From the City….Empowered for Mission

Acts 1:6-8

Acts 1

Acts 1:1–18 ESV

1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 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. 4 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; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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.” 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. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 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.” 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. 15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.

The book of Acts is a continuation of Luke’s Gospel account. Where in his first work, he focused on the life, death,

and resurrection of Jesus as he made a case for following Jesus being resonable and correct, his second book continues to focus on the work of Jesus,

but through His church on earth as empowered by the Holy Spirit.

So it is not surprising then that He starts out his historical account with Jesus empowering his disciples to spread the truth throughout the world.

This message reigns true for us today as much as it did for the disciples back then,

so let us take a look at what is being said here and see how it can help empower us to take the truth of Jesus to the ends of the world.

We will focus our message today on just three verses,

but we will refer to a few other verses in the chapter as we go. So can someone please read verses 6-8 for me.

Acts 1:6–8 ESV

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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.”

1. Confusion brought distraction, but Jesus brought clarity.

We see in verse 6 that the disciples were confused on the purpose of Jesus returning and what their role would be.

You see, they were clearly still thinking that the Messiah had come to defeat Rome and establish His kingdom on earth.

The prophets do speak of a conquering Messiah who will establish His kingdom, so it is not surprising that they were confused..

But because of this confusion by the disciples, they were compleltey missing the point.

Jesus had already answered this question of theirs once before,

but in their minds, this was clearly of high importance and worthy of their focus.

This confusion was causing them to be distracted and unable to focus on the task at hand.

Jesus was with His disciples trying to have missions conference and they tried to turn it into a prophecy conference.

Prophecy is important.

The end times is important.

All doctrines of the Bible are important.

But if we allow these things to distract us from fullfilling the great commision, then we have the same problem the disciples had.

But what does Jesus do in response?

Does he answer their question?

Does he harshly rebuke them?

no, he gives them gentle loving kindness, that still speaks to us today.

Acts 1:7 ESV

7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.

He let’s them know that they don’t need be concerned about when things will take place. God has ordained these things by His own authority and they will take place according to His own time.

What we need to do is not be focussed on when He will return, but rather be focussed on what God has given us to do before He returns.

But what has God given us to do until He returns?

2.clarity brought purpose.

We discussed that yesterday with the great commission, where Jesus gave us the command to go out and make disciples.

Now, less than forty days later, Jesus gives a very similar command. we see it in verse 8.

Acts 1:8 ESV

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.”

We are going to take some time on this point, and divide up this verse a little as we study it.

A. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you….

The Holy Spirit had not yet come at this time, that does not happen until chapter 2.

At this time, everyone who had turned to Christ for the forgivness of their sins recieved the Holy Spirit.

There are differing views on how this is done today.

Some say that salvation and the receiving of the HS are two separate events.

Some say that we receive a portion of the HS at salvation but then can receive the fullness of Him at another date.

And others, myself included, teach that when we are saved by the blood of Christ, made a new creation in Him, receive the fullness of the spirit upon that salvation and are given the full power and authority that comes with being filled with Him.

We could spend a whole sermon series on this, breaking down each position, but there is no need to do that today.

Although one’s views on this have implications beyond today’s topic, what is important for us to understand in this passage is that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we receive power.

This is not any worldly political power, as the disciples were preoccupied with, but rather a divine power given to us to fulfil the mission that God has given us.

When we see this word, we often tend to think of great sign gifts like tongues, prophecy, healing etc.

I am not a Cessationilist, so I do believe these gifts have place today,

and for some, these sign gifts will be part of the power that the Holy Spirit brings them,

but we are missing so much of the power of God if we limit what the Holy Spirit gives us to these gifts.

The Spirit also gives us the gift of teaching,

the gift of hospitality,

the gifts of service,

the gift of giving

the gift of evangelism

and so on.

These are all to be used in the church to ensure that the purpose God has given us is taking place.

These are all to be used in the church to ensure that the purpose God

If we are waiting for some big showy power to go spread the truth of Jesus and be His witness across the world, we are too guilty of our confusion leading to distraction.

If the Holy Spirit is within you,

you have been given the power to go out and boldly be a witness of Jesus in all the earth.

This is your purpose as an individual Christian,

and this is our purpose in local churches. To receive joy in showing the Glory of God throughout the world by spreading His name throughout the world.

But what do I mean by wittness?

B….and you will be my witnesses….

The word “witness” translates the Greek word “martus” “ μάρτυς”. It refers to “those who bear witness to the truth.”

