To the Ends of the Earth

The Ascended Christ and the Spirit-Powered Mission"

Theme: The risen and ascended Christ sends His Spirit to empower the Church to carry His gospel to all nations until He returns.

Introduction

How does the Church live faithfully between Jesus' resurrection and His return?

Acts 1:1–11 begins to answers this question - and by the end of Acts we’ll have the full picture.

This weeks passage shows us that Jesus is not absent but reigning.

It reminds us that we are not powerless but empowered.

It reveals that our lives are caught up in the mission of Christ to take His gospel to the ends of the earth.

The Church stands today where the apostles once stood:

with the risen Lord exalted in heaven, the Spirit poured out, and the world still needing the gospel.

Luke, the author of Acts, the careful historian and theologian,

sets the tone in Acts with theological depth and missionary urgency.

His opening words remind us that Jesus continues His work through His Church,

empowered by the Holy Spirit.

, until He returns in glory.

So that is what we will explore today in this passage:

Christ's ongoing work from heaven,

His gift of the Spirit,

His global commission to the Church,

and His ascension and promised return.

1 - Jesus Continues His Work from Heaven (vv. 1–3)

Luke begins Acts by referring back to his Gospel:

Acts 1:1–2 NIVUK

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

It’s easy to miss the theological impact this simple sentence has.

It’s easy for us in our faith to think,

that everything really important that ever happened,

happened when JEsus walked the earth.

And let us not be mistaken.

The key event around which all of humanity revolves was the cross of Christ.

His choosing death and the wrath of God in our place.

Saving us from hell for Heaven.

The one perfect righteous man, swapping places with those who repent and believe.

But that,

Luke now makes clear,

was not the end of all that is important in from Christianity.

Jesus’ earthly ministry as recorded in his Gospels was just the beginning.

In my first book, it was all about Jesus birth, life and death

But that’s not it -

Acts, will narrate what Jesus now continues to do

—not on earth in bodily form, but from heaven through His Spirit and His people.

This continuity is critical in understanding the Book of Acts.

The Church's mission is not something independent or new; it is the continuation of the ministry of Christ.

Perhaps even the name that has been given to this letter “Acts of the Apostles’ is unhelpful.

It is really the ongoing ‘acts of Jesus’. - through His Spirit, first through the apostles and ultimately to us.

What Jesus began, we now carry forward with and for him.

But as weve said,

- He’s not going to carry it out on earth in his physical form.

He has a better plan:

Step one of His plan is to convince the apostles he really has risen from the dead and to teach them about the Kingdom of God. This new era.

Acts 1:3 NIVUK

After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

Jesus appeared to His disciples over forty days,

giving many convincing proofs of His resurrection

and speaking about the kingdom of God (v. 3).

The resurrection is not a spiritual metaphor but a physical, historical reality.

Jesus’s bodily presence removes all doubt.

He walked, talked, ate, and taught them.

And he taught them all about ‘the Kingdom of God’

—this was the central message of His earthly ministry - and remains his central message.

With the resurrection accomplished,

He prepares the apostles to announce the good news of the kingdom’s arrival ’to the ends of the earth’.

The forty days between Easter and the Ascension were days of preparation and foundation-laying. Jesus ensured His disciples understood the significance of the resurrection and were ready for what was to come.

Part 2 of Jesus plan,

having convinced them of his resurection, is to leave them.

Sounds like an odd plan,

but as he promised - it is better for him to leave and reign from heaven,

and for the church to receive the HS as a helper,

the Spirit who will not be one man, physical and present,

but God the Spirit, available everywhere, all the time, to every believer in their heart.

John 16:7 NIVUK

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

We do not serve a dead prophet but a living, ascended, reigning Lord.

Our mission flows from His victory.

Let this give us courage in a world that often rejects or ignores Christ.

He is not absent and inactive; He is continuing His work through us - reigning over all in heaven.

So lets spend a little time thinking about our helper, our advocate, the Holy Spirit:

2 - Jesus Pours Out the Spirit for Power (vv. 4–5)

Acts 1:4–5 NIVUK

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’

There can be a lot of confusion about the work and role of the Holy Spirit,

and some of it comes from not carefully understanding what is happening in Acts.

