The Acts of the Ascended Christ Through His Followers Empowered By The Spirit

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Intro: Thanks for the opportunity to share God’s word with you this morning. Creston has done a good job setting up this series in the Gospel According to Acts last week and speaking of Christ Ascension and what it means to sit in power at the Right hand of the Father and his ministry to us, his followers. Creston also referred to a resource by Tim Keller on the ascension, Keller says “The Ascension of Jesus Christ “takes what Jesus was and did on Earth, and releases it into the universe and into (our) lives with all of its healing power.” Which is what the Apostle Paul tells us in,
Col. 1:15-20
15 He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
16 For everything was created by him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through him and for him.
17 He is before all things,
and by him all things hold together.
18 He is also the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have
first place in everything.
19 For God was pleased to have
all his fullness dwell in him,
20 and through him to reconcile
everything to himself,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross.
Jesus sits on the throne ruling, mediating and interceding for those he calls, for those he loves and those he keeps.
But I want you to notice what Luke says at the beginning of this Gospel according to Acts,

I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach

The Gospel of Luke is all that Jesus began to do and teach… which implies Jesus is still working in this world. What you will discover as you go through the book of Acts is it is about the Acts of the Ascended Christ Through His Followers Empowered by the Spirit of God in the world.
Imagine you are a 1st century Jew, living in Galilee. Imagine you one of the 12 or one of the many other followers who believed in Jesus, you walked with him, watched him
heal the sick
make the lame walk
blind people see
raise the dead
cast out demons
heard him teach
Imagine being in the upper room discourse, where he is teaching them lesson on being a servant, about his death, about abiding in him and the Holy Spirit.
Imagine seeing Jesus arrested, tried, flogged, crucified, die and buried.
Imagine being in the room when Mary burst forth proclaiming He is alive!
Imagine you are there with Jesus he is giving a 40 day lecture on the Kingdom of God and the Spirit of God. Being a 1st century Jew, what is going through your mind? What are you thinking?
The Messiah is here, he conquered death, what is the next logical step for a Jewish person living in the 1st century?
Throughout Jesus’ life & ministry the disciples have misunderstood many things Jesus said and did
Peter Rebukes Jesus (Mark 8:31-33)
Thomas When Jesus Went to go see Lazurus 4 days after he died (John 11:1-16)
Disciples in the Storm (Mark 4:31-35)
In our passage we Jesus giving some final instructions to the disciples concerning the Kingdom of God and the Spirit of God and we see it leads to
A Question to the Ascended Christ
A Commission From The Ascended Christ
A Promise Concerning The Ascended Christ

I. A Question to the Ascended Christ.

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”

A. Why This question?

6. Asked (ἐπηρώτων). The imperfect, denoting the repetition and urging of the question.

1. Jesus is talking about the KOG & the SOG

2. To a 1st century Jew living in the time of Jesus the themes of the KOG & the SOG reminds them of prophetic words from the OT.

Isa 42:1-4 -
This is my servant; I strengthen him,
this is my chosen one; I delight in him.
I have put my Spirit on him;
he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry out or shout
or make his voice heard in the streets.
3 He will not break a bruised reed,
and he will not put out a smoldering wick;
he will faithfully bring justice.
4 He will not grow weak or be discouraged
until he has established justice on earth.
The coasts and islands will wait for his instruction
Isa 43:10-12 - “You are my witnesses”—
this is the LORD’s declaration—
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
No god was formed before me,
and there will be none after me.
11 I—I am the LORD.
Besides me, there is no Savior.
12 I alone declared, saved, and proclaimed—
and not some foreign god among you.
So you are my witnesses”—
this is the LORD’s declaration—
“and I am God.
Joel 2:28-32 -
28 After this
I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity;
then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men will have dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29 I will even pour out my Spirit
on the male and female slaves in those days.
30 I will display wonders
in the heavens and on the earth:
blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.
32 Then everyone who calls
on the name of the LORD will be saved,
for there will be an escape
for those on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
as the LORD promised,
among the survivors the LORD calls.

3. The Messiah is here, He died and rose again, & now He is talking about the Kingdom of God and the Spirit of God. This is why the ask the question about the restoration of Israel.

4. What we discover is His followers still lack understanding, they here it but they don’t fully understand what Jesus is teaching them, yet.

B. Jesus’ Answer

7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 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 end of the earth.

