Marching Orders — Acts 1:1-11

Introduction

On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln stood on the Gettysburg battlefield that was still stained with the blood of more than 50,000 people who had been slaughtered there. And, while everyone knows his “Four score and seven years ago” line in the address, most don’t know his conclusion which got to the heart of what he intended to say:

(Put on slide)The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Lincoln’s intent was, as the Commander-in-Chief to give marching orders to his tattered army and nation. He wanted to inspire them forward with the gravity of their mission.

God’s Word

We see Jesus doing something of that in Acts 1. He has been resurrected and now he stands before his tattered disciples in the wake of resurrection glory to give them their marching orders before He ascends to the right hand of the Father. These instructions are meant to galvinize in their hearts and minds what He’s taught them and to inspire them forward in the work that He has for them. In fact, these are Our Marching Orders (Headline) today.

Take “heart.”

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.”

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.”

Daniel 7:13 ““I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.”

The book of Acts is written by Luke, and he means for you to read his gospel and the book of Acts as a two-volume set. The subtitle of his Gospel might be: “The life and work of Jesus and his disciples,” and the subtitle of Acts might be: “Jesus’ life and work advancing by the Spirit through the Church.” So, he picks up in Acts where he leaves off in his gospel as he aims to give Theophilus the scope of the person and work of Christ.

The first three verses of the book form a prologue for the book which give the necessary context for everything that’s going to come after it. There are two crucial facts that you must realize about Jesus if Acts is going to make any sense. First, you must know that…

Jesus is really “alive.”

Luke immediately picks up with a summary of Jesus’ resurrection so that He can build upon it. He starts by saying: “I’ve already told you what Jesus ‘BEGAN to do and teach’ in my first volume, but what you need to know is that he was raised from the dead so that He KEPT doing and teaching about the ‘kingdom of God.’” Jesus’ life before the cross was the just the beginning of what Jesus had come to do. Jesus didn’t just come to die for our sins. Jesus came to be victorious over our sins and to provide for us an evergreen source of life and in him.

So, he points out to us that Jesus “presented himself alive…by many proofs.” He lived with his disciples and in his community for another 40 days with a captive audience hanging on his teaching about the “kingdom of God.” Now, you realize how Luke would’ve written his gospel and the book of Acts, don’t you? He was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit uses means. Luke was a friend and associate of Paul, and he would’ve had all of Paul’s network as connections. He would’ve went and interviewed people who met with Jesus and saw Jesus and witnessed Jesus. He would’ve sat down with Peter and Mary, Jesus’ mom. He would’ve talked with Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead, and he would’ve heard talked with the disciples whose hearts Jesus set on fire on the Emmaus Road. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that there were more than 500 people who saw Jesus after his resurrection, and Luke is reminding us that there were “many proofs” that this was fact. Jesus didn’t just resurrect and secretly float away to heaven. After he was raised, he was around people and shared meals and taught about the kingdom and told stories for over a month.

In fact, honest, even if skeptical, historians like Michael Grant of Edinburgh university admit that if we apply the same sort of literary criteria for Jesus’ resurrection that we do for other ancient materials then the most plausible explanation is that the tomb was empty. So, Luke wants you to realize that the reason that these Apostles would willingly be martyred and the church would be filled with people who lay down their lives was because they knew that Jesus was really raised from the dead and having been really raised from the dead…

Jesus is really “enthroned.”

You’ll notice that verse two says that Jesus “was taken up.” That is, after spending 40 days hanging out with and teaching his disciples, Jesus ascended to heaven. Now, we don’t think of Jesus’ ascension that often, but it’s more important than we could possibly realize. There’s a reason it made it into the Apostle’s Creed, and there’s a reason that Luke starts his second volume with it. It sets everything else up. It’s the very context for the rest of what happens in the book.