Clearly a core aspect of the HS’s role is to empower Jesus’ followers to keep taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth as we’ll see in v8.

But some confuse v5 here, to mean there is not only a baptism of water that forgives sins,

but a second baptism of the SPirit that brings spiritual blessing and power.

After all that is what the apostles are promised right here.

So you can have the situation of having 2 tiers of Christian.

The basic version, and the spirit filled version.

But that is to miss the context here in chapter 1.

Jesus instructs the ‘apostles’ to stay in Jerusalem and ‘wait’ for "the promise of the Father," which He identifies in verse 5 as being "baptized with the Holy Spirit."

we must carefully unpack this verse within what we call the redemptive-historical context.

We should actually do this before we apply any bible passage,

all it simply means,

is where does this fit in God’s plan of salvation for His people.

So what is

a. The Redemptive-Historical Context

here?

Jesus' command to ‘wait’ reflects a transitional moment in salvation history.

The apostles are poised between the Old Covenant and the full realisation of the New.

Pentecost, in the next chapter, marks a dramatic shift:

Jesus has fulfilled many OT prophesies in his death and resurection for the forgiveness of sins,

but the new covenant people

will have Christ’s work applied to them through the work of the Holy Spirit.

And unlike us today, the apostles await the Fathers promise of the new era of the Spirirt.

‘he’ has not yet come. ‘Wait’ says Jesus.

The promises, For example, Eze 36v26-27 has not yet, but is about to be, fulfilled:

Ezekiel 36:26–27 NIVUK

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

In the Old Testament, the Spirit came upon individuals for specific tasks (prophets, kings, craftsmen),

and the Spirit was essential to anyone in the OT to have faith in the promises of God,

but after pentecost,

the Spirt wont just be with believers,

as he was in the OT,

and was with the disciples enough to keep them ‘waiting’,

after pentecost the HS will be IN them - baptised IN Him.

Jesus says just this in

John 14:17 NIVUK

the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

After pentecost, once the Baptism of the HS poured our from Heaven, every believer will receive the HS.

Here

So what is

b. The Nature of Spirit Baptism

This baptism is not a second blessing for the spiritually elite.

It is not an emotional high or a spiritual upgrade.

It is the once-for-all initiation into the body of Christ.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:13, "For in one Spirit we were all baptised into one body."

To be baptized in the Spirit

is to be united to Christ by faith

and included in the New Covenant community.

It is the beginning of life in the Spirit, not an experience to seek later.

We do not look for another Pentecost. We live in its aftermath.

So, unlike the dicisples,

who presently wait, fearful, nervous,

we are full of the Spirit who enables us to take the Gospel of Jesus to the ends of the earth.

So Pentecost is not the beginning of the Spirit's work - he has always worked for God’s people,

but it is the beginning of the Spirit's full and universal indwelling of God's people.

The Disciples had to wait, becasue they were in a transition period of redemtpive histry.,

We do not. But more on this next week.

For now, know that Every believer has the Spirit.

And therefore The Church does not lack power.

We are not waiting for more power, second blessings, extra baptisms.

You are not spiritually second-class if you don’t have a dramatic experience.

After all, the Spirit's role is not to draw attention to Himself, but to glorify Christ and empower His people for mission.

The disicples had to wait until they could witness,

we do not.

We are post-pentecost people, in dwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit to witness about the Kingdom of God where Christ reigns.

And so let us look at the purpose of our baptism in the Spirit, that is about to be poured out on the apostles for the first time in redemption history:

3 - Jesus Commissions His Church for Global Witness (v. 6-8)

After being told not to worry about the timing of God’s kingdom in v. 7, Jesus clarifies what they should focus on:

Acts 1:8 NIVUK

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’

This verse is both a promise and a command.

It outlines the entire structure of Acts: the gospel moves from Jerusalem (chs. 1–7), to Judea and Samaria (chs. 8–12), and then to the ends of the earth (chs. 13–28).