1. It’s not for you to know times and seasons...

We do not need to know the times and seasons, can you imagine the non sense that would go on if we knew the exact time of the Lord’s return. What if you knew the exact day you would die, what would you do? Foolishness would be the breaking news of the hour.

2. It’s not for us to know because the Father has set it by his own authority.

His own (τῇ ἰδίᾳ). Stronger than the simple possessive pronoun. The adjective means private, personal. Often used adverbially in the phrase κατʼ ἰδίαν, apart, privately. See Matt. 17:1; 24:3.

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3. The disciples failed to understand their would be a fixed time period, set by the Father, between the ascension and his return.

This is not new information, Jesus has explained this to them before, a good example of this is the parables
The Wheat and Weeds Matthew 13:

28 “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he told them.

“ ‘So, do you want us to go and pull them up?’ the servants asked him.

29 “ ‘No,’ he said. ‘When you pull up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but collect the wheat in my barn.’ ”

The Parable of the Net Matt 13:

47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish, 48 and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous, 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

4. When the Apostles were filled with the SOG, the SOG gave them understanding to the teachings of Christ and they understood this truth of the time in between the ascension and the return.

We do not have to go that far in our Bibles to see this,

19 Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, 20 that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about through his holy prophets from the beginning.

II. A Commission From The Ascended Christ

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 end of the earth.”

Jesus very plainly shifted the conversation and very plainly let them know do not be preoccupied with the restoration of Israel be preoccupied with my mission to the world.

A. But you will receive power

1. The disciples were told to wait until the Holy Spirit comes.

2. You will receive power

a. dunamis

This word is used to describe miracles in the book of Acts in 2:22; 3:12; 4:7; 8:13; 10:38; 19:11 and there are too many people who focus on the use of dunamis with miracles. As you go through Acts you will see the Apostles perform many mighty miracles which authenticate the Gospel message they are preaching.
But we would be doing Luke a disservice if we only mentioned this word and Luke’s description of the work of the Holy Spirit when the SOG comes upon someone. In fact, anytime you see someone filled with the Spirit, they proclaim the word of God to others.
• Filling of the Spirit here (heart) produces the Words of God here (mouth).
o Luke 1:15, John the Baptist, being filled with the Spirit, proclaims the coming of the Lord.
o Luke 1:41, Elizabeth, being filled with the Spirit, proclaimed blessing over Mary.
o Luke 1:67, Zechariah, being filled with the Spirit, prophesied about the coming glory of Jesus.
o Acts 2:4, The Holy Spirit fills the Apostles at Pentecost and they begin to declare God’s praises in multiple languages.
o Acts 4:8, Peter is filled with the Spirit and preaches to the rulers that Jesus is their only hope of salvation.
o Acts 4:31, the disciples are filled with the Spirit and they speak the word of God boldly in the face of severe persecution.
o Acts 9:20, Paul is filled with the Spirit, and he immediately begins to preach in the synagogues.

B. They would receive this power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

Before we move on, there is a question in the mind of some of you right now, you are wondering do I have the Holy Spirit at salvation or do I need to seek a second work of grace a “a baptism of the HS”. To that I say… ask Creston. In all seriousness my answer is yes, but let me explain. When someone receives Christ they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit empowered for a life of service to the Lord and yet Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 5 to filled with the Holy Spirit. So am i indwelt by the HS yes, do in need a second work of grace, well not in the sense that a pentecostal theologian would say, but we need to be filled with the Spirit daily.

1. This Power we receive from the Spirit is from the Father and the Son

2. coming on you for a purpose

3. To continue the work of the ascended Christ by spreading the Gospel in this world.

C. You will be my witnesses (martyrs)

1. What is the role of a witness in court?

They are expected to speak the truth
To give testimony of the events they witnessed

2. This is what we see the Apostles doing throughout Acts and beyond.

2 Peter 1: 16 16 For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
I John 1:1-4 -What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—2 that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—3 what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

3. They were to be local, regional, national and international witnesses.

Jerusalem
Judea
Samaria
Ends of the earth

a. Acts 1:8 is the guiding passage to the whole book of Acts.