Jesus’ ascension affirms him as the very presence of God. You’ll notice that Luke mentions the cloud that appears in verse 9. “A cloud took him out of their sight.” This “cloud” brings to our minds the “cloud” that filled the Temple when Solomon dedicated it. It brings to our minds the “cloud” that descended upon Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Maybe even most of all it reminds us of Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 7 when it tells us that the Son of Man will come “with the clouds of heaven.” This is the shekinah glory — the tangible, visible, heart-thumping glory — cloud of Almighty God. So, here in the witness of dozens is the affirmation that Jesus is really the Son of Man that has come, and it’s the affirmation that He is the Son of Man who will return in a cloud.

So, Jesus’ ascension affirms him as God and coronates him as king. The book of Acts is not just about the Apostle’s acts or even just about the Spirit’s Acts. The book of Acts is about the global, intergallatic reign of Christ spreading by the Spirit through the Apostles and Church. The ascension marks a hinge point for the Kingdom. Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father, and we’re watching as his church spreads the face of the earth.

CS Lewis once famously said that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. He either lied and said He was God when He wasn’t, or He was a lunatic who believed He was God though He wasn’t, or He is God and is worthy of all of your life. And, here is Luke holding up Jesus and saying: “He’s the Lord! Take heart! He’s the Lord! He’s alive! He’s reigning! He’s bringing this about.” And, He’s telling us that this is the reason for all of the Acts that follow. This is what propelled the faithfulness of the early church when they were a political minority. This is why the sang songs when they were locked in prisons unjustly. This is why they didn’t panic when the people they loved were taken away or passed away. They knew that Jesus was alive and Jesus was God and Jesus was king, and that His rule was spreading. And, that’s why you don’t have to live in panic either. That’s how you can sing when you find yourself a political minority or worried about how overlooked you feel. Jesus is your God, and Jesus is your King, and He’s on the throne.

So, Luke wants you to take heart and then…

Know your “role.”

Acts 1:4–8 “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; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “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.””

There’s a big difference between Abraham Lincoln’s marching orders at Gettysburg and Jesus’ here in Acts 1. Lincoln was telling his troops and generals: “Go, go, go!” Jesus was telling his ambassadors to: “Wait!” That’s interesting, isn’t it? Jesus “ordered them (strong language) to not depart Jerusalem, but to wait.”

The surest way I know to live an anxious life is to make God’s responsibilities my responsibilities. That’s what Jesus is driving home to his disciples one final time. That’s what He’s leaving in their minds as He ascends to his throne. Timing and outcomes are God’s responsibilities. The Apostles aren’t responsible for the success of the church or reception by the locals or even their own safety. It isn’t for them to know when Jesus will return to consummate his Kingdom. Those are God’s concerns and only He can bear them. Their responsibility is to go where God sends them when God sends them to do what God sends them to do.

In fact, you can really boil down the responsibilities that we’ve been given by Jesus to just two. The first is to..

“Wait” for the “promises.”

I want you to note how clearly trinitarian Acts 1 is, especially verses 4-5. We have the “promise of the Father” to “baptize (them) with the Holy Spirit” assured by the ascension of the Son. This clearly disputes an ancient heresy called modalism that was taught — inadvertently — to many of us at VBS. This is the water who is liquid in the OT, water in the gospel, and vapor in the Epistles. This one God eternally existing simultaneously as three persons with three roles securing for us our salvation and promises.

The Spirit has always been and has always worked, but the Promise — from very, very old, has been that there was a greater work of the Spirit ahead when He would inhabit God’s people permanently the way He inhabited Samson temporarily or David and Moses uniquely. In fact, much of Acts 1 is a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies and promises. Isaiah 32:15 says that God’s people are waiting “till the Spirit is poured on us.” Isaiah 43:10 says, “You are my witnesses, and my servant whom I have chosen”, and Isaiah 49:6 says that my salvation will “reach the ends of the earth.” The purpose of the Big Story has been to captivate your hearts with the word of God with these connections. I hope you see them and your heart burns. (Fascination with the Bible —> Captivation with Christ —> He is the Word of God! Lutheran brothers and sisters often remind us)

So, a chief concern for Jesus is for his disciples to recognize that God’s plan can only be accomplished by God’s power in God’s timing. They need to wait on the Spirit and they need to wait on his return, BUT they can wait assured that their waiting is not in vain. They wait assured that the fullness of God — Father, Son, and Spirit — is working in complete unity to bring about their good in the right way and at the right time. Matthew summarizes this same teaching of Jesus by quoting Jesus: “I am with you always to the end of the age.”