Carr, Alan. The Sermon Notebook: New Testament. Lenoir, NC: Alan Carr, 2015. Print.

It is where we get the word martyr from. If you die for your faith,

you are being a witness of Christ to the world.

You are saying that I know exactly who Christ is and what He has done for me, and this truth is worth everything, including my life.

Now, this does not mean that all of us must become martyrs,

but we are all meant to be His witnesses in this world.

But what does this means?

Simply put, it means that wherever you are, you are to be bearing witness to Jesus.

In the same way that a witness in a trial speaks to what they have seen,

and know to be true,

we too are to speak out boldly what we have seen Jesus do in our lives and share everything we know to be true about Him.

this means being a witness in your obedience and Holyness.

this means being a witness in telling people the truth of our spiritual state and Christ’s sacrificial solution.

This means consistently praying for the loss.

This means making disciples.

so…

Are you doing this in your life?

Are you being a witness of Christ to your friends?

Are you being a witness of Christ to your family?

Are you being a witness of Christ to your coworkers or classmates?

As we go about the rest of the retreat, I urge you to be reflecting how you can be doing this more intentionally.

Ask each other at lunch how you plan on being a witness when you get back to the city.

Ask each other for advice on how to do this more effectively, but know, that if you have been made new in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit upon you and therefore have the power to accomplish this task, no matter how daunting it may seem.

But where all are we to be doing this?

This is the last part of verse 8.

C. …in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Many people like to really break this down and get really specific into what each of these places mean. An example of this is seen on the screen.

This can have benefits to it,

but I see too much focus on this to be a bit of a distraction.

What Jesus was doing here was using the city, and then expanding this geographically bigger and bigger to make a point that this was not just meant to be a local religion, but that it is our job to take the Gospel everywhere.

From whatever city we are in,

to the outermost parts of the world.

Where there are people, Christians should be there to be a witness.

Now, obviously we can not be a witness to the ends of the earth individually.

Even if we were to constantly travel 24 hours a day for the rest of our lives, we could not reach everyone.

Our primary focus will be on where we are.

We all live in Beijing,

so that is where most of our witnessing will take place.

But as God moves you on to other parts of the world, you are to be a witness there as well.

The Gospel has spread across the world in part due to missionaries,

who have traveled the world for the sole purpose of being a witness,

but it has also spread in part to businessmen, traders, diplomats, teachers, students, etc. traveling the world for their own reasons and being faithful to the word wherever God has them.

To be honest, these people are the ones I respect the most.

I have friends who did not come to China to be missionaries, but because they are Christians, they are being used in that capacity,

sometimes even more so than people who came here to be missionaries.

They are being faithful to being a witness of Jesus, wherever they are.

But that’s not the only way you can ensure the Gospel is spread through the world.

Even if you never leave your city,

you can help reach the world through your giving,

prayers,

and discipling those around you who may be sent out in the world.

So again, I ask, are you being a witness in the place God has placed you?

Understanding this purpose should bring focus to our lives, as everything we do should be in order to better serve Christ in this way.

Purpose should bring us proper focus.

3. Purpose brought proper focus

The disciples had been given their purpose, just as we have been given the same purpose, to be witnesses of Jesus.

We quickly see a change in them. They are not asking irrelevant questions, but rather they are obediently waiting on the spirit to come.

But what are they doing while they wait on the Spirit?

We see this in verses 13-26

I don’t want to take a lot of time here, but there are some important things I want to bring out that should help us follow in their example.

You see, they had been reminded of their purpose, just as we are reminding you this weekend of your purpose, and this gave them a focus to do the things that will better bring forth this purpose.

What were these things?

A. fellowshipped

Acts 1:13–14 ESV

13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

B. Prayed

Acts 1:14 ESV

14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

C. Preached truth.

Acts 1:15–20 ESV

15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “ ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “ ‘Let another take his office.’

D. appointed church offices

Acts 1:21–26 ESV

21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

After this preparation and focus, God came at pentecost and about three thousand people were saved.

These men in this room would then be the leaders of the church,

making disciples who would carry on this purpose,

just as we continue to do today.

We Do these same things today because we have the same purpose today. We too have been given the great commission.

We too have been given the task to be a wittiness to the whole earth. We too have been given power through the Holy Spirit.

We too must get focused and do things in order to fulfill this purpose.

we do this because we have been commanded to do this.

we do this because we desire for God to be glorified.

We do this because our Joy is found in Him.

so only one discussion question for this session.

How can you be a better witness over the coming week, month, and year?