And this verse is also a timeless promise and command for the Church’s mission.

What are the promises and commands then for us?:

a. Declare Jesus the King of All

The disciples had asked, "Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (v. 6).

They still expected a national, political restoration.

Jesus does not rebuke their desire for the kingdom, but He redirects it.

The kingdom is not localised in Israel, but global in scope.

The kingdom comes not by military force or political manoeuvring, but by Spirit-empowered witness.

We do not preach the restoration of ISrael in the middle east,

we declare the establishment of JEsus eternal Kingdom over all Israel global.

Meaning the chosen people of God, not just of Jewish decent, but of every tribe, tounge and nation.

We are to Witness to the resurection and reign of Christ Jesus in His Kingdom.

Jesus is the King of all.

Also

b. We Have Power to Witness

The Spirit’s power is not primarily for personal transformation,

though that is part of His work.

His power is for witness – proclaiming Christ, bearing testimony to His resurrection, calling others to repentance and faith.

And We will see this in Peter at Pentecost, in Stephen before the Sanhedrin, in Paul before governors and kings throughout this book.

And, we are to..

c. Go To the Ends of the Earth

This phrase is not exaggerated, or just there for dramatic affect.

JEsus is giving his apostles,

and by extension the whole church in the rest of history,

an instruction.

A Co-mission,

A great co-mission: We typically think of Matthew 28 when we think of the great co-mission of Jesus,

but it’s also here:

Jesus means for His gospel to reach every nation, tribe, and tongue.

That mission is not yet complete.

As John Stott said:

”We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God."

And so absolutely we must witness to our friends and neighbours,

but we must also be involved in helping, or even directly taking, the Gospel to the ends fo the earth.

Literally to places that have not heard it before.

There are 17000 people groups on our planet and over 7000 people groups have never heard.

You can check out the JOshua project website for more information about this,

But for now, The Spirit empowers us to go specifically to them.

This is why we have received the HS,

and so if we are in no way as a church;

praying,

giving,

sending

or going to the unreached corners of the earth,

we are denying the power of the Spirit in us,

and the directions of Jesus.

Let us not get stuck in only "Jerusalem" in v8. ONly in WP, or the UK. We must go to the ends of the earth.

This is why as a church we allocate 10% of our income to Gospel partners hear and around the world.

It’s why our ENLIST team who manages that budget,

are keen that we look for opportunities to support those going to unreached places,

not just places that already have the gospel.

And as individuals,

Do we pray for unreached peoples to receiev the Gospel?

Do we support mission partners financially who are seeking the unreached?

Are we raising our children to consider gospel work cross-culturally?

Are we willing to go?

If we ignore the ‘ends of the earth’, we ignore the heart of Acts 1:8.

The power of the Spirit is given not for our comfort but for the glory of Christ among the nations.

4 - Jesus Ascends and Will Return (vv. 9–11)

IN v9-11, Jesus is taken up before their eyes,

and a cloud hides Him from their sight.

Two angels appear and say,

Acts 1:11 NIVUK

‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’

IN other words, Get your head out the clouds and get to work.

We’re not called to gawp up at heaven wondering if Jesus will return - he will return, so get going.

The ascension is not about Jesus leaving the world behind.

It is about Him being enthroned in heaven.

He now sits at the right hand of the Father (Ps. 110:1),

ruling all things for the sake of His Church (Eph. 1:20–23).

The angels give a promise: He will come again.

This is not symbolic or metaphorical. It is literal, physical, visible.

The same Jesus who ascended will return in glory.

We don’t know when,

But it is certain.

That return gives the Church both hope (evil will end, Christ will reign) and urgency (the time is short, the mission is urgent).

SO,

Do we live as if Jesus is reigning and returning?

Let us not stand gazing into heaven, but go in the power of His Holy Spirit,

and tell the nations that Christ reigns and is coming again.

The mission is global. The power is spiritual. The reign is real. The return is certain.

Let us therefore live, give, pray, send, and speak as those who belong to the ascended Christ and are filled with His Spirit.

Amen.