You may be waiting this morning on God to heal your heart. You may be waiting on God to show you that your ministry is not pointless. You may be waiting on God to provide for your needs. You may be waiting on God to transform your life. You may be waiting on his return. But, you wait with the knowledge that the Father is at work and the Son is at work and the Spirit is at work all in unison on your behalf. Do you feel the hope of that? Do you feel the power of that? The Father’s will is unfolding in his way and at his time, and it cannot be thwarted. You’re included in that. You’re his child, and you haven’t been overlooked. You wait with the knowledge that the Son has secured and assured the fulfillment of every promise that has been made to you. You aren’t playing the lottery hoping to find a breather from life. You’re just in the lobby waiting on the inheritance check that’s already yours. His resurrection and ascension assure it. And, you wait with the Spirit of God — the very presence of God himself — sustaining you every step, every day for every task.

So, your role is to wait on the Promises and…

“Live” by the “Spirit.”

Acts 1:8 summarizes our role in two commands. First, “receive power.” That is, wait on the promises of God, namely, the coming of the Spirit of God to empower the early church to do the work of the Kingdom. Secondly, once the Spirit comes, “be my witnesses” to the ends of the earth. That is, live out the mission of Christ through the Spirit of Christ for the glory of Christ. That’s the role of every New Covenant believer since Pentecost in Acts 2.

You can really simplify what Jesus is saying. I’m sending the Spirit — for us today, we already have the Spirit as we’ll see next week — and, He’s going to transform you, emobolden you and empower you. He’s going to make the harsh gentle, the grouch loving, and the weak strong. He’s going to seal and apply your salvation. He’s going to deliver you from sin and into newness of life.

So, receive the Spirit, live by the Spirit, and then…

Get to “work.”

Acts 1:8–11 “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.” 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. 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.””

My favorite verse of chapter 1 is verse 11. The glory cloud has come and swept Jesus into heaven where He would take his rightful place upon his own throne. Can you imagine how you would react to such an event? I mean, where do you go from here? As they watch Jesus departing in glory, imagine them replaying their despair at Jesus’ crucifixion. They have to be remembering how they had abandoned him and betrayed him. Then, they begin to replay those early reports of Jesus’ resurrection. He had told him that He would rise in three days, but they didn’t believe him. And, they were utterly astonished when they realized He was really alive. Now, right before their eyes, they’re witnessing his ascension. I mean, what do you say? Who even dares to break the silence? You just want to keep looking because you can hardly believe your eyes. What do you do?

Two angels show up to tell them what. “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?” In other words, it’s time to get to work. They were tempted, as we are, to spend all of their time looking at the sky and waiting for his return. They loved him. They missed him. They longed for him. But, that was an outcome they weren’t meant to control. They were meant to get to work.

Christians aren’t stargazers. We’re storytellers. We aren’t date predictors. We’re ambassadors spreading the message of our King. You’re a witness. You have a story to tell that your kids need to hear and your parents need to hear and your neighbors need to hear and that the most remote Buddhist in Nepal needs to hear. You don’t have to improve the story or sensationalize the story or domesticate the story and certainly not apologize for the story. You have to get to work to tell the story. Because that story is the difference between life and death, hope and despair, heaven and hell.

I wonder, this morning, how the angels might address us? The fact is many of us are looking at so many other things that we could stand to look a little longer at heaven. Maybe the angels would ask: “Why are you looking so much at your phone?” Or, “Why are looking so much after your own reputation?” Or, “Why are you so busy making sure that your kids have every opportunity?” “Why are you so wrapped up in money and vacations and houses?” Tell the story. Get to work, and tell the story. Take heart. Know your role. Get to work. And, tell the story. These are our marching orders.