as he read her a bedtime story.From time to time, she would take her eyes off the book and reach up

to touch his wrinkled cheek. She was alternately stroking her own cheek, then his again.Finally she spoke up, Grandpa, did God make you? Yes, sweetheart,

he answered, God made me a long time ago. Oh, she paused, grandpa, did God make me too? Yes, indeed, honey, he said, God made you just a

little while ago. Feeling their respective faces again, she observed, God s getting better at it, isn t he? "

Historical/Cultural Context -

Luke was a physician (Col. 4:14) and a travel companion of the apostle Paul. He wrote this Gospel and its sequel, the book of Acts. The earliest possible date of Luke–Acts is immediately after the events that Luke recorded in Acts 28, which would have been c. A.D. 62. Both Luke and Acts are addressed to “Theophilus” (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1), about whom nothing more is known. Luke’s broader audience consisted primarily of Gentile Christians like Theophilus who had already “been taught” (Luke 1:4) about Jesus.

Luke had several goals in writing: (1) to assure his readers of the truth of what they had been taught; (2) to help them understand how Israel’s rejection of Jesus and the Gentiles’ entrance into the kingdom of God are part of God’s plan; (3) to clarify that Jesus did not teach that his bodily return would come immediately but that there would be a period between his resurrection and his return; and (4) to emphasize that they need not fear any mere earthly power such as Rome.

Biblical Text -

Acts 1:1–26 NKJV

The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner 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. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry.” (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it’; and, ‘Let another take his office.’ “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - The Gospel Creates A Hunger In People & Will Never Fail.

Life Point- The Gospel Truly Is Good News

Exegetical -

Acts 1:4–11 NLT

Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

Homiletical -

John Baptized with water but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

We will get more into the ins and outs in Acts 2. But it is sufficient to say that though these were His disciples they had difficulty with the concept of spiritual things. You see the gift of the Holy Spirit that indwells every believer on salvation had not been given yet because Jesus had not yet ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father.

To be baptized with the Spirit is to be totally immersed in His presence. We used to say from the top of our head to the bottom of our feet. No we don’t live by feelings but by faith, but sometimes God gives us what I call the Holy Ghost Goose Bumps.

Now, During one of the times that Jesus was eating with them He told them not to leave Jerusalem until the promised Holy Spirit came to them.

So what is their response? Was it earthly or spiritual. Well a little bit of both but a lot of the physical.

They knew at this point, after His resurrection, that He was and is the Messiah, the ruler over all things. So they ask the most burning question on their hearts at this time. Will Jesus restore the kingdom of Israel. In other words will He now lead a revolt and overthrow the Roman Empire.

Jesus responds with the Father alone knows dates and times and they are not for us to know. We are told to leave that alone.

This is why those that predict the time and return are always going to be wrong. But does that stop some people? NO! There are many charlatan who will set a date and time and you know what? They will always be wrong. Yes we should know the time is coming, no we will not know with exactitude.

I even heard of a guy who wrote a book called 88 reasons Jesus will come back in 1988 and he made quite a bit of money selling this thing.

Matthew 24:23–26 NLT

“Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. See, I have warned you about this ahead of time. “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it!

Jesus now ascends to heaven and two men in white robes appear to them. These are angels. The angels say to them why do you stand gazing up? The same way He left will be the way He returns.

I got good news for you. One of these days Jesus is going to split the sky wide open and return to the earth. But He won’t be coming again as a lamb who was lead to slaughter, but as a conquering king who will judge all mankind.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 NLT

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.

This truly is good news because it means there is more to life than what we have now. We will be given a glorified body and sin will no longer be a struggle. Though we are free from the curse of sin, our salvation experience will be complete, lacking nothing on that day.

Life Point - The Gospel Creates Hunger

Exegetical -

Acts 1:12–14 NLT

Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile. When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were staying. Here are the names of those who were present: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the zealot), and Judas (son of James). They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.

Homiletical -

The good news of Jesus created a spiritual hunger in His disciples and all that were in the upper room. I won’t belabor this point but look what happened. These disciples and believers went to an upper room that was small and cramped and hot.

What did they do there?

They all met together and were constantly united in prayer.

This is what is missing in churches today. We don’t spend enough time in prayer and unity with one another.

Do you want unity in the church, then get down and do some intensive prayer with the person you’re mad at because you can’t pray for someone, I mean truly pray for them when you are mad at them. You will make it right and then you will pray.

Illustration -

When I was a teenager in high school I used to meet every Monday night with some elderly ladies that could pray. You talk about experiencing the presence of God. They had it in just about every prayer meeting. You needed something and if they prayed about it, if it was God’s will well it happened.

We would come together and sing songs for 15 minutes or so and then share requests for no more than 15 minutes and then we would get on our knees, both literally and physically and pray together for 30 - 45 minutes. A lot of times the presence of the Lord was so powerful that by the end all you wanted to do was just sit there and bask in His presence, just soaking it up.

If you have never experienced anything like that, the first time you do it will create a hunger in you for God like you have never known before.

Life Point - The Gospel Will Not Be Stopped

Exegetical -

Acts 1:15–26 NLT

During this time, when about 120 believers were together in one place, Peter stood up and addressed them. “Brothers,” he said, “the Scriptures had to be fulfilled concerning Judas, who guided those who arrested Jesus. This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David. Judas was one of us and shared in the ministry with us.” (Judas had bought a field with the money he received for his treachery. Falling headfirst there, his body split open, spilling out all his intestines. The news of his death spread to all the people of Jerusalem, and they gave the place the Aramaic name Akeldama, which means “Field of Blood.”) Peter continued, “This was written in the book of Psalms, where it says, ‘Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it.’ It also says, ‘Let someone else take his position.’ “So now we must choose a replacement for Judas from among the men who were with us the entire time we were traveling with the Lord Jesus— from the time he was baptized by John until the day he was taken from us. Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus’ resurrection.” So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they all prayed, “O Lord, you know every heart. Show us which of these men you have chosen as an apostle to replace Judas in this ministry, for he has deserted us and gone where he belongs.” Then they cast lots, and Matthias was selected to become an apostle with the other eleven.

Homiletical -

So while this is going on there is about 120 people there in prayer.

Peter stands up to address the crowd. Notice he uses scripture to show that another Apostle must be chosen because Judas went and killed himself. It is believed he hung himself and then his mid section ruptured and his bowels spilled out.

So they look around and find some folks who had been there since the beginning Joseph and Matthias.

How do they come to the right conclusion to take Judas’s place?

Do they form a pulpit search committee or special called business meeting to discuss it?

Do they take resumes and interview these guys endlessly.

None of the above. They narrow it down to 2 and through dice to see who will take over. This is one of the most important decisions in the History of Christianity and they are playing dice.

Yup that’s what they did. To the modern mind that seems wrong, but remember we serve a God who uses the abased things to confound the wise. So God blesses their efforts and Matthias is chosen as one of the 12.

This is how God did things one time. This is not a normative event or circumstance. I believe we are called to use Godly wisdom and much prayer when we make big decisions that affect the church.

You know what this teaches us? It teaches us that the gospel is bigger than one man, it is more powerful than any preacher. God’s will, will be accomplished with or without us. It mean’s don’t get too big for your britches. I have seen many pastors get too big headed for themselves and I have seen many people in the pews do the same thing. We are not too big to fail.

Isaiah 55:11 NLT

It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

Life Principle– The Gospel Creates A Hunger In People & Will Never Fail.

Call to Action – altar call….