It is the table of contents
When you read the book of Acts you will see the church grow in Jerusalem, then in Judea, then in Samaria, then to the ends of the earth.
You will see the the transformation of God’s people from people who were nationalist to people who reconcile the nations under the banner of Christ.
You will also see Luke use the Gospel spreading in each area by the Spirit being poured out on them. This is why we have several outpourings of the Holy SPirit in the book of Acts. We see it in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and finally to the ends of the earth or the Gentile world in Acts 10 when the HS falls on Cornelius. After this you have no more descriptions of a Pentecost type of experience, why? Because they were markers to help the disciples see that the Gospel of JC is not for the Jew only but also for the Greek and if God doesn’t withhold the Holy Spirit from the Samaritans and the Gentiles then who are the Apostles to with hold the Gospel message and Gospel fellowship from them, which is what is explained in Acts 11.

III. A Promise Concerning The Ascended Christ

9 After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”

A. Christ Ascends

1. To take his place at the right hand of the Father

2. To continue his work from the throne

B. We see the Disciples are momentarily immobilized

1. Fear? Sadness? Wonder? Shock?

2. All of it and more!

C. God’s mercy to shock them into reality.

1. Angels appear and they ask them

Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven?

The Lord gave you marching orders
why aren't you following them
Obey the Lord

D. The promise given

1. this same Jesus, not another Jesus or another Christ.

2. who has been taken from you into haven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.

Jesus is coming back for you, get busy doing his work!
He will come back descending on the clouds, in the same way
this is no secret return this is a very public coming of Christ where we will see him descending on the clouds to call us back home.
Matt 24:27 - 26 So if they tell you, ‘See, he’s in the wilderness!’ don’t go out; or, ‘See, he’s in the storerooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

3. The disciples may not have understood the promise then, but when the Spirit came upon them, taking a survey of the sermons preached in Acts and the letters of the NT, they understood.

24 And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, 25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

28 So now, little children, remain in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Conclusion:

Christ The Redeemer church, brothers and sisters, let us ask some questions in light of this passage.
What questions are we asking that distract us from continuing the work of the Ascended Christ?
Theological Controversies
Questions about gifting
2. What life patterns have we developed that distract us from continuing the work of the Ascended Christ?
I don’t have enough time?
I don’t have enough knowledge?
Talking to other people about Jesus makes me feel weird?
3. Are we just standing and gazing and waiting for Jesus to return?
What are you doing for the Ascended Christ?
If the answer is nothing, consider this message as God’s mercy to shock you into reality.
4. God has provided for you everything you need to continue the work of the Ascended Christ in the world today.
Spurgeon:
“If Jesus is precious to you, you will not be able to keep your good news to yourself; you will be whispering it into your child’s ear; you will be telling it to your husband; you will be earnestly imparting it to your friend; without the charms of eloquence you will be more than eloquent; your heart will speak, and your eyes will flash as you talk of his sweet love. Every Christian here is either a missionary or an impostor. You either try to spread abroad the kingdom of Christ, or else you do not love him at all. It cannot be that there is a high appreciation of Jesus and a totally silent tongue about him… If you really know Christ, you are like one that has found honey; you will call others to taste of its sweetness; you are like the beggar who has discovered an endless supply of food: you must go tell the hungry crowd that you have found Jesus, and you are anxious that they should find him too.
One day in heaven, when every tribe, tongue and nation is before the throne of Christ and Christ reaches for the scroll and the title of the scroll says The Acts of the disciples of Christ the Redeemer Church of Pine Bluff. Let it be filled with worship to the Ascended Christ who sits on the throne, filled with
Christ centered sermons which the Spirit used to bring people to repentance and faith in Jesus
Let it be filled with Gospel centered discipleship and mentoring
Let it be filled with testimonies on how Christ transformed the lives that walked into this place
may the scroll be filled with people who Christ the Redeemer have loved, served and brought to the feet of Jesus their Lord.
Brothers and sisters let us be about continuing the work of the ascended christ until he comes back for us.
Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Mt 24:26–27). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
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https://summitchurch.com/GetFile.ashx?Guid=c0c3f517-eb61-4956-9dbd-5d8e61c8b3aa
Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (1 Jn 1:1–4). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
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Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (2 Pe 1:16). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
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Peterson, D. G. (2009). The Acts of the Apostles (p. 110). Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Joe 2:28–32). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
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Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Is 43:10–12). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
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Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Is 42:1–4). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
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http://thebattlelines.com/2018/10/25/the-importance-of-the-ascension-explained-by-tim-keller/
Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Col 1:15–20). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
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